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Louisiana passed a new law on account of police after allegations of civil rights violations against the deputy sheriff Caught on video by dragging a black woman On the hair and clasping his head into the ground.
Woman, Shatel Arnold, sued a deputy and sheriffblaming a Jefferson Sheriff’s office to cover the 2021 attack. In March, the Sheriff’s office agreed to pay $ 300,000 after a three -day trial, but before the jury, Arnold’s lawyer.
Following the incident propublica, in partnership with WRKF, WWNO and Times-Picayune, published an investigation in detail in detail The story of complaints on excessive force Against the deputy sheriff Jefferson Parish Julio Alvarad. Alvarada, a 20-year-old Sheriff’s office veteran, has been employed in the Department since March.
Prosecutor Arnold, State Senator Harry Carter, D-New Orleans, said he introduced the legislation after it turned out that Alvarad was Failed to write a report About his meeting with Arnold, despite the policy of his department, that officers document every time they use force. Parish Sheriff Jefferson Joseph Lopin said he had instructed him to write such a report after the video that had spread in social media during his testimony in the March trial.
In the 14-second videoShe left a woman with bruises and scratches on her body, a broken lip and repetitive headaches, the following police investigator said.
“If it wasn’t for the accident that the officer’s officer knocked down Shantl Arnold, there would be no evidence of this, there would be no signs that if it happened,” Carter said in a recent interview.
The new law, adopted by the legislators and signed by Governor Jeff Landra in June, Will require all law enforcement To report every time the use of the officer’s force leads to serious injuries. He directs the Council to the standards and training of the peace officer, who certifies the police officers, to adopt a policy on compulsory use on the use of force by January 1. Details of how this process will not be spelled out and a fine for failure to comply with the requirements.
The bill was made as “SHenold’s Smanthel’s law“But Carter said that the name was removed because” Sheriff Lopin was very upset about it, and it almost killed the bill. “
Neither the Jefferson’s Sheriff’s office nor the Alvarad lawyer responded to the requests for comment or interview.
Alvarada came across Arnold in September 2021, when the officer responded to a 911 call for 25 people in the parish of Jefferson. When the deputy pulled up to his patrol car, Alvarada saw Arnold covered with dirt, walking down the street. Arnold told the deputy that she was attacked by a group of boys who often mocked her. When the alvarad ordered her to stop, Arnold said she just wanted to go home and continued to go. That’s when the deputy jumped out of his car, grabbed Arnold and crashed into the sidewalk, several witnesses reported.
In the video made by the random, the alvarad pulls Arnold on the sidewalk, holds it behind the braids and repeatedly slashes on the sidewalk. Arnold was not charged with a crime and later taken to the hospital. At this time, the sheriff’s office did not use body cameras, but since then began to use them.
Jefferson’s sheriff’s service denied violations. A 2022 International Investigation The sheriff’s office determined that the actions of the alvarad against Arnold were “smart and acceptable”. Alvarada received a “approximately” 40-hour suspension for not submitting a written report, Lopin said in his March testimony.
In the trial in 2022, Arnold claimed that the sheriff’s office knew that Alvarada had a tendency to violence against black people and other minorities, but continued to patrol such communities, putting the danger of the public.
Lopinto attributed to the history of alvarad’s complaint with high -level work, reports Interview in 2022 Picayune. “This is not the way he gets a complaint every month,” Lopin said. During the same interview, Lopin rejected Arnold’s account and accused her of “searching”.
Alleged alvarad misconduct matches a broader sample in the Jefferson Sheriff’s office as Perennial Investigation in the Sheriff’s office by propublica, wrkf and wwno found. From 2013 to 2021, deputies disproportionately threw weapons against black people. Of the 40 people shot by Jefferson’s parish deputies, 73% at this time were black, more than twice their population. Twelve out of 16 people who died after being shot or restrained at this time were black.
Since 2007, Alvarad has been named at least 10 federal civil rights lawsuits that provide for the use of excessive force; Eight plaintiffs were members of minority groups.
Sheriff’s service settled three of these lawsuits. Payment of Arnold at $ 300,000 – the third – and the largest – a settlement featuring Alvarad. Five more lawsuits were closed in favor of the Sheriff’s office, one was fired by legal technicality, and one was infinitely detained.
The sheriff’s office stated in the application for eight lawsuits that were not rejected and delayed, that the officers’ actions were “smart under the circumstances” and characterized the claims as “frivolous”.
Prior to the incident in 2021, with the participation of Arnold, the Sheriff’s office of Jefferson’s arrival settled in a lawsuit in 2016, accusing Alvarad of delight a 14-year-old Hispanic boy behind her neck and clasping his head against concrete when the baby shouted, “Why are you doing it with me?” The woman called the police, complaining that the boy and friend fought in the parking lot. Then Alvarada threatened to deport the boy and his family according to the lawsuit. The Sheriff’s service, which paid the boy’s family $ 15,000, said in court statements that Alvarad’s actions were “smart under circumstances”.
In 2018, a different lawsuit claimed Alvarad and Three MPs defeated the Atdner CassieA native of Handuran and stole more than $ 2000 during a stop stop, and then he was conspired to deport him. The helmet claimed that Alvarad had beaten and gasped until he agreed to remain silent. The sheriff’s service refused to violate, but settled in 2020 for $ 50,000.
In the trial, Arnold was given both incidents as evidence that Alvarada showed a model of behavior throughout his career, which made it unusable for service. Carter, Prosecutor Arnold, raised another incident during March, in which Sheriff’s detective in December 2019 witnessed Alvarad, who was intercepted to the massage hall, which was investigated for a suspicious prostitution. Alvarada denied that he went there to “hold a sexual act”. He was reduced from the sergeant to the deputy for “attracting the office of Jefferson’s arrival in disrespect” and for the guarding “illegitimate business while on duty and neglecting your duties to detectives under your team,” Carter said during the trial, citing an internal police report.
In an interview, Carter stated that the constant protection of Lopin and the employment of the alvarad were a permitting attitude towards questionable behavior.
“He was standing next to” Alvarada, which “shows no control, no remorse,” Carter said.
