NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The NOPD says the public records the city provided to FOX 8 do not capture the full scope of work officers were paid overtime to do reviewing red light camera tickets. A preliminary FOX 8 review that adjusts for a time difference the department cited still finds hundreds of those overtime shifts with no logged reviews.
The department’s explanation comes after NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick criticized FOX 8’s investigation in a video she posted on YouTube last Friday, after the investigation aired. The NOPD still refuses to sit down and answer FOX 8’s questions until its audit, which was spurred directly by FOX 8’s reporting, is complete.
Last week, Chief Anne Kirkpatrick announced it stopped issuing red light camera tickets while it reviews multiple officers who were paid overtime to do that work. That followed FOX 8’s “Idle Time” investigation. FOX 8 has asked the NOPD multiple times for answers about its months-long investigation.
NOPD disputes the public records
FOX 8 did not name or show the officers in this report, a change from earlier stories published this month. The NOPD asked FOX 8 to do that Thursday evening, but that is not why FOX 8 made the change…