Citizen Crime Watch Blog

Court backs fired officer
Neglect-of-duty probe flawed, panel says
The Times-Picayune
Sunday, August 24, 2008
By Andrew Vanacore

A state appeals court Friday upheld a New Orleans Civil Service Commission decision to reinstate a veteran police captain who was fired in 2006 for neglecting his duties.

Harry Mendoza, a 30-year veteran of the department, was fired after he was tailed for a week during an internal police investigation, which found he often was at home or working out at a gym during hours he said he was at work.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeal agreed with the Civil Service Commission that the investigation was flawed because it failed to take into account Mendoza’s overall job performance or track the hours he spent working beyond what he recorded on his time sheets.

Mendoza has maintained that his job as head of the traffic division required a flexible work schedule and that he was on call at all hours, an assertion backed up by his immediate supervisor and other colleagues, court records show.

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New Orleans justice complex called unrealistic
by Laura Maggi, The Times-Picayune
Monday August 25, 2008, 9:23 PM

In uncommonly frank comments last week in which Douglas O’Dell called the Nagin administration’s vision of recovery impractical and “ethereal, ” the federal recovery coordinator singled out plans for a massive $1 billion justice complex that calls for building new jails, courts and law enforcement facilities over several years.

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Judge’s commute tallies $21,000
by Laura Maggi, The Times-Picayune
Monday August 25, 2008, 9:05 PM

Over almost three years, Criminal District Court Judge Arthur Hunter has tapped more than $21,000 in public money to pay for mileage on his commute to New Orleans from Baton Rouge, where he relocated after the flood.

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Treme club ordered to close
Violence claims lead to 45-day shutdown
The Times-Picayune
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
By Laura Maggi

After more than seven hours of testimony about violent incidents around a Treme nightclub, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on Tuesday determined that Club Fabulous has become a public nuisance, ordering that it be shut down for 45 days while taking measure to improve security.

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Plan swaps sounds of gunfire for jazz
Youth asked to trade violence for creativity
The Times-Picayune
Saturday, August 16, 2008
By Bruce Nolan

A group of churches and nonprofits Friday announced a novel plan to steer young people away from violence and into the teaching hands of some of the city’s best jazz musicians and artists. The price of entry: a gun.

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Ex-DA asked feds to look at killings
She expected judge to toss Danziger case
The Times-Picayune
Friday, August 15, 2008
By Laura Maggi

Anticipating that Criminal District Court Judge Raymond Bigelow would toss the indictment accusing New Orleans police officers of shooting people after Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish District Attorney Keva Landrum-Johnson last week sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, asking the federal government to consider taking over the case.

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Charges rejected against Danziger 7
The Times-Picayune
Thursday, August 14, 2008
By Laura Maggi
Staff writer

Murder and attempted-murder charges against seven New Orleans police officers — accused of shooting unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina — were tossed out Wednesday by Criminal District Court Judge Raymond Bigelow, who concluded that a prosecutor violated grand jury secrecy.

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Bywater stabbing victim identified
The Times-Picayune
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
By Ramon Vargas

The New Orleans coroner’s office on Tuesday identified the 32-year-old woman found dead in her Bywater home Monday morning.

Jessica L. Hawk, a 32-year-old native of Ohio, died from stab wounds, according to John Gagliano, the coroner’s chief investigator.

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Feds get files from recovery nonprofit
New reports allege that NOAH paid for work that wasn’t done
The Times-Picayune
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
By Andrew Vanacore

Federal investigators collected documents Monday from the shuttered New Orleans Affordable Homeownership Corp., the city-chartered and city-financed nonprofit that ran a home-remediation program in 2006 and 2007.

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N.O. police watchdog to focus on big picture
Citizen complaint trends to be analyzed
The Times-Picayune
Saturday, August 09, 2008
By Laura Maggi

Within four months, New Orleans should have its first independent monitor to oversee how the New Orleans Police Department conducts investigations into allegations of police misconduct.

A committee to help city Inspector General Robert Cerasoli fill the position is expected to be established in September. A permanent financing source for the office will be considered by voters in October, as part of the proposed financing stream for the inspector general’s office and the Ethics Review Board. Cerasoli hopes to hire someone by Thanksgiving.

While the office will not have the power to sanction New Orleans Police Department officers or force Superintendent Warren Riley to reopen investigations, the monitor will have access to files and NOPD data, as well as a mandate to regularly inform the public about the Police Department’s actions.

Instead of investigating individual complaints of police misconduct, which are investigated by the NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau, the monitor will take the long view, looking at patterns and trends of particular kinds of complaints, for example, or identifying gaps in training that could lead to a spate of similar incidents.

“It will give that agency the ability to monitor and promote a more effective police department,” said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.

In other cities where a monitor’s office has been created, the position provides a bully pulpit for outside criticism of the police department — criticism that police leaders often consider, proponents said.

“There are many positive signs that the changes we advocated and that they implemented are working to lower the dollar amounts of (legal) judgments and settlements against the department, as well as improving community relations,” said Merrick Bobb, the special counsel in Los Angeles County who monitors the county Sheriff’s Department.

In New Orleans, Riley has pledged to work with the independent monitor, noting that he served on the task force that recommended the creation of the position.

“We have no problem with making this police department better,” Riley said at a recent City Council hearing.

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