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BAD BOYS What you Gonna do? Bad Policing Post-Katrina

Taylor Woods Marjorie Breda. BAD BOYS What you Gonna do? Bad Policing Post-Katrina.

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BAD BOYS What you Gonna do? Bad Policing Post-Katrina

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  1. Taylor Woods Marjorie Breda BAD BOYSWhat you Gonna do?Bad Policing Post-Katrina

  2. "We cannot allow our police officers to shoot and kill our citizens without justification, like rabid dogs. The rules governing the use of lethal force are not suspended during a state of emergency. Everyone, including police officers, must abide by the law of the land.“ -Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan

  3. Outline • Danziger Bridge incident • Henry Glover case • Response of social contract theorists to New Orleans post-Katrina • Conclusions

  4. Danziger Bridge Incident • September 4 2005, Chef Menteur Highway • 7 police officers involved in shooting 8 people stranded looking for water • 4 victims wounded, 2 (James Brissette and Ronald Madison) killed • Jeffrey Lehrmann found guilty of cover up • Michael Lohman awaiting sentencing for obstruction of justice

  5. Sergeant Kenneth Bowen • 1 count first-degree murder of James Brissette • 6 counts attempted first-degree murder: • Leonard Bartholomew III • Susan Bartholomew • Lesha Bartholomew • Jose Holmes Jr. • Lance Madison • Ronald Madison

  6. Sergeant Robert Gisevius Officer Anthony Villavaso 1 count first-degree murder James Brissette 4 counts attempted first-degree: Leonard Bartholomew III Susan Bartholomew Lesha Bartholomew Jose Holmes Jr. • 1 count first-degree murder of James Brissette • 2 counts attempted first-degree murder: • Lance Madison • Ronald Madison

  7. Officer Robert Faulcon Officer Robert Barrios 4 counts of attempted first-degree murder: Leonard Bartholomew III Susan Bartholomew Lesha Bartholomew Jose Holmes Jr. • 2 counts of attempted first-degree murder of James Brissette and Ronald Madison • 4 counts attempted first-degree murder: • Leonard Bartholomew III • Susan Bartholomew • Lesha Bartholomew • Jose Holmes Jr.

  8. Officer Michael Hunter Officer Ignatius Hills 1 count attempted second-degree murder of Leonard Bartholomew III • 2 counts attempted first-degree murder: • Lance Madison • Ronald Madison

  9. Jeffrey Lehrmann • Pleaded guilty to concealing knowledge of a federal crime • “Lehrmann acknowledged that he and fellow cops invented witnesses, planted a gun, twisted and changed victims' statements, and falsified reports.” • Sentenced to 3 years in prison, the maximum for his charge http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/09/jeffrey_lehrmann_ex-nopd_offic.html

  10. Michael Lohman • Plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice • “Lohman was aware that a subordinate planted a gun at the scene. He also wrote a 17-page police report full of lies about the incident and encouraged officers at the scene to remove shell casings.” • “Lohman understood that the investigator was going to use the gun as evidence to justify the shooting of the civilians, and he went along with that plan to plant evidence.” • “[He] admitted that he knew that the civilians on the bridge had not actually possessed guns, and he knew that the investigator had also falsified statements by the civilians” http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/02/police_supervisor_pleads_guilt.html

  11. Investigation • All 7 police indicted on 12/28/2006 • All 7 turned themselves in on 1/2/2007 • Those with first-degree murder charges not eligible for bail • Those with only attempted murder charges offered bail of $100,000 per count • Only Hunter posted bail on that day • Bowen, Gisevius, Villavaso and Faulcon released from OPP on 1/5/2007, fitted with ankle monitors and put on house arrest • On 8/13/2008 all murder and attempted murder charges against the officers were dropped on account that an Orleans Parish prosecutor improperly revealed a piece of testimony to other officers • “"The violation is clear, and indeed, uncontroverted. The state improperly disclosed grand jury testimony to another police officer," -Judge Raymond Bigelow http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/murder_charges_against_seven_n.html

  12. Final Charges • After murder charges were dropped by Judge Raymond Bigelow, the FBI picked up the case • On 7/13/2010, the following charges were issued: • Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso are all charged with a civil rights violation for shooting James Brissette and injuring members of the Bartholomew family • Faulcon is charged with a civil rights violation for killing Ronald Madison • Bowen is charged with a civil rights violation for kicking and stomping Madison after he had already been fatally wounded • All four also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/07/us_attorney_general_to_discuss.html

  13. Walker Responds to Danziger Bridge Police Actions • Walker says the typical victim is thought to be white • All those killed or injured were black • Walker says typical offender is thought to be African American or Hispanic (non-white) • 3 of the 7 offenders were white

  14. Henry Glover Case • 5 officers indicted on 7/30/2010: • David Warren • Lt. Robert Italiano • Lt. Travis McCabe • Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann • Officer Greg McCabe

  15. David Warren • Accused of shooting Glover in the face • “The charge -- deprivation of rights under color of law -- is a capital offense, though the U.S. attorney general would have to make the decision to seek the death penalty” • Also charged with use of a weapon during commission of a crime • Felony with a minimum 10 year sentence http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/06/five_nopd_officers_indicted_in.html

