news + views page 7
tigatory powers, including the ability to subpoena witnesses and initiate unprompted investigations against individual officers.
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > january 10 > 2012
Talk of expanded iPM duties under the consent decree raises concerns for officers, who will face three layers of scrutiny — PiB, iPM and a federal oversight office — once the agreement takes effect. Police spokeswoman Remi Braden declined to comment on ongoing consent decree negotiations. But Jim Gallagher, a retired NOPD sergeant and chairman of the civil service and labor committees for the New Orleans Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the largest of the city’s three police associations says his group will fight any such proposals. “while the Fraternal Order of Police supported the creation of the independent Police Monitor and continue to support Ms. Hutson in her current endeavors, we would strongly oppose any expansion of her duties and/or powers, especially as concerns the investigation of police officers,” Gallagher writes in an email to Gambit. “it is the duty and responsibility of the independent Police Monitor, as per city ordinance, to refer any allegations of wrongdoing or misconduct by police officers to the New Orleans Police Department for investigation.”
8
bring a SAINT to your next party sandwichES & cheese PLATTERS
from St. James Cheese Company 4223 MAGAZINE ST. 872-9230 | Free Parking Mon-Sat 10-6 | Sun 12-5
5004 prytania st • 899-4737 www.stjamescheese.com
Sunday 12-5 • Mon-Sat 10-6
324-4727
The iPM already has begun to flex its muscle, and as a result faced opposition from FOP. Last fall, OiG requested expanded access to officer evaluation reports, which are classified under the City’s Civil service rules. OiG attorney suzanne Lacey wisdom has identified Hutson’s office, in particular, as a key beneficiary should the Civil service Commission vote to open the records. Hutson had hoped for access to psychological evaluations. “eventually, i’d like to get all that, but i can tell you right now the associations aren’t going to agree to that,” she says. The immediate goal of the request, she adds, is to identify discrepancies with NOPD employee evaluations. “if you’ve got somebody with huge complaints and [disciplinary actions] and somebody who had a bunch of uses of force that were inappropriate and somebody who writes horrible reports, then you look at an eval [evaluation] and he has perfect evals — you’ve got a problem,” she says. Ultimately, Hutson says she hopes to use the data to make her case for the implementation of “risk management teams,” an idea borrowed from her tenure working with the LAPD. “if a guy had to go to psych evaluations, you look at that. The department psychologist would come in and say, ‘OK, here’s what’s going