Just something on my mind this morning as I read the news about yet another person killed, just for helping… When are we going to stop just being comfortable? We are all comfortable until it hits right on our doorstep, … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Crime
Guest Blogger Dawn (aka FQP) on anarchist posters in the FQ
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Recently a friend posted some photos she’d taken of several placards recently posted in the French Quarter/Marigny area. A conversation ensued and I asked her to write up something about her opinion of the message the posters were broadcasting. Dawn … Continue reading
Corruption as an offensive strategy?
Last year, New Orleanians heralded the hiring of a new NOPD Superintendent as a fresh start (even if the person in question is known to have had his eye on this post for more than 15 years’ time). I wonder: Just how much meaningful change is possible when the NOPD continues to keep officers on board in prominent roles who have well-documented tarnished records or, at the very least, who might have axes to grind?
Major Raymond C. Burkart, Jr. has a history of questionable actions stretching back through multiple NOPD command reconfigurations, including allegedly threatening an assistant U.S. attorney in 2001 and being indicted on bankruptcy fraud charges, as detailed by The Gambit in 2003. In light of recent events, I find it curious that Maj. Burkart has reportedly recently been assigned by the NOPD to work within the troubled 9-1-1 emergency dispatch center.
Captain Frederick C. Morton of the NOPD’s Inspection Division wrote the report issued in March 2011 that threw a spotlight on the police detail work issue; this report also cited the NOPD Eighth District for downgrading reported crimes to perhaps paint an impression of improvement. However, Capt. Morton has also been discovered to be the agent of record for “Rosewood Watchmen, LLC” which was also recently suspended from doing detail work. Isn’t that a bit like the cast-iron pot calling the kettle black (while acting like it’s porcelain and also microwave-safe)?
Captain Norvel Orazio was fired by former NOPD Superintendent Eddie Compass from the post of First District Commander (in which he’d succeeded Compass) for reducing criminal charges to lesser offenses in an attempt to make it appear that crime was on the decline in his District. So why, then, is Capt. Orazio currently employed by the NOPD in the Third District? Oh, right. He was reinstated by the City of New Orleans. Some suggest that the crucial factor in this reversal of fortune was the possibility that “Compass’ record was not unassailable…”.
Captain Michael Glasser is admittedly the curious outlier in this list (One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong!). While his actions do not beat a path to incidents of disciplinary action or the taint of corruption, it should be noted that he has been critical of Supt. Serpas’ reform efforts. Even his semi-positive responses to Supt. Serpas’ actions seem, at best, like backhanded compliments (such as these remarks regarding a recent NOPD employee survey):
“Capt. Michael Glasser, head of the Police Association of New Orleans, which represents officers’ interests, said the results were encouraging. But he added that he wished more officers had participated.
“‘The survey certainly reflects what the respondents said, but it doesn’t reflect all of the officers,’ said Glasser, who acknowledged taking part in the survey.”
In New Orleans, gossip and rumors are accepted as time-honored components of our city’s eclectic social currency. There’s been a lot of talk going around as of late… Some are saying that these specific members of the NOPD’s upper brass were displeased with potential reform efforts to be implemented by Superintendent Ronal Serpas.
If these four men aren’t able to attack Supt. Serpas directly, is it possible that they’re using a strategy of “the best defense is a good offense” and any available means to target the Superintendent indirectly?
Discretionary orders
A friend forwarded the following Los Angeles Times story to me, asking if I was aware of this aspect of the Henry Glover murder trial as part of the events that occurred in the early days of September 2005, when Glover had been shot in the chest by a New Orleans police officer in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans. It was disturbing to reply that, in fact, I wasn’t.
On the Media: Times-Picayune wounded by what photographer didn’t shoot
It seems to me that local coverage of this facet of the story has been surprisingly sparse. While Alex Brandon’s testimony was covered in some of the reporting of the events of the trial, the photojournalist’s actions appear to have escaped homegrown notice or examination.
The heart of the problem: Brandon admitted during his testimony to complying with a police demand to not photograph the body of Henry Glover, who’d been shot by a police officer. While his editor at the Times-Picayune expected to be informed about incidents of violence or conversations with law enforcement personnel, the fact is that Brandon chose to ignore those directives. It seems that, from Brandon’s actions, some “orders” are to be followed, while others can apparently be ignored.
Alex Brandon may have chosen to not speak of what he had witnessed but not photographed out of fear for his own well-being, suspecting — or perhaps even knowing? — that the officers who were involved were capable of murder. Photos that serve as evidence of police officers looting stores are one thing; pictures of a crime scene that would easily serve an evidentiary purpose in an officer-involved shooting would likely be of greater consequence.
It is also equally possible that Brandon may have seen himself as being in an alliance with the officers with whom he’d become “embedded.” Brandon testified that many of the officers at the scene were his “good friends”; it appears that his decision to keep the lens cap on his camera may have been a favor to his buddies. He may have also feared loss of access to the coverage essential to his livelihood at a time when having a shot at a Pulitzer Prize must have been a powerful motivation.
I’m frankly curious as to when Alex Brandon was identified as a potential witness for the prosecution — did he come forward before the indictments were issued, or was he subpoenaed after the fact?
If I were faced with this situation in real time, I admit that I have to wonder: What would I have done? I do know that this is not the path to justice I would wish to appear to support through silence or inaction, especially if it meant that the officers involved would potentially remain on active duty. I realize, too, that it’s also much easier to ponder such things in the abstract and from a distance.
I wonder if the police officers charged in the Henry Glover case would have attempted to conceal Glover’s wrongful death if there had been photos of the scene at Habans Elementary School taken by a respected photojournalist.
Finally, I can’t help but wonder if Alex Brandon witnessed anything else he’s not come forward about, other instances where justice isn’t simply being delayed, but is instead being denied.
Silence Is Violence to Host Mayoral Forum
I received this email today from Silence is Violence:
January 8, 2010
Mayoral forums are multiplying across the city. At an early forum at Xavier University, virtually every candidate identified crime as the number one priority for the new mayor. Yet even during a recent forum at UNO that planned to address public safety and health, only one question focused on combating crime in the city.
It is difficult to address broad concerns in a limited time frame, but given the public consensus about the centrality of public safety in this election, we feel the discussion about crime must become more substantial. SilenceIsViolence regards it as our responsibility to hold the mayoral candidates to a more concrete and thorough conversation about their specific ideas and proposals for making us safer. We have invited all major candidates to take part in a Martin Luther King Day forum, moderated by Lee Zurik, on crime and public safety. Join us on Monday, January 18 at 7pm to hear their ideas and proposals. The forum will be held in an area of the Upper Ninth Ward in desperate need of attention and revitalization, at the corner of St. Claude Avenue and Louisa Street.
Monday, January 18, 7pm:
Mayoral candidiates forum: “Crime, Community, and the Office of the Mayor”
Hosted by SilenceIsViolence, the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force, and the Stooges Brass Band
Goody’s Restaurant, 3200 St. Claude Ave., (504) 470-9000
