The NRTAC will be conducting a homicide unit assessment for the New Orleans Police Department. It is recognized that a previous BJA assessment was completed in 2010, however in light of the consent decree and other changes that have occurred, it has been requested the NRTAC examine existing recommendations from the previous report and explore implementation options and identify any new investigative/case management best practices.
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NRTAC held multiple calls with the TTA requestor to obtain more information about the nature of the request and background information on identified issues. The NRTAC coordinated with the VRN, who has had significant involvement with the NOPD, albeit a different branch than that of the requestor for this TTA. NRTAC also coordinated with the VRN point of contact at the PD to inform him of the request and provide all relevant parties with situational awareness. The TTA requestor had ongoing communication with others in her department (including bureau chief) to specify the TTA request, and the final decision to choose a homicide assessment was solidified on 6/21/17.
The NRTAC identified and interviewed 4 assessment team SMEs. Dr. Charles Wellford, Mike Medaris, Brian Russell, and Rick Brown were identified and have agreed to serve on the assessment team. The NRTAC has additionally convened a call with the NOPD consent decree monitoring team to ensure there were no conflicts with the NRTAC conducting a homicide unit assessment. During this time, the NRTAC prepared a TTA summary with a cost breakdown of the request for BJA. Furthermore, the NRTAC has developed contracts for all four identified SMEs. SME team lead has began to develop a list of requested items from NOPD to prepare for the first site visit.
Rick Brown became the new team lead, and former Ann Arundel investigator Herb Hasenpusch joined the assessment team with BJA approval. The team developed a list of request items, and the Police Foundation worked closely with the NOPD point of contact to obtain as many of those documents as possible before the site visit. Team lead and Police Foundation adjusted and finalized the schedule with the NOPD point of contact. It was also determined (and approved by BJA) that the Police Foundation would send a representative to New Orleans to code 50 homicide case files for analysis and background for the report.
Four assessment team members and one Police Foundation staff member traveled to New Orleans. The Police Foundation staff member spent the visit coding case files. The assessment team members interviewed investigative personnel, leadership, crime lab representatives, district attorneys, and others in order to assess the current state of the homicide unit as it compared to recommendations from the 2010 BJA assessment.
After the onsite visit, the assessment team consolidated their notes and began preparing the first draft of the assessment. During this time, the Police Foundation continued to work closely with the NOPD point of contact to obtain documents from the original document request, as well as to request additional follow up information. Police Foundation staff completed the case coding of 51 reports during this time.
During this time the NOPD assessment team finalized the draft of the report and conducted additional follow up interviews with the following entities:
Consent Decree Monitoring Team
Scientific Criminal Investigation Section
Intelligence Group
District Attorney's Office
PIO's Office
Team lead Rick Brown and research SME Dr. Charles Wellford presented the key findings to the NOPD leadership and homicide section command staff.
Please respond to the Performance Metrics below. The Performance Metrics questions are based on the TTA Type indicated in the General Information section of the TTA.
Please submit a signed letter of support from your agency’s executive or other senior staff member. The letter can be emailed to or uploaded with this request. The letter should be submitted on official letterhead and include the following information:
- General information regarding the request for TTA services, i.e., the who, what, where, when, and why.
- The organizational and/or community needs specific to the request for TTA services.
- The benefits or anticipated outcomes from the receipt of TTA services.
By submitting this application to BJA NTTAC, I understand that upon approval of this application for TTA, the requestor agrees to keep BJA NTTAC informed of any circumstances that may impact the delivery of the TTA, including changes in the date of the event, event cancellation, or difficulties communicating with the assigned TTA provider.
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