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.
[more]
Damaged police station found unlocked
Confidential files strewn everywhere
Saturday, June 07, 2008
By Brendan McCarthy
Staff writer
The New Orleans Police Department said Friday afternoon it is investigating a burglary into its storm-damaged station in the 9th Ward — not long after a television reporter and officials from the Metropolitan Crime Commission walked into the open building to investigate why it had not been secured.
The burglary investigation apparently stems from a WWL-TV news report that found the 5th District police station unsecured — one door unlocked and another wide open — with sensitive files and internal documents in plain view. …
Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, joined the TV crew inside the abandoned station and commented on the scene for the television report.
“For their preliminary investigation, they must have watched the news,” he told The Times-Picayune Friday night.
“You are talking, at the minimum, hundreds of police reports, quite possibly, thousands,” he said of the scene. “In some rooms they were deposited in heaps on the floor. That means the furniture was removed but the reports were left on the floor. They left the most sensitive stuff in the station unattended for 2 1/2 years.”
Some documents were marked confidential and many contained sensitive information. Police reports typically list victim’s names, Social Security numbers, telephone numbers, addresses and more.
In another room, Goyeneche said, dozens of internal investigation files of police officers were open. He also saw internal documents belonging to the district attorney’s office.
Goyeneche, who as head of the watchdog organization often critiques the department, said the NOPD must conduct an internal investigation.
“If anyone is upset at the Police Department, they need to direct their anger internally to identify which individuals were responsible for allowing this breach of security to exist,” he said. “This is a perfect reason why we need an inspector general and an independent police monitor to look into this.”
[more]
5th District police getting new home
Former store to replace trailers
The Times-Picayune
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
By Brendan McCarthy
One of the last New Orleans police district stations being run out of temporary trailers may soon have a new home.
A local developer has agreed to renovate an old furniture store and turn it into a police station that will house the NOPD’s 5th District, according to a newsletter released Monday by the Police Association of New Orleans.
The 5th District covers the St. Roch, St. Claude, Marigny, Bywater, Holy Cross, Lower 9th Ward, Florida and Desire neighborhoods.
The 5th District and the 3rd District are the last two district stations in trailers. Several police bureaus, including the superintendent’s office, also are still using them.
The new station will be located at a former Universal Furniture store in the 2300 block of St. Claude Avenue, according to PANO.
Developer Pres Kabacoff and Doug Thornton, regional vice president of SMG, the Superdome’s managing company, are involved in the project. Both declined to comment Monday, saying they had to brief Mayor Ray Nagin before speaking publicly. Information was not available on the cost of the project or how it would be financed.
An NOPD spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Kabacoff is the chief executive officer of HRI Properties, a New Orleans firm that has developed hotels and apartment and condominium buildings.
The 5th District station comprises a group of trailers parked in a lot next to the flooded former station in the 3900 block of North Claiborne Avenue. Officers still use a portable toilet.
Capt. Michael Glasser, PANO’s president, said working out of trailers has been an inconvenience. “Surely, I can’t imagine anyone is going to be disappointed with a nice, renovated station,” he said.
According to the newsletter, construction is slated to begin almost immediately and the project should be completed within a month. In addition, plans are under way to move the 3rd District station, which is currently in the 1700 block of Moss Street, the newsletter said. That district largely covers the Lakeview, Mid-City and Gentilly neighborhoods. Its personnel is currently housed in a group of trailers. Further details were not available.
Kerrie Ramsdell made an important point about how, more than a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina, vital public safety infrastructure still remains in once-flooded ruins, in this Times-Picayune letter to the editor:
City needs police stations back
Wednesday, April 04, 2007Our 5th District New Orleans police officers are presently working out of trailers with limited resources and technology (as are the 3rd and 7th district officers and the crime lab). It is imperative that the bureaucracy that has limited the move back to a building needs to be held accountable.
Whatever the reasons for holding up the renovations, they are unacceptable to citizens who depend upon the police for our safety and well-being.
We understand that our officers are doing the best they can with the resources they have, but the reality is that we cannot fully address crime prevention if the police don’t have adequate shelter and resources.
If we are committed to decreasing crime in the city, the city leadership must make the renovations of the district command buildings a priority.
We value our 5th District officers too much to let this issue go on any longer. We expect a realistic plan and timeline for these police officers to get back into their building ASAP.
Kerrie Ramsdell
Chairwoman
Marigny Crime Prevention Committee
New Orleans
Meanwhile, where’s the money to rebuild those police facilities?
While I applaud the recovery blueprint proposed by Edward Blakely, I think it worth noting that the $315.9 million to be devoted to the 17 target zones is less than half the $756 million that ICF International is to be paid for (mis)managing the Road Home program — and only a little more than the $275 million the U.S. is spending every day on the Iraq war. Money, as they say, talks.
Jerry Speir
New Orleans
You are currently browsing the archives for the 5th District category.
