Louisiana State Police News V1
LSP Article Full View
Source: http://lsp.org/news_detail.html?id=6857
| id | cleanReleaseDate | troopName | title |
| 6857 | 2013-04-17 | Statewide | LSP Concludes Conti Street Inquiry |
News Release – Headquarters April 17, 2013 LSP Concludes Conti Street Inquiry BATON ROUGE - An internal State Police investigation has concluded that a team of plain clothes officers working in the French Quarter on the Sunday before Mardi Gras did not act improperly and used minimal force in seeking to determine the age of two men who were suspected of being in violation of the city’s curfew. The two young men were later identified as Ferdinand Hunt and Sidney Newman and were determined to be 18 and 17 years old respectively. Neither made official complaints to the State Police but Colonel Mike Edmonson, State Police Superintendent, unilaterally directed an immediate investigation upon learning of the incident. The two and Hunt’s mother, New Orleans Police Officer Verna Hunt, ignored repeated requests to participate in interviews with State Police internal investigators and otherwise refused to cooperate in the investigation. “When I first saw the video, I have to admit, as a father I found it unsettling. However, we now know that the video tells only part of the story of this 58 second incident. Perhaps most importantly the video does not include an audio component, and portions of the video also do not show all of the actions which prompted the officers to react as they did,” according to Edmonson. Neither of the two young men required medical attention, and except for a small scrape on Hunt’s hand neither was injured in the encounter. “Watch the video closely. No one was struck, no one was hit, no one was kicked, and no weapons were drawn, displayed or used. To suggest that the young men were manhandled or beaten would be a gross mischaracterization. The officers were acting on what they knew at the time and simply attempted to detain the subjects when both resisted. The video clearly shows that the two were restrained and a pat down for weapons and contraband was underway when Hunt’s mother intervened,” Edmonson said. Based on the actions of the mother and the fact that she was a uniformed NOPD officer, Edmonson has asked NOPD Chief Ronal Serpas to review her conduct. In a statement made to NOPD investigators on the night of the incident, Ferdinand Hunt admitted trying to run from the officers in an attempt to take refuge in a nearby restaurant. Newman told NOPD officers that evening that he too was trying to “get away” from the officers when they approached. Troopers at the scene repeatedly identified themselves as police officers and repeatedly told the two subjects to stop resisting. The report noted that the plain clothes team was legally authorized to seek the age and identity of Hunt and Newman. Once the two attempted to flee, the officers were entitled to restrain them, use reasonable force to get their hands in plain view and search them for weapons. The investigation found no evidence that the two were approached by the officers because of their race. “In nearly 4 decades of providing assistance to the city during Mardi Gras a claim of biased policing has never been sustained against troopers. Never. Our culture does not support such unprofessional conduct and we would not condone it,” stated Edmonson. A copy of the report has been provided to the Department of Justice. Contact Information: Captain M. Doug Cain, II Louisiana State Police Public Affairs Commander 225-925-6202 Office doug.cain@dps.la.gov | |||
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