Thursday, March 17, 2011

A Strange Combination

This report leaves me feeling both vindicated & concerned for the lives of my fellow New Orleanians. Read the Department of Justice report on the NOPD. You tell me....

5 comments:

Lord David said...

This, alone, should terrify you:

"In one of several shootings involving sergeants, a sergeant, who has been involved in six officer-involved shootings in four years, fired several shots at individuals fleeing from him on foot in a residential area. The sergeant gave conflicting accounts as to why he fired his weapon, and the sergeant’s decision to engage in a foot pursuit was tactically questionable, given that he was by himself, at night, and the only infraction he had cause to believe the subjects had committed was failure to wear seat belts."

WendyW said...

so.much.epic.WRONG! :( C'mon NOPD, shape the eff up!

Cousin Pat said...

Really? After reading this blog I thought you ghost wrote most of the report for the DOJ.

The least they could have done was a footnote citation.

In all seriousness, sunlight is the best disinfectant, and a lot of this has been hidden from view for a long, long time. A lot of excuses have been made for a long, long time. As bad as this report is, it is the real first step required to accept the reality of the situation, and take realistic steps to improve the situation.

Lord David said...

Right as rain, you are, Skywalker...

As bad as anything ever gets, that's where it's improvement will have to start. And the clear light of day does, indeed, whither away those nasty bits...

It also seems apparent that the NOPD is finally going to get dragged into not only that light, but the 21st Century, as well.

It's certainly time that it became an environment that attracted career law enforcement professionals, or at least those seeking to become one.

The feudal system never really works once everyone gets involved, and only really attracts those willing to rule by thuggery. Perhaps a clean slate will bring a higher level of understanding, if not honor.

Giuliana said...

Perhaps the only good things to come out of all this is that with the public scrutiny now being focused upon NOPD, these officers may begin to think twice before continuing their vendetta against young, black, men, "traveling kids", or anyone else who doesn't look white and "mainstream".