In his first three months leading the New Orleans Police Department, Superintendent Shaun Ferguson visited the hospital rooms of wounded bystanders who NOPD investigators believe may have been accidentally struck by NOPD gunfire during a shootout.
He also met with the mother of a 14-year-old boy who died when the car he was riding in, which police said was possibly being chased by NOPD officers in an unauthorized vehicle pursuit, crashed into a beauty salon and caught the occupied building on fire.
Both officer-involved incidents, and Ferguson’s handling of them, prompted introspection, the new chief said.
“I’m not perfect. I don’t think anyone is perfect,” Ferguson said. “It’s a learning opportunity for me and our officers to improve, look at things, and possibly do better.”
The chief has announced the launch of three internal investigations in as many months as he’s been chief, related to the two above incidents and, most recently, a probe into a newly promoted member of his command staff who was captured on cellphone video taking down a woman before arresting her at French Quarter Festival.
He’s also addressed media at odd hours at high-profile crime scenes: the death of a local nurse killed by stray bullets on Bourbon Street; and an alleged drunk driving crash after a Mardi Gras parade that took two lives and injured several other people.
“This job is not just textbook, I’m going to learn things through experience,” he said of his new role being the face and voice of the department.
Since Jan. 17, when Ferguson was sworn in as chief, the city has seen a nearly 50 percent drop in murders compared to the same time last year, as well as a modest drop in shootings, building on an encouraging trend of gun violence reduction that started under the tail end of former superintendent Michael Harrison’s tenure as NOPD chief. Harrison departed in mid-January to take the job as Baltimore’s police commissioner just as New Orleans ended 2018 with the fewest number of murders in nearly half a century.
Ferguson sat down with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune earlier this month to talk about leading the department through a series of high-profile crimes and police-involved fatalities, the drop in gun violence and his adjustment to becoming the city’s top cop.
‘Accountability and fairness’
In addition to 14-year-old Chimelu Collins, the March 20 crash and three-alarm fire at the Unity 1 Beauty Supply and Shop in Broadmoor also killed the apparent stolen car’s driver, Byron Wilson Jr., 16, and salon customer Schwann Herbert, 54.
NOPD initially said the officers “disengaged” from pursuing the car after its driver refused to pull over at a traffic stop, then later said the circumstances were unclear. NOPD policy does not allow officers to chase other cars unless those in the fleeing vehicle are suspected to have committed a violent felony, which did not appear to be the case.
Ferguson said video evidence prompted him to transfer the involved officers to administrative desk duty while launching an internal investigation into a possible violation of NOPD’s vehicle pursuit policy.
Ferguson said he met with the mother of Collins, one of the teens who died in the car. He said he assured her the internal probe would be thorough, and when the results are learned, “we have to own whatever it is.” He tried to meet with families of Wilson and Herbert, he said, but they declined at that time.
Ferguson said his take on police accountability is “no different than what is taught to our kids.”
“As the chief of this department, I stand in front of (the public) whether we did the right thing or wrong thing, and assume responsibility,” Ferguson said.
Five innocent bystanders were wounded in a Feb. 17 gunfire exchange that spanned from Canal Street and Elk Place to Elk and Tulane Avenue, where an RTA transit hub is located. Reginald Bursey, 32, the man NOPD said initiated the shootout, was killed after trading gunfire with two NOPD officers and a Louisiana State Police trooper.
Ferguson, joined by NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau Chief Arlinda Westbrook, announced days after the shooting that investigators believe three of the bystanders may have been shot by police. NOPD leaders said the internal probe will include the shootout, as well as officers’ decision to try to stop Bursey, an armed robbery suspect, when and where they did.
When Ferguson met the injured bystanders at the hospital, some had just learned how they were shot, he said. He assured them NOPD’s investigation would be thorough and the results transparent, he said, “and they were receptive.”
