The federally-appointed monitor who gauges the New Orleans Police Department's level of compliance with a U.S. Justice Department consent decree issued another criticism of the internal investigation into NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie, and also took issue with comments made Wednesday by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
During a status hearing on the NOPD consent decree, federal monitor Jonathan Aronie listed numerous ways the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau violated the consent decree in its investigation.
The PIB investigation found Officer Vappie violated policy by reporting an 18 hour work day, spending "numerous hours" alone with the mayor outside of his regular duties, and by attending a couple of Housing Authority of New Orleans board meetings as an appointee of the mayor's.
But federal monitors criticized Public Integrity for using the wrong legal standard in its investigation, seemingly ignoring "a wealth of circumstantial evidence" about Vappie's off-duty time with the mayor at the Pontalba apartment owned by the city, and failing to pursue interviews of many witnesses, including Cantrell herself and former NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson.
"PIB didn't record the complaint as a payroll fraud allegation," said Aronie. "Exactly what DOJ complained they were doing back in 2011: not recording, not classifying then not analyzing, and not giving a disposition."
When asked about the monitor's findings, Mayor Cantrell claimed the consent decree monitors were expanding into areas outside of their jurisdiction.
"My stand on the consent decree is that the judge and the monitors continue to focus and stay in their lane," said Cantrell. The mayor said internal investigations were "out of their lane" and "none of their business."
Aronie's response was sharp.
"This is our lane. Our lane is to review whether NOPD complied with the consent decree or not. PIB failed to comply with the consent decree on at least nine occasions in this case," the monitor said. "If this isn't our lane, I don't know what is."
Mayor Cantrell has been trying to end the consent decree, but have been unsuccessful in convincing federal monitors or the federal judge overseeing the decree that the NOPD has met all conditions.