The cop accused of not taking action after a witness reported an unconscious woman being raped in the French Quarter was not an NOPD officer.
New Orleans Second City Court Constable Edwin Shorty confirms to WWL First News that the officer was a Second City Court deputy who was working a paid off-duty security assignment on a movie production at the time the witness approached him for help.
“I will tell you that, his reaction wasn’t what I would have anticipated or wanted his reaction to be. We are still investigating his reaction,” Constable Shorty explained to WWL’s Dave Cohen. “He told me about this, that he was the deputy in question yesterday, and I immediately suspended him because he didn’t move as fast as he should have moved. We are all entrusted with the public trust to provide security and protection to the public at large and I thought he failed in that position miserably.”
Constable Shorty says there are no rules that would forbid the deputy from immediately taking action to stop the rape in progress.
“He gave me an explanation, but I’m not going to tell you there is any justification for what happened,” said the Constable.
Constable Shorty says the deputy, whose name has not been released and has over 30 years experience in law enforcement, is on administrative leave and an investigation by the Constable’s office is underway.
New Orleans Superintendent Shaun Ferguson says there is an active sexual assault investigation underway by the department’s Special Victims Unit.
