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NOPD consent decree hearing to focus on internal affairs, Vappie investigation [1]

['Michelle Liu', 'More Michelle Liu']

Date: 2023-06-21

Federal court monitors assigned to assess reforms at the New Orleans Police Department are scheduled to discuss problems with the agency’s internal affairs bureau at a consent decree hearing Wednesday (June 21), including its concerns about a high-profile internal investigation into Officer Jeffrey Vappie, a former member of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s security detail.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

The monitors plan to discuss their May report on the NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau. The report contends that the bureau has backslid on progress made toward requirements set by the decade-long, court-enforced federal agreement compelling the city to meet constitutional standards of policing.

Tasked with handling misconduct complaints and conducting internal investigations, the PIB is “at the heart of the NOPD’s ability to prevent misconduct, build trust among its officers, and build community trust,” the report reads.

The shortcomings raised by the monitors’ report, though “eminently remediable,” could pose another setback for the police department as Cantrell’s administration continues to attempt an exit from the consent decree, the oversight of which has cost the city millions of dollars. The mayor has in the past blamed the consent decree’s standards for the police force’s understaffing and morale problems.

A survey of NOPD officers released in 2022 found that “overly punitive discipline/restrictive policing policies/overreach by the PIB” was the number one reason cited for why officers find employment elsewhere, though it is unclear from the survey results whether the officers complained about departmental policies adopted as a direct result of the consent decree.

Sparring with U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan, who oversees the consent decree, city and police officials also refused this spring to attend a court hearing and a public outreach event on the department’s progress complying with the agreement, a decision backed by a federal appeals court in April.

The city last year submitted a motion to terminate the long-running consent decree. Earlier this month, Morgan scheduled oral arguments on the motion. That hearing is set for June 28.

The monitors’ report on the PIB found that the bureau iis taking too long to wrap up investigations, and also mishandled investigations into multiple instances of officers grabbing subjects by the neck or throat area (such neckholds are prohibited in NOPD policy). And though the monitors ascertained in 2020 that the bureau was “in the green,” a designation indicating enough compliance to warrant less monitoring, by the time a 2022 audit was released, the PIB had held constant on about 20 areas and improved in two more but regressed on a dozen other elements.

Notably, the monitors also observed that “the level of cooperation the Monitoring Team is receiving from NOPD has gone down recently.”

“This non-cooperation cannot continue as it is harming the Department’s ability to achieve compliance with its Consent Decree obligations,” the monitors wrote. “It also is degrading the public’s perception of the NOPD’s commitment to constitutional policing.”

In NOPD’s response to the report, the department contested several of the monitors’ findings and said it had moved into compliance in other areas following the audit period.

“Under the current administration, the New Orleans Police Department will work in partnership with those who genuinely seek to help NOPD operate at its maximum capacity and potential,” the response reads.

The monitors are also expected to focus on the PIB’s handling of an investigation into Vappie, an officer assigned to Cantrell’s security detail who has come under scrutiny over an alleged relationship with Cantrell, and payroll irregularities, among other issues.

That investigation was completed in March, but few details about its outcome were made public until last week, when a report by the monitors criticizing the internal probe was released in court filings. That report alleged that the department failed to fully investigate the more serious allegations raised by the media, including the time Vappie spent with Cantrell inside an apartment in the city-owned Upper Pontalba building. Those stories raised questions about whether Vappie, who was on the clock and billing the city for his time, was actually working.

According to the report, despite repeatedly telling members of the monitoring team that PIB would investigate all potential misconduct allegations against Vappie — including payroll fraud — investigators only seriously looked into lesser policy violations. (In an affidavit submitted to federal court last week, the lead PIB investigator on the case said he “considered” looking into a payroll fraud charge but quickly dismissed it, concluding there was no evidence to support it.) The monitors said that investigators did not “aggressively pursue” interviews with essential witnesses, such as Cantrell and former NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson.

The report also accused the department of shielding its investigation from the monitoring team — despite language in the consent decree requiring it to share investigations into serious misconduct allegations. The department claimed that the complaints against Vappie did not constitute “serious” policy violations as outlined in the court agreement.

