New Orleans Police Department

Federal Review Finds Systematic Problems In New Orleans Police Dept.

Ryan J. Reilly | March 17, 2011, 12:15PM

A federal review of the New Orleans Police Department has found the department used excessive force; made unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests; engaged in biased policing based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation; failed to provide effective policing services to those with limited English proficiency; and systematically failure to investigate sexual assaults and domestic violence.

The review by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division confirmed systemic failures in the notorious NOPD which they said "developed over a long period of time." The report comes after the Civil Rights Division has spent nearly a year virtually camped out in New Orleans monitoring the operation of the NOPD.

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Danziger Bridge

DOJ Will Not Seek Death Penalty Against Cops In Danziger Bridge Case

Rachel Slajda | September 10, 2010, 5:34PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the four police officers charged with shooting unarmed civilians on the Danizger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina will not face the death penalty.

The four, charged with civil rights violations and other crimes, now face life in prison if convicted. They are accused of opening fire on several people, killing two and wounding four. Two other officers are charged with crimes related to an alleged cover-up.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

Muslim Group: Cabbie Slashing A Warning On Anti-Muslim Rhetoric

Ryan J. Reilly | August 25, 2010, 6:29PM

Friends and classmates say Michael Enright, the 21-year-old aspiring filmmaker who was arraigned on a hate crimes charges this afternoon for allegedly slashing a NYC cab driver because he was a Muslim, had a serious drinking problem. But a representative of one of the country's predominant Muslim groups told TPMMuckraker that the incident should serve as a warning to those using inflammatory rhetoric about those who practice Islam.

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Hurricane Katrina

Report: NOPD Told Officers To Shoot Looters

Rachel Slajda | August 25, 2010, 9:23AM

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

In the days after Hurricane Katrina, an order reportedly came down through the New Orleans Police Department for officers to shoot looters.

According to a joint investigation by ProPublica, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and PBS Frontline*, some officers report being told they could shoot looters in order to "take back the city."

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Danziger Bridge

Lawyers For NOLA Cops Charged In Danziger Killings To Meet With DOJ

Rachel Slajda | August 24, 2010, 9:37AM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

Lawyers for the four current and former New Orleans police officers charged with killing civilians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will meet with Justice Department lawyers today to urge the DOJ not to pursue the death penalty.

The four were charged in July with violating the civil rights of unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge when they allegedly opened fire, killing two and wounding four, and then, allegedly, covered up what happened on the bridge.

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Danziger Bridge

Two NOLA Cops Plead Not Guilty In Danziger Case

Rachel Slajda | July 27, 2010, 6:09PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

Two more New Orleans police officers have pleaded not guilty to charges that they conspired to cover up the alleged police shootings of unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

Archie Kaufman and Gerard Dugue were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.

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Danziger Bridge

Three Cops Accused In Danziger Shootings To Be Held Until Trial

Rachel Slajda | July 16, 2010, 4:24PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

Three of the New Orleans police officers charged with shooting unarmed civilians in the days after Hurricane Katrina will be held without bond until their September trial, a judge ruled today.

Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius and Anthony Villavaso face charges of civil rights violations for allegedly killing two civilians and wounding four others on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans. Their trial is scheduled for Sept. 13. They have pleaded not guilty.

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Danziger Bridge

Three Cops Accused In Danziger Bridge Shootings Plead Not Guilty

Rachel Slajda | July 14, 2010, 4:11PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

Three New Orleans police officers charged this week in the post-Katrina shootings on Danziger Bridge have pleaded not guilty.

Robert Gisevius, Kenneth Bowen and Anthony Villavaso pleaded not guilty today to charges of civil rights violations and conspiracy for allegedly shooting unarmed civilians in the days after Hurricane Katrina, killing two and wounding four, and then attempting to cover it up.

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Danziger Bridge

DOJ Charges Six NOPD Officers Involved In Danziger Bridge Shooting

Rachel Slajda | July 13, 2010, 4:18PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

The Justice Department has charged four New Orleans police officers with opening fire on unarmed civilians in the days after Hurricane Katrina, killing two and wounding four. The DOJ has also charged them, and two other officers, with conspiracy relating to the resulting cover-up.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and Attorney General Eric Holder announced the charges in an afternoon press conference today, five years after the shootings on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans.

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Danziger Bridge

Fifth Officer Charged In Connection With Danziger Bridge Shootings

Jillian Rayfield | May 21, 2010, 1:19PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

A fifth officer has been charged in connection with the Danziger Bridge shootings, in which police officers in New Orleans allegedly shot unarmed civilians on the bridge just days after Hurricane Katrina.

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New Orleans Police Department

Feds Announce Probe Of New Orleans Police Dept.

