Rise and Fall of the N.O.P.D.
by Jeff Crouere

After almost eight years as Police Superintendent of New Orleans, Richard Pennington decided to run for Mayor of New Orleans in 2002. He had performed a miraculous job leading the police force, reducing the murder rate from a high of 421 murders in 1994 to a low of 159 five years later. While he was Superintendent, the N.O.P.D. was perceived in a more positive way in the community, the number of officers increased and the public felt safer.

Unfortunately, Pennington had a hard time conveying to voters the success he created at the N.O.P.D. He was not a good public speaker, just a good public servant. Pennington lost the Mayor’s race to glib Cox Cable executive Ray Nagin who spoke of bold ideas on how to revitalize New Orleans. Nagin claimed he would sell the airport to raise money for infrastructure, revitalize public education and build a new city hall. He had many other ideas, and while he accomplished none of them in office, they sounded good to the people and Nagin easily defeated the good cop, but bad politician, Richard Pennington.

Eventually, Pennington moved to Atlanta and he is now their Police Chief, dealing with another volatile urban situation. Back in New Orleans, a mere 3 ½ years after the Mayor’s race, New Orleans is on life support. Of course, Katrina is a major reason, but problems in the N.O.P.D. are a contributing cause as well. One of Ray Nagin’s first actions was to appoint his lifelong friend Eddie Compass as Police Chief. Compass was a good beat cop, but no leader. He was inarticulate, did not inspire confidence and was obviously overwhelmed as Police Chief. Very quickly, the murder rate rose and by 2004 it stood at 10 times the national average, as 265 people were killed on the streets of New Orleans.

By August of this year, 192 murders were committed, setting the pace for another major increase. Then Katrina blew into town and everything that was bad got worse. In the tumultuous and horrific flooding of the city, 249 N.O.P.D. officers deserted their fellow officers, their citizens and their post. They decided to forgo the motto of “To Protect and Serve” and focus on their own needs. Understandably, it was difficult after Katrina, but in public service, an officer must put the needs of the community over his or her own fears or concerns. Incredibly, some N.O.P.D. officers were also captured on tape looting stores and, according to some reports, stealing expensive cars.

Into this storm of controversy strode Chief Compass, who only made matters worse. He humiliated himself with embarrassing interviews on the Oprah Show and other media outlets. Compass exaggerated the facts of Katrina and bragged about his own bravery, while others questioned his whereabouts at the beginning of the storm and how so many of his officers could have deserted. Compass eventually retired, most probably pushed from the position by a disappointed Mayor Nagin.

Now, a video tape has surfaced showing white police officers beating an incapacitated 64 year old African-American man in the French Quarter. It also shows an AP news producer being pushed and cursed by another police officer. As a result, three officers have been arrested, charged with battery and suspended from the force.

New Orleans police officers are understandably tired and stressed after the devastation of Katrina and the aftermath. Many of them have lost homes themselves; however, it does not excuse a vicious public beating of an unarmed man. This is a police force that has been in the spotlight ever since Katrina and what America is seeing is pretty ugly.

This week, business owners have been complaining that looting is continuing in many areas of the city, even with so few people in New Orleans. If so many crimes are being committed with a reduced population, assistance from other police forces and the National Guard, what is going to happen when more people come back to the city and all this help leaves? It could be that New Orleans is suffering from a severe lack of officers. Beside the 249 who have been dismissed for desertion, there are allegations surfacing that hundreds more are on the payroll as “phantom officers,” people who are receiving checks and used to bolster numbers but not really serving on the force.

The responsibility now rests with the new Superintendent Warren Riley, a police officer with a track record of over 20 years. He is articulate and seems poised and self assured. He exhibits good leadership skills, which were in such short supply with Eddie Compass. However, he also has skeletons in his closet. During his career, he has been suspended five times, including one case in which he did not follow-up on a report made by a woman who feared for her life. The woman claimed that she was being threatened by a police officer and went to Riley for help. Tragically, she eventually died and Riley was suspended for three days for his lack of action.

Because of his suspensions, some people have questions about Riley, but the future of the city of New Orleans is in his hands. If New Orleans is to ever recover, the N.O.P.D. must provide a measure of public safety. Otherwise, good citizens will not feel safe enough to return. Can Riley do the job? A good first test will be how he handles this beating incident. If he acts quickly and forcefully and shows the public that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in the N.O.P.D., then maybe the force has a chance to recover and lead the effort to rebuild New Orleans. The world, including the former citizens of New Orleans, will be watching.

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:30 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and Noon till 2 p.m. weekdays on several Louisiana radio stations. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com.

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