NEWS > 04 August 2006

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Times Picayune - New Orleans,L
04 August 2006

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Discipline cases against cops

The New Orleans Police Department's efforts to enforce stricter discipline standards after widely publicized lapses during Hurricane Katrina were dented this week when 39 prestorm internal investigations were thrown out because the time limit to complete the cases expired.

Civil Service Hearing Examiner Harry Tervalon Jr. ruled that the investigations, all started before the storm, were not completed within the mandated 60-day time limit and the city was late in requesting extensions. Superintendent Warren Riley wrote a letter itemizing the storm-related delays in finishing the cases, but Tervalon ruled Wednesday that the guidelines don't offer any wiggle room.

"They have to ask for an extension within the first 30 days of opening the investigation," Tervalon said. "That's the civil service rule and we have to abide by it. Otherwise, 60 days is 60 days."

The investigations were mostly administrative, the bulk of them for charges of missing court, losing equipment or failing to follow orders. However, the list also included charges of using unauthorized force, filing a false report, failing to secure the safety of a juvenile and cursing a fellow officer.

In his three-page letter, Riley cited several reasons why the clock should not expire, including the post-Katrina flooding of the Public Integrity Bureau office where the files were kept; the department's priority of dealing with more than 200 desertion cases, most of which originated during the storm; and the retirement of the sergeant who maintained the Public Integrity Bureau database.

Riley wrote that a list of the pending cases was finally restored after "a very cumbersome process," yielding 49 open cases. Of those, however, 10 cases involved officers no longer with the force. That left 39 cases to be resolved.

At Wednesday's civil service hearing, Tervalon examined the list and immediately tossed out 14 cases because the 60-day time limit expired before Katrina. Of the remaining cases, he listened to arguments from attorneys on both sides, deciding that "it was certainly reasonable for the city to ask for an extension," but "waiting until July to ask for an extension is excessive."

Assistant Chief Marlon Defillo, commander of the Public Integrity Bureau, argued that "after the storm, the database that kept track of the cases was destroyed. With PIB having a temporary office on the cruise ship, we didn't have access to those files. When we returned, we started an audit which we only recently completed."

But Tervalon said: "I know the department was very busy with desertion cases, but the rules are the rules."

Sgt. Michael Glasser, president of the Police Association of New Orleans, applauded Tervalon's decision. He said the leftover cases involved mostly minor allegations that never should have been taken up by Public Integrity in the first place.

"It was a problem of their own creation by taking on cases that could easily have been handled by a supervisor," Glasser said.

Defillo balked at describing the dismissed cases as minor, but he said none of them rose to the level of criminal violations or involved infractions that could taint an officer. He noted, however, that the Police Department will continue its program of stepped-up accountability and administrative violations such as missed court appearances will be vigorously pursued.

"We abide by the ruling," Defillo said, "but we also have put more checks and balances in place so these types of cases are handled on a timely basis. We will stay on top of this."

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Article sourced from

Times Picayune - New Orleans,L04 August 2006

Discipline cases against cops

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Times Picayune - New Orleans,L
04 August 2006