Misconduct reports plague New Orleans police

updated 5:47 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2005

NEW ORLEANS - Desertions, allegations of looting and theft, and the videotaped beating of a retired teacher have contributed to a growing sense that the New Orleans Police Department is reverting to its dirty-cop past at the very moment the city is desperately trying to persuade residents to come back to the Big Easy.

No hard evidence exists of a rise in police misconduct since Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29.

But the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said it is investigating at least 10 brutality complaints filed in the past month or so. And stories are making the rounds at Uptown coffee houses and French Quarter bars of overbearing cops abusing their power, of a force seemingly out of control.

“There’s a credibility issue that is manifesting itself in New Orleans,” said Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of Greater New Orleans, a police watchdog group. “Part of that is the disconnect the public feels with the police department. The reputation of corruption lingers and the new problems compound it.”

Damning videotape
Since the storm, the videotaped beating by police of Robert Davis, 64, and the roughing up an Associated Press TV producer in the French Quarter have focused new attention on the department. Police said Davis was drunk and combative; Davis denied he was drinking and said he put up no resistance. The Justice Department is investigating.

Also, 12 New Orleans officers are suspected of looting or condoning looting at a Wal-Mart in Katrina’s aftermath. Authorities are investigating allegations that police took more than 200 cars, including 41 new Cadillacs, from a dealership as the storm closed in. And nearly 250 officers on the 1,450-member force are under investigation for leaving their posts during the storm.

“People are right on the edge because they think police are hired to protect them, but that’s not what seems to be happening,” said John Penny, who teaches criminal justice at Southern University at New Orleans. “I think there’s a high feeling of anxiety in the community.”

‘They pulled their guns out’
Josh Clark, who works for a monthly entertainment publication, admitted he and his girlfriend were out past curfew two weeks after Katrina. Still, he said, the police reaction seemed extreme.

“They pulled their guns out and pointed them at us,” Clark said. “They wouldn’t listen to anything.”

Clark said he was finally able to show his press pass to one of the officers. He said that when the policeman learned he worked for a publication whose editor was a friend, Clark and his girlfriend were allowed to leave.

“If they know you, they’ll do anything for you,” Clark said. “If they don’t, you’re in deep doo-doo.”

Police spokesman Marlon Defillo denied the department is slipping back into its old habits, saying discipline is being maintained. He said the department has launched four formal investigations post-Katrina into police wrongdoing.

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