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Police Brutality In The New Orleans Police Department

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Introduction The New Orleans Police Department is an organization that struggled long before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August of 2005. Many residents feared the department and some would say that “the department was infected by a culture of discrimination, abuse, and lawlessness” (Ramsey, 2015). Beginning in the 1980’s, police brutality became a major issue in the city, which still continues now, almost 12 years later. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it seemed that the situation was only worse. Residents of New Orleans were experiencing even higher levels of police brutality and with not much control over the city, there appeared to be no form of relief coming any time soon. However, in May of 2010, the Department of Justice …show more content…

The police department ran into numerous problems including power outages and stations being completely engulfed in water. In a ABC newscast interview a year after Katrina, Tony Kenatella, a police captain in New Orleans, shared his experience during the aftermath. The few remaining officers created “Fork Wal-Mart” to use as their temporary police station (ABC News, 2006). While most officers fled prior to Katrina, a few remained to try to keep the crime rate to a minimal amount. However, criminal activity prevailed and corruption throughout the police department remained heavy. “With lawlessness engulfing the city and the cops’ leadership absent, individual acts of police heroism were overshadowed by allegations of brutality” (Kahn, 2010). The city was becoming what seemed like a battleground with over 10 civilians being shot, 3 of which died. Officers were eventually given orders to shoot looters. According to A.C. Thomas, “Some officers who heard it say they refused to carry it out. Others say they understood it as a fundamental change in the standards on deadly force, which allow police to fire only to protect themselves or others from what appears to be an imminent physical threat” (Ramsey, 2015). However, somewhere in that order, officers took it too far and began to use their force wrongly. Keenon McCann, Matthew McDonald, Danny Brumfield, James Brissette and Ronald Madison in the Danziger …show more content…

Seeing the vast amounts of corruption, The Department of Justice issued an investigation in 2010. After reviewing the investigation for a year, The Department of Justice documented a “158-page report on the state of the department” (Ramsey, 2015). The report included the “unconstitutional conduct and violation of federal law in several areas” (Ramsey, 2015). Later, in January 2013, the Department of Justice issued a decree to reform their department. In 2009, the Office of the Independent Police Monitor was created to create a way for civilians to share information. In 2014, the police department became the first to use body cameras, which made it the first department to do so (Ramsey, 2015). Police Chief Harrison says, “All of it working at the same time is turning us now into a model police department. We were slow moving getting started but we’re feeling traction and momentum now going forward” (Ramsey, 2015). Another organization modeled to help reduce the corruption of the police department and fight for reform is ‘Safe Streets, Strong Communities.’ The founder, Yvette Thierry is a relative of one victim of the unjustifiable shootings shortly after Katrina. Their hard work helped push for the investigation into the department. While the decree mainly focused on the corruption circulating through the officers, it also focused largely on the canine unit.

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