Investigators found that Vappie committed three NOPD policy violations: working more than 16 hours and 35 minutes in a 24-hour period, spending large amounts of time alone with Cantrell outside of his normal tour of duty and attending two meetings of the Housing Authority of New Orleans’ governing board — a post he was appointed to by Cantrell — while he was on duty.

The department ultimately rejected the first of those violations after determining that the additional hours Vappie worked were authorized. Interim NOPD Superintendent Michelle Woodfork last week issued Vappie two letters of reprimand for the sustained violations, The Times-Picayune reported.

The monitors concluded that the city’s handling of the Vappie investigation violated several provisions of the consent decree as well as NOPD policy.

“The City’s actions here raise serious concerns that we believe require the Court’s immediate attention,” the report says.

The consent decree requires the city to be in full compliance for two years before the agreement can be terminated. Though the city has maintained it has reached that standard, the Justice Department in an April filing argued that police officers were still using unjustified force, engaging in dangerous pursuits and failing to justify pat-downs, per recent audits, indicating NOPD is still out of compliance with key parts of the consent decree.

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If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @VeriteNewsNola on Facebook @VeriteNewsNola on Twitter. If you have any other questions, contact managing editor Tim Morris. NOPD consent decree hearing to focus on internal affairs, Vappie investigation <h1>NOPD consent decree hearing to focus on internal affairs, Vappie investigation</h1> by Michelle Liu, Verite June 21, 2023 Federal court monitors assigned to assess reforms at the New Orleans Police Department are scheduled to discuss problems with the agency’s internal affairs bureau at a consent decree hearing Wednesday (June 21), including its concerns about a high-profile internal investigation into Officer Jeffrey Vappie, a former member of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s security detail. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. The monitors plan to discuss their <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23830265-ocdm_report_pibvappie-1#document/">May report </a>on the NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau. The report contends that the bureau has backslid on progress made toward requirements set by the decade-long, court-enforced <a href="https://veritenews.org/2022/11/10/nopd-addresses-anti-bias-policing/">federal agreement</a> compelling the city to meet constitutional standards of policing. Tasked with handling misconduct complaints and conducting internal investigations, the PIB is “at the heart of the NOPD’s ability to prevent misconduct, build trust among its officers, and build community trust,” the report reads. The shortcomings raised by the monitors’ report, though “eminently remediable,” could pose another setback for the police department as Cantrell’s administration continues to attempt an exit from the consent decree, the oversight of which has cost the city <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/scapegoat-or-pariah-cantrell-attack-aims-to-put-nopd-consent-decree-on-trial/article_d1a85256-36b2-11ed-9916-9ffac7546813.html#:~:text=City%20officials%20pegged%20the%20cost,figure%20that%20includes%20recruiting%20dollars.">millions of dollars</a>. The mayor has in the past blamed the consent decree’s standards for the police force’s understaffing and morale problems. A survey of NOPD officers released in 2022 found that “overly punitive discipline/restrictive policing policies/overreach by the PIB” was the <a href="https://www.fox8live.com/2022/03/18/nopd-internal-retention-survey-shows-lack-support-stress-flawed-disciplinary-process-contributing-manpower-shortage/">number one reason cited for why officers find employment elsewhere</a>, though it is unclear from the survey results whether the officers complained about departmental policies adopted as a direct result of the consent decree. Sparring with U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan, who oversees the consent decree, city and police officials also refused this spring to attend a court hearing and a public outreach event on the department’s progress complying with the agreement, a decision backed by a federal appeals court <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/latoya-cantrell-wins-round-in-court-fight-over-police-reform-susie-morgan/article_9aebc3d4-d8b4-11ed-ad51-671d2ac8d3b1.html">in April</a>. The city last year submitted a motion to terminate the long-running consent decree. Earlier this month, Morgan scheduled oral arguments on the motion. That hearing is set for June 28. The monitors’ report on the PIB found that the bureau iis taking too long to wrap up investigations, and also mishandled investigations into multiple instances of officers grabbing subjects by the neck or throat area (such neckholds are prohibited in NOPD policy). And though the monitors ascertained in 2020 that the bureau was “in the green,” a designation