Justin Elliott | May 17, 2010, 4:40PM

Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

In a press conference in New Orleans today, Justice Department Civil Rights chief Thomas Perez announced the DOJ is launching a formal assessment of the city's troubled police department, the first step to installing federal oversight.

The Times-Picayune reports:

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New Orleans Police Department

New Orleans Mayor Asks Feds To Reform City's Notorious Police Department

Justin Elliott | May 5, 2010, 5:39PM

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu

Just two days after taking office, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu held a press conference today to announce he has asked the Justice Department to intervene and force a "complete transformation" of the city's troubled police department.

"I have inherited a police force that has been described by many as one of the worst police departments in the country. This assessment is made based on several indicators including the number of violent crimes, incidents of rape, and malfeasance by members of the police department," Landrieu wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

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Danziger Bridge

Civilian Pleads Guilty For Lying To FBI About Post-Katrina Shootings

Justin Elliott | April 28, 2010, 3:56PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

A man who was on the scene of the deadly police shootings of unarmed civilians on Danziger Bridge in the days after Hurricane Katrina pleaded guilty today to lying to an FBI agent about what happened that day, and for illegally possessing a firearm.

The guilty plea from David Ryder, 45, follows several guilty pleas from police officers who were involved in covering up the shooting, which left two unarmed civilians dead and four seriously injured. The Justice Department press release on the case describes how Ryder misled an FBI agent in the case:

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Danziger Bridge

Fourth New Orleans Officer Charged In Coverup Of Post-Katrina Shootings

Justin Elliott | April 16, 2010, 2:35PM

The Danziger Bridge in New Orleans

A fourth New Orleans police officer was charged today in connection with the coverup of the police shootings of unarmed civilians on Danziger Bridge in New Orleans less than a week after Hurricane Katrina struck.

Officer Robert Barrios is accused of conspiring to obstruct justice with other officers who were on the scene when police killed two people and seriously wounded four others in what the Times-Picayune editorial board recently dubbed a "massacre."

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New Orleans

Justice Department Moves To Reform Notorious New Orleans Police Department

Justin Elliott | April 13, 2010, 9:39AM

The federal criminal investigation of the police shootings of civilians on Danziger Bridge in post-Katrina New Orleans is just part of what the Justice Department acknowledges is an intensive review of the city's notorious police department. One option under review, TPMmuckraker has learned, is filing a civil rights lawsuit against the city in a move similar to the one the Justice Department took against the Los Angeles Police Department a decade ago.

"Criminal prosecutions alone, I have learned, are not enough to change the culture of a police department," Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez told TPMmuckraker in an interview Monday.

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Danziger Bridge

New Orleans Cop Explains How Police Gunned Down Unarmed Civilians In Post-Katrina Incident

Justin Elliott | April 8, 2010, 9:47AM

Fmr. New Orleans Police Officer Michael Hunter, center, shown in 2007 before turning himself in for an earlier set of charges in the Danziger shootings

A former New Orleans police officer has given authorities a shocking account of the killing by police of two unarmed civilians and the wounding of four others on Danziger Bridge in post-Katrina New Orleans.

The account of the September 2005 incident by former Officer Michael Hunter, 33, who pleaded guilty yesterday to charges associated with the coverup of the shootings, is contained in a court filing that you can read in full below.

In this excerpt, Hunter describes another officer shooting Ronald Madison, 40, a mentally disabled man, in the back with a shotgun. A second officer then beat the dying man on the ground, according to Hunter.

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Danziger Bridge

Third Cop Charged -- And Will Plead Guilty -- In Post-Katrina Shootings Cover-Up

Justin Elliott | March 30, 2010, 5:41PM

Officer Michael Hunter of the New Orleans Police

A third New Orleans police officer was charged today in connection with the 2005 shootings of unarmed civilians by police on Danziger Bridge, which took place less than a week after Katrina hit the city.

Michael Hunter will plead guilty to obstruction of justice and misprision of felony charges, his attorney tells WDSU in New Orleans. In the past month or so, two other officers have pleaded guilty to charges related to covering up the killings.

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Michael Lohman

Ex-New Orleans Cop Pleads Guilty To Massive Cover Up In Post-Katrina Shootings

Justin Elliott | February 25, 2010, 1:07PM

The Danziger Bridge (Fmr. New Orleans Police Lt. Michael Lohman inset)

A veteran New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to orchestrating an elaborate cover-up of a shooting in the days after Katrina in which police gunned down six unarmed city residents, killing two and seriously wounding four.

The development -- which the Times-Picayune calls a "potentially devastating blow" to other officers linked to the case -- is the first plea in a wide-ranging federal probe of several post-Katrina police shootings. The Feds are reportedly looking at possible crimes in both the shootings themselves as well as the subsequent investigations.

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