Must not be the list item that counts

What's missing from this Gambit blurb is whether or not the follow-up question, "What do you believe it to have said, then?" was asked.

Gambit asked Landrieu about Serpas' August 2010 "65-point report," which the chief issued as a benchmark for promised reforms. Among its claims were two items relating to paid details. Item No. 52 read, "The NOPD, by October 1, 2010, will implement procedures that will track and document every off-duty paid detail hour worked by every officer, ensuring compliance with existing and future regulations." The item was marked "In Place," which seemed to indicate Serpas had cleaned up the paid detail system almost two months ahead of schedule.

"That's not what it said," Landrieu said when asked why the paid detail reform seemed to have been checked off the list. Nevertheless, Maj. Edwin Hosli, the 8th District commander who ran Anytime Solutions LLC, a company that managed the traffic-cam details, was clearly violating written departmental policy by doing so. Furthermore, Anytime Solutions received the paid-detail work in September — one month after the NOPD had written that "compliance with existing and future regulations" was "in place."

Serpas' list is here if you'd like to see it. Item 52 is written exactly the way Gambit represents it.