indicating enough compliance to warrant less monitoring, by the time a 2022 audit was released, the PIB had held constant on about 20 areas and improved in two more but regressed on a dozen other elements. Notably, the monitors also observed that “the level of cooperation the Monitoring Team is receiving from NOPD has gone down recently.” “This non-cooperation cannot continue as it is harming the Department’s ability to achieve compliance with its Consent Decree obligations,” the monitors wrote. “It also is degrading the public’s perception of the NOPD’s commitment to constitutional policing.” In <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23834737-nopd-response-to-ocdm-pib-rpt-may-2023">NOPD’s response to the report</a>, the department contested several of the monitors’ findings and said it had moved into compliance in other areas following the audit period. “Under the current administration, the New Orleans Police Department will work in partnership with those who genuinely seek to help NOPD operate at its maximum capacity and potential,” the response reads. The monitors are also expected to focus on the PIB’s handling of an investigation into Vappie, an officer assigned to Cantrell’s security detail who has come under scrutiny over an alleged relationship with Cantrell, and payroll irregularities, among other issues. That investigation was completed in March, but few details about its outcome were made public until last week, when a report by the monitors criticizing the internal probe was released in court filings. That report alleged that the department failed to fully investigate the more serious allegations raised by the media, including the time Vappie spent with Cantrell inside an <a href="https://www.fox8live.com/2022/11/10/zurik-nopd-investigating-officer-frequently-inside-cantrells-city-owned-apartment/">apartment in the city-owned Upper Pontalba building</a>. Those stories raised questions about whether Vappie, who was on the clock and billing the city for his time, was actually working. According to <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23854382-nopd_monitorreport_vappie">the report</a>, despite repeatedly telling members of the monitoring team that PIB would investigate all potential misconduct allegations against Vappie — including payroll fraud — investigators only seriously looked into lesser policy violations. (In an affidavit submitted to federal court last week, the lead PIB investigator on the case said he <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23854382-nopd_monitorreport_vappie">“considered” looking into a payroll fraud</a> charge but quickly dismissed it, concluding there was no evidence to support it.) The monitors said that investigators did not “aggressively pursue” interviews with essential witnesses, such as Cantrell and former NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson. The report also accused the department of shielding its investigation from the monitoring team — despite language in the consent decree requiring it to share investigations into serious misconduct allegations. The department claimed that the complaints against Vappie did not constitute “serious” policy violations as outlined in the court agreement. Investigators found that Vappie committed three NOPD policy violations: working more than 16 hours and 35 minutes in a 24-hour period, spending large amounts of time alone with Cantrell outside of his normal tour of duty and attending two meetings of the Housing Authority of New Orleans’ governing board — a post he was appointed to by Cantrell — while he was on duty. The department ultimately rejected the first of those violations after determining that the additional hours Vappie worked were authorized. Interim NOPD Superintendent Michelle Woodfork last week issued Vappie two letters of reprimand for the sustained violations, <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/federal-monitors-critical-of-nopd-vappie-investigation/article_ca39feb4-0bb1-11ee-be5f-a383d4d94e71.html">The Times-Picayune reported</a>. The monitors concluded that the city’s handling of the Vappie investigation violated several provisions of the consent decree as well as NOPD policy. “The City’s actions here raise serious concerns that we believe require the Court’s immediate attention,” the report says. The consent decree requires the city to be in full compliance for two years before the agreement can be terminated. Though the city has maintained it has reached that standard, the Justice Department in an April filing argued that police officers were still using unjustified force, engaging in dangerous pursuits and failing to justify pat-downs, per recent audits, indicating NOPD is still out of compliance with key parts of the consent decree. This <a target="_blank" href="https://veritenews.org/2023/06/21/nopd-consent-decree-hearing-to-focus-on-internal-affairs-vappie-investigation/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://veritenews.org">Verite</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-Verite-icon.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=7123&ga3=319934958" style="width:1px;height:1px;"> Copy to Clipboard

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