Posted on 10/09/2005 12:13:05 PM PDT by pitinkie
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - At least one police officer repeatedly punched a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication, and another officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations.
There will be a criminal investigation, and three New Orleans Police Department officers will be suspended Sunday, arrested and charged with simple battery, Capt. Marlon Defillo said.
"We have great concern with what we saw this morning," Defillo said after he and about a dozen other high-ranking police department officials watched the APTN footage Sunday. "It's a troubling tape, no doubt about it. ... This department will take immediate action."
The assaults come as the department, long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption, struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.
The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the man at least four times in the head Saturday night as he stood outside a bar. The suspect, Robert Davis, appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. Another officer then kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.
Meanwhile, an officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials and explained he was working, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.
"I've been here for six weeks trying to keep ... alive. ... Go home!" shouted the officer, who later identified himself as S.M. Smith.
Police said Davis, 64, of New Orleans, was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation.
Davis, who is black, was subdued at the intersection of Conti and Bourbon streets. Three of the officers appeared to be white, and the other was light skinned. Defillo said race was not an issue.
Three of the five officers involved were New Orleans officers, and two others appeared to be federal officers. Numerous agencies have sent police to help with patrols in the aftermath of Katrina.
Under normal circumstances, it takes unusually offensive behavior to trigger an arrest on Bourbon Street. But New Orleans police have been working under stressful conditions since the hurricane.
Officers slept in their cars and worked 24-hour shifts after the storm. Three-quarters lost their homes and their families are scattered across the country.
Many officers deserted their posts in the days after Katrina, and some were accused of joining in the looting that broke out. At least two committed suicide.
Conditions have improved - officers now have beds on a cruise ship - but they don't have private rooms and are still working five, 12-hour days.
Compass, the police superintendent, resigned Sept. 27. Despite more than 10 years of reform efforts dating to before he took office, police were dogged by allegations of brutality and corruption.
On Friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that New Orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars - including 41 new Cadillacs - as the storm closed in.
well it sounds like new orleans is back to normal.
hahahahahaha... post 136 is pure brilliance on your part.
You would make a fine police officer. You lose your temper over a few words on a website. Then again, we'd weed people like you out.
You were an easy fish to catch.
I said he sounded like ..., not that he was a ...
BTW, he drew first blood with the name calling, and we and know how that story turns out.
LMAO, in what way did I lose my temper? I provided a description of your arguement style from my experience with bad cops.
I feel I've adequately answered your question. You don't seem to like my answer. OK.. you win, I simply can't refute your awesome arguments.
When I climb into my cruiser I'm the King of the world, Master of my dominion of doughnuts, everyone who dares stand in my way get's beat down, whether it makes the national news or not.
Are you going to have me thrown into prison with the aids guys?
So, you condone smacking citizens around because you don't like what they are doing. Then you have the absolute gall to take some kind of cheap shot at me.
As far as knowing what you do for a living, I'm pretty familiar with it. I run a neighborhood watch, participate in my towns Citizens Police Academy, and do ride alongs with decent cops every couple of months.
I also am employed in my counties Office Of Emergency Management and have the privilege of interacting with good cops every day I get up and go to work. I know what they do, and I know how hard their job is.
I hear the calls of decent professional police and firefighters every single day.
I also understand how much more difficult their job is because of lunkheads who manage to slip by the rigorous interview process and background checks conducted by most police departments.
I wonder what your Departments HR people would think of you condoning smacking reporters around even if you said it jokingly. I seriously doubt they would find such a thing very amusing. I know the Chief of my towns department wouldn't find it too amusing.
I don't either. In fact the thought of you with a badge and a gun kind of scares the crap out of me.
L
Will they have a 'Rodney King' style riot when everyone gets back to town?
L
The last sentence in your post 136. You'd get a spankin' for that kind of talk to people when your a police officer mister.
They'd even say bad things about you in the media.
More information is needed to make a valid assessment of the incident. Yes, one first glance the police were definitely using force. Whether or not that force was excessive depends on what preceded it.
No, I'm just going to weep quietly for the citizens of your community.
L
You must work for the media. If you don't you should. Sensationalize, take the high ground and claim moral superiority.
I take my hat off to you.
We all like to spear libs. Understandable. Few here are libs, especially on a sunday afternoon. We tend to agree on the majority of conservatice principles and eh for a Free Republic. When "The Authorities" abuse thier authority like th KGB, our Free REpublic isn't as free as it should be.
I know being an LEo is damn hard. Every LEO knows that going in. They have to be part lawyer, part race driver, part social worker, part combat soldier, part firefighter, part secretary and damn good at dealing with deadly boredom.
It does not justify in any way a blatant disregard for rule of law.
Your going to weep quietly for the citizens in my community?????
Weep quietly for the citizens of my community???
I have entered the Twilight Zone.
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