Louisiana Cops Concealed ‘Hyperaggressive’ Behavior for Years: Report
An Associated Press review of internal investigative records and newly obtained videos identified dozens of cases over the decade in which Louisiana State Police troopers or their bosses ignored or concealed evidence of beating, and impeded efforts to find and remove misconduct.
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Photo courtesy Louisiana State Police
An Associated Press review of internal investigative records and newly obtained videos identified at least a dozen cases over the past decade in which Louisiana State Police Troopers or their bosses ignored or concealed evidence of beatings, deflected blame and impeded efforts to root out misconduct, reports the Washington Post. When footage is recorded, the agency also routinely refuses to release it.
“Hyper-aggressiveness is winked upon and nodded and allowed to go on,” said Andrew Scott, a former Boca Raton, Fl., police chief and use-of-force expert who revied videos obtained by AP. “It’s very clear that the agency accepts that type of behavior.”
Most of those beaten in the cases AP found were Black, in keeping with the agency’s own tally that 67 percent of its uses of force in recent years have targeted Black people. This is double the percentage of the state’s Black population.
The state police have been under intense scrutiny since May when the AP published previously unreleased by camera footage of Ronald Greene’s May 10, 2019, arrest at the end of a high-speed chase near Monroe, resulting in his death.
“These things are racially motivated,” said Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “It doesn’t seem you could have this level of criminality going on without it being something much more sinister.”
