Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New Orleans Police Beating Caught on Tape
Bellsouth.com ^ | 10/09/2005 | AP

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.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bettergotovegas; nopd
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 261-279 next last
To: intangible property

Oh yeah that was funny...my son and I love it!


21 posted on 10/09/2005 12:37:49 PM PDT by pitinkie (revenge will be sweet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

Comment #22 Removed by Moderator

To: SuziQ

I'll ditto that from an episode I witnessed last year in the French Quarter. The mounted patrol got hold of a guy and beat the heck out of him in front of the crowd. The crowd cheered so I figured he did something to deserve it.


23 posted on 10/09/2005 12:38:06 PM PDT by debg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: pitinkie
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.

They should really give it to them for such actions and condemn them to two week paid in Las Vegas!

That would show them!

24 posted on 10/09/2005 12:38:07 PM PDT by EGPWS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EGPWS

LOL..lest we forget that happened! I still cant believe they went to Vegas! Guess they forgot they werent still there..."what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"


25 posted on 10/09/2005 12:39:32 PM PDT by pitinkie (revenge will be sweet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: demkicker

I nominate Nagin as a pre-death Darwin Award Winner.
-----
Ain't it amazing? Where did they ever find that maggot anyway? Yes, the golden touch of the liberals...isn't it beautiful??


26 posted on 10/09/2005 12:39:37 PM PDT by EagleUSA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Cap'n Crunch

My take: the guy was bait - positioned by the cameraman and the reporter - in a location known to be frequented by thug-cops.


27 posted on 10/09/2005 12:41:34 PM PDT by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.2)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: pitinkie

Any mention of the little old lady who was jumped in her home by a big brute from the NO police department because she was holding a small handgun and refused to abandon her home?


28 posted on 10/09/2005 12:42:09 PM PDT by OldFriend (One Man With Courage Makes a Majority ~ Andrew Jackson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pitinkie
LOL..lest we forget that happened! I still cant believe they went to Vegas! Guess they forgot they werent still there..."what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"

Yep, a "firm" hand is necessary once in a while.

29 posted on 10/09/2005 12:43:05 PM PDT by EGPWS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: pitinkie

White cops beating up a black old man. Good thing there's no one left New Orleans to riot.


30 posted on 10/09/2005 12:43:40 PM PDT by Rebelbase ("There are millions of mediocre Americans, and they, too, deserve to be represented in the USSC. -RH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pitinkie

This is not a crime, just "misconduct."


31 posted on 10/09/2005 12:43:49 PM PDT by foobeca
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cap'n Crunch
Yea, and that AP guy sure had it coming didn't he.

L

32 posted on 10/09/2005 12:44:46 PM PDT by Lurker (Reality cannot be changed by wishful thinking, good intentions, or legislation.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: solitas

Ah, takin' one for the team eh? I can appreciate that.


33 posted on 10/09/2005 12:46:05 PM PDT by Cap'n Crunch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Rockabilly Rebel

Police brutality bothers me, but I am quicker to explain it as bad judgement based on a tense situation and hyope that the LEO is disciplined appropriately. However, when authority tells people to stop excerising their 1st amendment, the hair goes up on my neck.


34 posted on 10/09/2005 12:46:53 PM PDT by Bear_Slayer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

Yeah, Paparrazzi scum...


35 posted on 10/09/2005 12:47:21 PM PDT by Cap'n Crunch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: pitinkie

Oxymoron = New Orleans Police Department..


36 posted on 10/09/2005 12:47:50 PM PDT by hosepipe (This Propaganda has been edited to include not a small amount of Hyperbole..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EagleUSA
NOPD back to their normal duties of beating up drunks and rolling the tourists. This is about all they are equipped to do. Most police departments have the motto "to protect and Serve", in New Orleans it's "beat and roll".
37 posted on 10/09/2005 12:47:56 PM PDT by Recon Dad ( Now to be known as Force Recon Dad (and proud of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: EagleUSA
"God, what a hellhole of corruption."

Yes, it is. The more info comes out of there, the worse it gets. And Landrieu on the floor of the senate this week asking for billions of taxpayer dollars. I hope the power-hungry posturing politicians don't give it to them. It would be throwing good money after bad, IMO.

Carolyn

38 posted on 10/09/2005 12:48:41 PM PDT by CDHart (The world has become a lunatic asylum and the lunatics are in charge.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: EagleUSA
God, what a hellhole of corruption.

And Nagin is p!ssed because many of the corrupted left to save their lives and most of them don't want to go back!

He's lost his political base....

39 posted on 10/09/2005 12:48:46 PM PDT by EGPWS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: debg
The crowd cheered so I figured he did something to deserve it

The police do not have the authority to beat someone because they deserve it. They have the authority to use force to stop someone from committing a crime or to apprehend a suspect.

We are on dangerous ground when people are cheering the police for beating an individual.

40 posted on 10/09/2005 12:48:49 PM PDT by Bear_Slayer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 261-279 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson