Attorney General Eric Holder announced an unprecedented agreement designed to clean up the infamously corrupt police department in New Orleans yesterday.
Among more than 100 new requirements, the police department must now issue detailed reports each time police force is used videotape all interviews with suspects to make sure that no threats of harm are made.
Ronal Serpas, New Orleans police superintendent, joins Starting Point this morning to respond to the agreement and to explain what steps the department is taking to reform its ways.
An officer's badge may not be the only badge of honor sported by a Los Angeles County police unit. Recently, a secret deputy clique was uncovered within the gang enforcement unit of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and marks its members with a different badge: permanent ink.
The "Jump-Out Boys" allegedly tattoo themselves with the image of a skull with glowing red eyes. The skull wears a bandana with the letters "OSS" - short for Operation Safe Streets, the larger initiative which established their unit to clear city streets of gangs. An ace and eight of spades, the so-called "Dead Man's Hand" in poker, fans out to the left of the image, with a skeletal hand brandishing a revolver to the right side. Reportedly, after a member is involved in a shooting, smoke is tattooed over the barrel of their gun - an enduring sort of high-five for a mission accomplished.
The tattoos harken back to other law enforcement "gangs" which branded members in a similar manner, and ultimately, Soledad said, the concern is that the ink glorifies violence - especially considering the unit's task is to comb neighborhoods labeled for "dangerous gang activity" and disarm gang members.
"Los Angeles Times" reporter Robert Faturechi explains.
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