NEW ORLEANS -- In a letter to Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleans Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux criticized the efforts of NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley in his response to the high-profile Danziger Bridge case, saying he "repeatedly refused to comply with the law" and prevented the independent police monitor from performing its duties in the investigation.
To read the full letter, click here.
Quatrevaux provided a laundry list of alleged violations to the law. He said the department did not provide records of disciplinary action or complaints after being asked in September of last year.
Quatrevaux said the department would not provide public integrity bureau files before cases was completed and closed, despite a city ordinance saying the police monitor must be provided with all documents prior to disciplinary hearings.
He also said the NOPD rejected the Office of Inspector General's offer to pay for a shared database, which the inspector general said "is essential for tracking police misconduct complaints." He said while Riley agreed to the database months later in February, the chief of the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau said his bureau's files would remain under prohibition against cooperating with the police monitor until there was a change in administrations.
"The black eye and dark moment will never go away until there is trusted third-party oversight into allegations of police misconduct," Quatrevaux wrote in the letter. "The odious smell hanging over the NOPD will affect all police officers, good and bad, until someone the public trusts certifies that the NOPD is properly investigating allegations of police misconduct.
"The Superintendent has repeatedly refused to comply with the law. The Superintendent said he is shocked by the misconduct of some of his officers, but ordered the very officers charged with investigating complaints to ignore the law as it applies to the NOPD."
Ceeon Quiett, a spokeswoman with the Nagin administration, issued the following statement:
"Having received the Inspector General's letter, Mayor Nagin will have a follow up conversation with Superintendent Riley. However, with multiple federal investigations of the Police Department currently underway, the Inspector General cannot be guaranteed unfettered access until those federal investigations are completed."
