"Stingin' em"

Not sure this NOPD internal report on last summer's bridge incident gives us much new information. Also it's not clear what NOPD thinks the next steps, if any, should be.  Why was the tear gas used? They almost seem to be saying it was an accident. 

The New Orleans Police Department deployed teargas on a crowd of protesters so quickly on June 3 that several officers didn’t have time to don masks.

Some cops on the front line had only had their first training on “riot control” that day. Meanwhile, the top commander on duty wasn’t consulted before gas went flying, sparking panic in the crowd that night and a debate in the ensuing weeks over NOPD tactics.

Police department world famous for its excellence in "crowd control" techniques doesn't actually train officers on how to control crowds. Okay. But why was the tear gas used?

Throughout the confrontation, Special Operations Division Capt. Brian Lampard and tactical officers were stationed in reserve.

Thomas was the highest-ranking officer on duty that night, but he was coordinating protest response from the city’s Real-Time Crime Information Center on North Rampart Street. Lampard didn’t consult Thomas before giving the order to deploy teargas, according to their statements.

“Gas, gas, gas!” Lampard shouted.

The guy who was in charge of the gas had to stay in and watch everything on TV, you know, to better prevent any tactical blunders from happening. 

Then came a tactical blunder. A "major catalyst" for the situation escalating that night was the failure of police to stop protesters from entering the expressway at the wrong point, Barnes said.

Whoops. But okay so it's not the guy watching the TV who ordered the gas. And it's not some random thing that happened because the un-trained riot cops started freelancing. It's Captain Lampard making a decision to launch the "Gas gas gas" at everybody.  There must have been some policy in place that would determine his course of action, right?  

Well maybe not because this says they've now had to go and write one up.... except that it also says the new policy doesn't actually change anything.

Inside the NOPD, officials have created a new policy for “civil disturbances.” Ferguson has touted it as the solution to many of the concerns raised by the June 3 melee, but the policy doesn’t create new requirements for reporting the use of “less lethal” weapons like tear gas or rubber balls.

The policy also doesn’t change one practice in place on the night of June 3: It’s still up to tactical supervisors like Lampard whether to deploy “less lethal” weapons on crowds.

The gas wasn't the only "less lethal" thing the cops were using. They also used rubber bullets. 

Gas wasn’t the only weapon used that night. Officers also fired rubber “impact rounds” at people in the crowd. Ferguson initially claimed only gas had been used — then had to reverse course when protesters came forward with evidence to the contrary.

Lampard claimed he had no idea that the rounds had been used.

Oh sorry. I should clarify. They also used rubber bullet and then Chief Ferguson lied about that until the evidence proved he was lying.  Since then, Ferguson has also claimed that NOPD should not be subjected to the same calls for de-funding or other reforms that remove them from roles better suited to social workers or public health professionals.  According to Ferguson, largely cosmetic initiatives like the much promoted EPIC training program place NOPD "ahead of the curve" Maybe he means we're so far behind we're ahead again.  In any case, why should we believe anything he says?

Anyway, now that we can dispense with Ferguson's lies about the rubber bullets, whose idea was it to fire them into the crowd on the bridge?  The report still hasn't figured that out either.  We are only told that there was a sergeant in charge of the rubber bullets and that person knew they were being used which we know because there is video evidence of him gleefully shouting about it.

The sergeant in charge of the NOPD’s “grenadier team” was recorded on a body-worn camera stating that an officer "was stingin' em," an apparent reference to Stinger .60 caliber rubber ball rounds. That sergeant later claimed that he didn't receive confirmation that the rubber balls were used on the night of June 3, because he didn't get a chance to formally debrief his team until the next day. He said that was because “the officers were covered in gas and past the end of their shifts and there was no available overtime.”

The core idea behind EPIC training, we are told, is that cops who witness other cops acting badly should intervene to stop them doing that.  When you, as the properly trained cop in charge of the scene, see your colleagues out there "stingin'" people aren't you supposed to do something about that? What about if you are Chief of Police?  In this case we only find them ignoring or lying about what they and everyone else can see.  What remedies this?  More training?