Saturday, August 02, 2008

Justice.............

New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley fired a second police officer Friday for his role in an incident at the Treme Community Center two weeks ago.

Four-year veteran Officer David Ellis responded to the scene when parents alleged that another cop, former Officer Ashley Terry, was making threats and waving a gun around.

The NOPD press release said their internal investigation concluded that "Officer Ellis did not take the appropriate action when he responded and arrived on the scene of the incident."

“When people in the community make complaints and the supervisors take no action, people loose confidence in the process itself. So, I think the chief did the right thing here,” said Norris Henderson, director of activist group Safe Streets Strong Communities.

Ellis supervised the scene at the Treme Community Center, and according to police, neither wrote a report about the incident, nor charged Terry with any crime.

Civil rights activist and leader of the Treme Community Center Camp, Jerome Smith, said firing Terry and Ellis isn't enough.

“If you look at the files of the two officers that violated our space, every arrest they made is compromised,” Smith said at a press conference outside Police Headquarters before the Ellis decision was announced.

But some community activists said firing the officers does send a strong statement about how police should handle situations involving their fellow officers.

The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office is now investigating Terry’s case to decide whether she should face any criminal charges.

Ellis told the department he plans to appeal Riley's decision to the Public Service Commission.

Terry has already filed her appeal, but because she was still on probation with the department, the legality of that appeal hasn't been determined, a police spokesman said.

The appeals process could take months to complete.

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