Capt Bayard moved ? ?

[NOPD]

Saw this on NOLA, anybody have any info and can confirm if it is true ?

In the infinite wisdom of Riley and the rest of the top brass of the NOPD, the
decision was made to reassign one of the only real hero's and leaders of the post Katrina police department.

Lead by this Captain, the Major Case Narcotics unit has work tirelessly under dreadfull conditions. Why so you might ask? Because of the motivation and leadership he brings forth. Now, because he does his job, maybe a little too well, he has been reassigned and punished for his efforts. What great leaders your are, Riley and Nicholas, you should be proud.

SAME OLD CIRCUS, DIFFERENT CLOWNS!!!

[Mike Glasser]

Captain Timmy Bayard is not a member of the Police Association of New Orleans, so I write this not as the president of PANO, but as a colleague and friend of Timmy. To be clear, I don’t speak for him or represent him, I speak for myself. I don’t know all of the attendant details of the incident which lead to the arrest of several grand jury witnesses by detectives under Timmy Bayard’s command. And were I to make assumptions about the incident, I would be guilty of the same behavior that I have often criticized our administration for doing…drawing conclusions without proper facts or adequate inquiry.

However, that being said, this much I can also say with confidence. I know Timmy would never deliberately jeopardize ANY investigation, federal, state, or otherwise. And were it to happen by error, he would never allow anyone to take the heat for it, even if he were not directly and personally responsible. He is not built that way. If his squad took a course of action, he will take responsibility for it. And that is an admirable and rare enough quality, especially today.

Despite the administration’s decision to reassign him, I have every confidence that in the end, he will be vindicated and his command restored. My confidence is not necessarily in the system of inquiry or the quality of the inquisitors. It is based upon having had the privilege of working with Timmy from the rank of patrolman on up for over a quarter century. My confidence is in Timmy. I know the man, and that’s more than enough.

Mike Glasser

[Billy]

Veteran NOPD officer faces inquiry

Investigation linked to earlier spa case
Saturday, July 15, 2006By Walt Philbin
Staff writer
A highly decorated and respected New Orleans police commander is under investigation after his vice squad officers raided a French Quarter spa whose employees were scheduled to testify about an alleged shakedown by officers from another unit.

Tim Bayard, 50, a 31-year veteran cited as a hero for his actions during Hurricane Katrina and a highly respected street commander before that, was transferred by Superintendent Warren Riley to administrative duties in the communications unit pending the outcome of a criminal investigation, police said in a news release Friday.
Bayard is being investigated by the New Orleans Police Department Public Integrity Bureau on state charges of obstruction of justice, police sources said.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said he wasn't free to comment about whether Bayard was also a target of a federal investigation.
Bayard, citing department policy, said he was not free to comment.
But three officers who have spoken with him and are familiar with the case said he admits he made a "bonehead move," but had no intention of obstructing a federal investigation. Bayard understands and "welcomes" Riley's investigation as a necessary step to clear the department of any appearance of impropriety the raid created, the officers said.
The officers said Bayard was cooperating in the federal investigation into an alleged shakedown by two 8th District officers on the Bangkok Spa at 509 Iberville St.
Quincy Shelling, 28, and Joshua Burns, 28, along with a Metairie civilian, are accused of participating in the shakedown of the French Quarter massage parlor June 8. The two officers were booked with armed robbery and malfeasance in office.
Burns, Shelling and Lamar Dersone, 28, are accused of entering the parlor, roughing up five women employees and demanding cash, police said. The officers were off-duty and not in uniform. Though they did not pull their guns, they face armed robbery charges, because they were carrying the weapons, police said. Police did not say how much money was taken.
On Monday, Bayard had spoken with Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike McMahon about his impending testimony before the grand jury, scheduled for Wednesday this week, according to the three officers. Essentially, Bayard, who supervises vice and narcotics officers, was to tell the panel that the vice squad didn't authorize Burns and Shelling to be involved in any undercover operation on the day they were allegedly shaking down the business, the officers said.
According to Bayard's conversations with fellow officers, deputy chiefs of police had ordered stricter enforcement to suppress incidents of prostitution that had apparently spread while the vice squad had concentrated its efforts on narcotics and other violent crimes.
Not thinking when an officer under his supervision said officers were taking a new undercover officer to spas near Canal Street, including the Bangkok, Bayard approved the sweep, the officers said.
The undercover officer was allegedly offered oral sex, and in the ensuing raid the woman and three other employees were arrested, police said.
It was only that night, as he remembered he was testifying the next day to the grand jury about the Bangkok, that he realized he had used "horrible timing," the officers said. "It was good routine law enforcement but horrible timing," they quoted him as saying.
Bayard went directly to Letten the next morning and told him what he had done. By that time, however, the suspects, all of them witnesses to the alleged shakedown, had been shaken up and were concerned for their safety, their attorney said.
. . . . . . .
Walt Philbin can be reached at wphilbin@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3302.