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SCUT TLeBUT T 8 C O M M e N TA R y 9 C L A N Cy D U B O S 13 B L A k e P O N TC H A R T R A I N 15
knowledge is power
The Chief’s Liaison Retired NOPD officer Daniel Cazenave just started his second year working as the department’s liaison to the U.S. Justice Department on consent decree talks. His job description includes being the department’s spokesperson for the decree — but the city won’t make him available for comment.
Rebirth Brass Band
became the first New Orleans brass band ever to win a Grammy Award when Rebirth of New Orleans, their latest album, won the Best Regional Roots Music Album category at the Feb. 12 music awards in Los Angeles. Three of the five albums in the category were by Louisiana artists. Also nominated were C.J. Chenier for Can’t Sit Down and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys for Grand Isle.
Dave Bartholomew
received the Grammy Awards’ Trustees Award of Special Merit at a special ceremony Feb. 11. The 91-yearold musician, bandleader and trumpeter, who co-wrote Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” and “Goin’ Home,” has been active in New Orleans music for more than 50 years in the fields of jazz, R&B and rock and roll, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Bartholomew’s sons accepted the award for him.
By Charles Maldonado
O
Frank Brigtsen
On Feb. 6, the day before the advisory board announcement, the city renewed, for a second year, its $65,000 annual contract with Daniel V. Cazenave. Since February 2011, Cazenave has worked as Serpas’ deputy chief of staff and liaison to the DOJ during consent decree talks. Cazenave’s company, Daniel V. Cazenave, LLC, which he formed in March 2011 shortly after securing the NOPD contract, is listed
NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas casts an eye on the 2011 Mardi Gras. His department will soon operate under a federal consent decree, and his deputy chief of staff, Daniel Cazenave, is earning $65,000 per year as liaison between the NOPD and the U.S. Department of Justice. PHOTO By CHeRyL GeRBeR
will be honored by the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University with its annual Lafcadio Hearn Award, which is presented to a culinary figure who has had a “long-term positive influence on Louisiana and U.S. cuisine and culture.” Brigtsen is the award-winning chef of Brigtsen’s Restaurant; he reopened the landmark Harahan seafood restaurant Charlie’s several years ago. The chef will be honored with a dinner at the university March 5.
Richard McCarthy,
executive director of the Crescent City Farmers Market, won the “Heroes of the New South” award from Southern Living. The magazine recognizes people who support, curate and continue Southern food traditions. The runner-up was New Orleans culinary historian and radio host Poppy Tooker. The two will be featured in the March issue of Southern Living, on newsstands this week.
PAGe 11
c’est
?
Should religiouslyaffiliated businesses have to provide contraception to employees under their health-care plans?
Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com
56%
yes
44%
No
THis weeK’s question:
What do you think of roping off Mardi Gras paradewatching space in advance of parade days?
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > february 21 > 2012
n Feb. 7, New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Ronal Serpas formally announced the formation of Police Community Advisory Boards, one for each of the department’s eight police districts. The boards, small groups of volunteers who live in each district, will, according to a city press release, “facilitate interaction between the NOPD and a committee of diverse citizens from a wide section of the community and will provide comments, suggestions, and recommendations to the Superintendent of Police on department policies and procedures to ensure best practices are in place.” The formation of eight small advisory groups seems innocuous enough. But this was actually a big deal, not so much because of the idea itself or its implementation, but because of where the idea came from. “The community advisory boards are a recommendation of the U.S. Department of Justice,” the press release reads. The NOPD and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have been quietly negotiating terms for nearly two years on an operating and oversight agreement —known as a consent decree. It’s a sensitive process, says everyone involved on the local and federal side, and that’s why they can’t comment on it. When it’s done, NOPD officers will likely have to work under new, federally approved procedures guiding almost every part of police work: searches-and-seizures, off-duty details, use of force, interrogation, crime scene cleanup and recordkeeping — just to name a few problem areas DOJ singled out in its 2011 investigation of the department. And they’ll have to do it under added scrutiny, not only from the feds, but, if past decrees (like the Los Angeles Police Department’s 20012009 decree) are any indication, from city watchdog agencies like the Office of Inspector General and its sub-office, the Independent Police Monitor. “This is a very tedious process that requires considerable time and effort. Departments throughout the nation utilize staff directly related to these duties in the formulation, negotiation and ultimate implementation of a Consent Decree,” writes NOPD spokeswoman Remi Braden in an emailed statement. It’s all undoubtedly quite arduous, which is likely why NOPD has brought in some additional assistance.
heroes + zeroes
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