After announcing a change-up in his command staff earlier this month, Ferguson said, he met with his new top leaders and reiterated a message he’s emphasized since he was tapped by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to run the department: “Fairness and accountability,” he said he told them, should be emphasized to their subordinates and expected from him.
‘Smarter’ deployment
As of Sunday (April 29), murders in 2019 were down by 47 percent, from 66 to 35 people killed, compared to the same period last year, according to a record of NOPD reports kept by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
The 2019 murder total does not include two officer-involved fatal shootings, of Bursey and 33-year-old Zonnell Williams. Williams was killed Jan. 4 after firing at officers, prior to Ferguson’s promotion to chief. The murder total also does not include the April 19 fatal shooting of 60-year-old Kevin Jones by a St. Roch homeowner, during what police described as an attempted burglary of a generator.
The number of people wounded in nonfatal shootings dropped by 11 percent so far this this year, from 114 to 101 gunshot wound survivors, NOPD data tracked by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune show. The total number of shooting incidents between Jan. 1 and April 28, including fatal and nonfatal shootings, was down in 2019 by 22 percent, from 134 to 104. January and February in 2017 and 2018 saw the most gun deaths compared to other months in each of those years. The first quarter in 2019 did not see similar elevated levels of gun violence.
Ferguson said he has made no major changes to deployment of police officers since Harrison’s departure, but he has emphasized “smarter” deployment. He credited the drop in violent crime in part to apprehensions of alleged perpetrators. The Tactical Intelligence Gathering and Enforcement Response unit, or TIGER team, “has been doing a phenomenal job,” he said.
The chief pointed to the April 7 apprehension of an Algiers murder suspect within a week of the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Jonathan Simmons as an example of the kinds of apprehensions he believes can prevent retaliatory shootings and murders.
The use of civilian data analysts to aid investigators has also helped NOPD arrest more people suspected of violent crimes, Ferguson said. NOPD currently employs about seven analysts, he said, and has plans to add three or four others. They are mostly housed at NOPD headquarters in Mid-City, with one or two specifically assigned to help the TIGER team. But plans are in the works to assign analysts to individual police districts throughout the city.
He added that NOPD has removed more guns from the street without increasing the number of overall arrests.
‘Be patient with us’
While violent crime remains lower than last year in the first quarter, Ferguson said property crime is up. He recently hosted a press conference to address juvenile crime, which he said is responsible for a large portion of the property crime, including auto thefts and car burglaries.
Ferguson said NOPD’s 3rd District is experimenting with an initiative to reach out to parents of juveniles accused of crimes and connect them to resources. Some parents have been receptive, he said, while others have not.
Ferguson said he wanted to spread the message at the press conference that NOPD is aware of juvenile crime and to ask the community “to be patient with us, and if you see something, say something.”
‘Part of the job’
Asked if he likes the public-speaking part of his job, Ferguson said, “It’s OK.” He added he has already picked up lessons in his first three-plus months as chief.
“It’s just part of the job,” Ferguson said of his media appearances and public speaking engagements. “To get comfortable with it... I think that’s going to come with experience.”
He has also learned that in the role of chief, “Everybody wants your time.”
In his recent visible role leading the 2nd District, which polices much of Uptown, Ferguson said he was generally able to lend his ear to any person who had an opinion or suggestion. He has had to use more discretion, he said, with such a high demand for his attention.
“I have a great team,” he said, and is getting more comfortable “leaning on them a little more.”
Ferguson said it’s not just him who has begun adjusting to people recognizing him at Walmart and restaurants and telling him about what is going on in their neighborhood.
“My face is out there... I am the chief of people,” he said. “My family has to get used to that.”
Days after being sworn in, Ferguson’s family was faced with his public figure status when NOPD’s arrest of his son on a domestic abuse allegation made news. He said his son continues to receive his love and support as he goes through the legal process.
Ferguson said he understands all that his new highly visible role entails in the department he’s been a part of for roughly two decades, and he expects to continue learning more through experience.
“It is a big job,” he said, adding, “I’m beginning to be in a comfortable place of my own.”
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