  16. Lts. Travis McCabe and Robert Italiano • Both charged with fabricating a report with intent to mislead further investigation and lying to FBI agents about their knowledge of the crime • McCabe is also charged with perjury • Italiano faces a sentence of up to 25 years • McCabe faces a sentence up to 30 years

  17. Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann and Officer Greg McRae • Each charged with 5 felony counts • Beating of 2 men (Tanner and King) who attempted to help Glover • Burning of Glover’s body • Obstructing a federal investigation through destruction of evidence • Each faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted

  18. Dwayne Scheuermann • “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire”: Past allegations against Scheuermann… • Upwards of 50 complaints prior to Katrina • “…From accusations of brutality and rape to improper searches and seizures. But none of the allegations ever stuck…Every time, Scheuermann was cleared and sent back onto the streets.” • “He has also fired his gun in at least 15 different incidents, wounding at least four people. Experts on police practices say the number is unusual -- most officers never fire their weapons.” The baddest bad boy? http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/10/scheuermann.html

  19. Despite the complaints, past praises….. • “Amid the complaints, Scheuermann has received plenty of commendations. and awards depicting [him] as a top cop, a relentless workhorse whose arrest numbers are unparalleled and a leader who has patrolled the most dangerous corridors of the city over a 23-year career..” • Seen as a hero to other policemen • President Bill Clinton bestowed a national award on him for "outstanding productivity throughout his career." http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/10/scheuermann.html

  20. Worden’s Idea of Comraderie • All the cover-ups and falsification of reports were due to the conditioning of police to always look out for their fellow officers within their sense of “police culture” • “This culture emphasizes the danger of the work environment, the consequent dependence of officers on each other for assistance and protections…and the need to maintain one’s authority” (p. 4) Brothers in blue

  21. What would Hobbes say? • Post-Katrina New Orleans was in a state of nature due to the fact that there was “so little security of life and property, that all live in constant fear and productive work is pointless” (p. 2) • In this state, the police officers embodied the idea of the advantage of anticipation by “striking first or gathering power so that one will be in a stronger relative position when the battle erupts…[they hope] to improve one’s chances of success”. (p. 3) It’s a state of nature! STRIKE FIRST!

  22. What Rousseau Thinks Hmmm… • Rousseau would say that the NOPD officers involved in this incident were not legitimate leaders because they were not pursuing the general will or “the ideal will of the community for its common good” (p. 206) for the victims of Hurricane Katrina • Due to the illegitimacy of their leaders post-Katrina, New Orleans citizens were not required to obey their commanders because, according to Rousseau • “the commands of an unjust “sovereign” are not conductive to civil peace, and hence to the possibility of moral life, and this fact relieves him of all moral obligation to obey them” (p. 213) • In accordance with the first law of nature that “entitles a person to give priority to his own self-preservation over that of others” (p. 213), the citizens New Orleans were justified in their looting.

  23. Conclusions • New Orleans post-Katrina was defined by the Lockean state of nature, or “the condition of men living together without legitimate government” (p.99) • In this state of nature, there was already a system of government in place, but it had failed to protect the citizens, therefore reducing New Orleans to a state of nature • This opposes Hobbes view of the state of nature which is a state in which there is no government whatsoever in place

  24. http://media.nola.com/law_and_disorder/photo/law-and-disorder-danziger-fbijpg-9e64c08f91cc65dd_medium.jpg-Danzinger Bridge photo • http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Jul/Week3/15665597.jpg - James Brisette and Ronald Madison • http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/09/danziger_bridge_shooting_suspe.html - Kenneth Bowen • http://blog.nola.com/tpcrimearchive/2006/12/7_no_cops_indicted_in_killings.html - Danzinger bridge quotes • http://i.huffpost.com/gen/158275/thumbs/s-ROBERT-BARRIOS-large.jpg- Robert Barrios • http://www.propublica.org/images/nola/stories/ap_michael_hunter_570x400_100331.jpg- Michael hunter • http://media.nola.com/crime_impact/photo/ignatius-hillsjpg-d75d9f7cc3aff442_medium.jpg- Ignatius Hills • http://thumbnails.truveo.com/0020/69/D7/69D7A853E0E1FCD48952C0_Large.jpg-Lehrmann photo • http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/murder_charges_against_seven_n.html • http://blog.nola.com/tpcrimearchive/2007/04/cops_attorneys_can_look_at_gra.html • http://blog.nola.com/tpcrimearchive/2007/01/judge_releases_4_police_office.html • http://blog.nola.com/tpcrimearchive/2007/01/cheers_jeers_greet_jailbound_o.html • http://blog.nola.com/tpcrimearchive/2006/12/7_no_cops_indicted_in_killings.html • http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/02/police_investigator_encouraged.html - Lohman photo • http://homepage.newschool.edu/het//profiles/image/Rousseau.gif -Rousseau photo • http://homepage.newschool.edu/het//profiles/image/hobbes.jpg - Hobbes photo

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