Our media partners at The Advocate and The Times Picayune have taken a look at a law that grants Louisiana police officers the broadest set of protections offered to police anywhere in the country.
Their look at records, and interviews, show the law often shields officers from administrative discipline even when there’s clear misconduct.
In about 1 of 7 cases from the state’s 20 largest departments, police had their disciplinary actions overturned through a special protection they would not have been offered in any other state, according to records reviewed by The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.
The newspapers report that the law enforcement community often refers to the rule by a two-word designation: absolute nullity.
Among the officers who benefited from it: a Shreveport officer accused of raping a woman at police headquarters; a Baton Rouge officer who shot at a fleeing motorist and was fired for dishonesty; a Eunice officer disciplined for choking and tackling a motorist; and a Hammond officer who took part in a beating that a policing expert hired by the city said was one of the “most abusive uses of force” he ever reviewed.
To read the full story with all the details and information, click here.
