Full story at http://www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=50869A former high-ranking member of the New Orleans Police Department entered a guilty plea Wednesday after federal prosecutors charged he worked to deliberately interfere with the Danziger Bridge investigation and to cover-up possible misconduct by officers.
Details of the case are laid out in documents that allege a conspiracy among several officers to drastically change the facts surrounding the incident.
The information is contained in what is called a bill of information -- something that serves much like an indictment and is produced by prosecutors building a criminal case.
Make sure you read the linked Bill of Information.
Essentially a group of New Orleans cops are alleged to have shot and wounded several members of a family crossing a bridge looking for food during Hurricane Katrina. Two family members were killed. They then shoot at a couple of other people on the other side of the bridge. The internal affairs investigators then allegedly conspire with the officers in planting a gun and covering up.
Most of us have probably seen the video of the police manhandling an elderly woman inside her home and confiscating her guns. And most of us are probably aware of the blatantly unlawful confiscation of many other firearms during Katrina from law abiding citizens.
The guilty plea (and what is sure to follow) is proof of the utter corruption and amoral attitude which are apparently widespread throughout the New Orleans P.D. It also again underscores the need for each of us to be responsible for our own safety. You cannot count on police protecting you. In rare circumstances, such as that above, the police may actually be the reason you need to protect yourself.
I generally have high respect for police officers and cannot imagine the difficulties they face. That is why the conduct of these officers here so infuriates me.