What Do You Think?

[dorahuegens]

ok . . .
it is good that they finally brought these guys to justice. But what about all the people that blocked, delayed, lost paperwork, or otherwise obstructed justice to keep this case from being investigated and brought to trial for so many years. I suspect many of them are still working and could easily allow the same types of police abuses to happen again.

It is to bad that so many police officers do not understand that their " Blue Code " (the unwritten but understood rule of do not press charges against, turn in or arrest other police officers) is not any different from the street code of silence they despise. That their adherence to such unwritten rules diminishes the credibility every good cop in every community trying to do their sworn duty.


copied from:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/new-orleans-officers-shot-burnt-man-after-hurricane/story-e6frg6so-1226031838313?from=public_rss

New Orleans officers jailed after post-Katrina murder
From: AFP April 01, 2011

TWO New Orleans police officers convicted of shooting and burning a man in the 2005 post-Hurricane Katrina chaos have been sentenced to 25 and 17 years in jail.
They were two of three police officers convicted in December in the September 2, 2005 slaying which was not investigated until early 2009 - shortly after a high-profile media report.

Former NOPD Officer David Warren was sentenced to 25 years for shooting a fleeing Henry Glover, 31, from the balcony of a police station.

Glover's brother and a friend flagged down a passing motorist, who put the mortally wounded man in his car to try to get medical attention for him.

When the men drove up to a makeshift police station seeing help, the police officers surrounded them at gunpoint, handcuffed them and let Glover die in the back seat of the car.

Greg McRae, who maintains his position with the department, was sentenced to 17 years in jail for driving off with the car, with Glover's body inside, and burning both the body and the car with a traffic flare.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
.End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
"Today's sentences send a powerful message that no one is above the law, and that those who are sworn to protect our citizens are never, under any circumstances, relieved of their sacred responsibilities," Jim Letten, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said in a statement.

"Today is an important step forward for the courageous Glover family and the people of New Orleans, and an important move toward the city's healing and rebuilding."

Nearly 80 per cent of New Orleans was flooded after the low-lying coastal city's levees burst under the massive storm surge caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The city descended quickly into chaos as tens of thousands were left stranded for days with no food on water on their rooftops and ill-prepared emergency shelters. About 1500 people lost their lives to the storm and its aftermath.

[dorahuegens]

copied from:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/31/louisiana.katrina.sentencings/index.html?eref=edition_us&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_us+%28RSS%3A+U.S.%29


New Orleans officers sentenced in post-Katrina killing

By the CNN Wire Staff

March 31, 2011

(CNN) -- Two New Orleans police officers convicted last year in the killing of a man during the chaos following Hurricane Katrina were sentenced Thursday in federal court.

Former Officer David Warren got more than 25 years in prison, and current Officer Greg McRae was sentenced to more than 17 years, the Justice Department said.

A jury in December found Warren guilty of manslaughter for killing Henry Glover, 31, on September 2, 2005.

He was also found guilty of deprivation of rights under color of law -- a charge that relates to abusing one's status as a police officer while breaking the law.

Prosecutors contended that Warren fired at Glover from the police station's balcony after he allegedly saw Glover heading toward the station with something in his hand.

After Glover was shot, bystanders drove him to a nearby school looking for help. Instead, the men were allegedly beaten by police officers at the school, who then left the school with a car that had Glover's body in it.

McRae had been found guilty of using a fire to commit a felony -- specifically, burning the Chevrolet Malibu with Glover's body inside. McRae burned the car near the police station where Glover was shot, prosecutors said.

The jury also convicted him on three counts of deprivation of rights under the color of the law and found him not guilty on one such count.

Earlier this month, a federal investigation found that the New Orleans Police Department has engaged in patterns of misconduct in violation of the Constitution and federal law, the Justice Department announced.

Among the findings are that the police department has used excessive force, made unconstitutional stops and searches, and illegally profiled people based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. The investigation also found a number of practices that contributed to the illegal conduct, including failed systems for recruiting and promoting officers, poor training and lack of supervision, among others.