Training by PANO

[Mike Glasser]

Saturday, August 5, 2006

In speaking with everyone from the Superintendent, the City Attorneys, the District Attorneys, the Judges, many officers themselves, and from personal experience, one of the areas of training for NOPD personnel that has never been adequately addressed is in the area of Courtroom Testimony & Facility. This is most evident in the less-tenured officers and made worse by Katrina-related difficulties in both the Criminal Justice System & our own training regimens.

The Police Association recognizes the need for training in this area in order for our officers to become more effective in Criminal Court, to successfully complete the process that began with their arrest. The Police Association of New Orleans has constructed a one-day training program which will provide the full range of information describing both the officer's role & obligations in criminal proceedings as well as that of the District Attorney. It will outline, in detail, the officer's requisites for a successful courtroom appearance from construction of the police report through consultation with the District Attorney and actual courtroom demeanor. The officer will be familiarized with the District Attorney’s preparation of the case, from its initial screening, through Bills, Motions, Trial Strategy and Examination by both the prosecution & defense.

The instruction will be provided by current and former Assistant District Attorneys, Criminal Court Judges, prominent and experienced Defense Attorneys, and tenured, expert Police Officers. At the conclusion, the officer should be thoroughly familiar with all procedural aspects of the Criminal Court and the officer’s role and participation in a successful prosecution.

The first phase of the training will begin on August 21, 2006, with specific details to be announced, and should involve between 40 & 50 officers, selected from the districts, and eventually involving everyone. The training will be funded, hosted, and sponsored by the Police Association of New Orleans, representing New Orleans Finest for 37 years, and committed to preparing and training all NOPD officers to the most professional standards.

Training sessions on other vital issues are currently being prepared.

Mike Glasser
PANO President
504-416-0366
GlasserMD@aol.com

[Billy]

Great idea !

Now we just need to get the DA's Office to do some pre-trial talks with the officers to go over cases and make sure both are aware of problems before they get to court.

[Mike Glasser]

The Court-Legal System Training occured yesterday, Monday, August 21, 2006, at the Hilton Hotel. With the assistance and approval of Superintendent Riley, Assistant Superintendent Nicholas, and Deputy Chief Bryson, the curriculum was approved and officers were detailed to the training.
Primary instructor-speakers were Ralph Brandt, Patrick Joseph, & Melanie Tallier from the D.A.'s Office, Franz Ziblich, from the City Attorney's Office, Richard Olivier, former Chief of Screening from the D.A.'s Office, Kevin Boshea, former Chief of Trials from the D.A.'s Office, and the Honorable Judge Leon Cannizarro, Former Chief of Trials, D.A.'s Office, former Judge of Section J , CDC, and currently sitting on the Court of Appeals.
The training went on schedule and from the surveys completed by the attending officers after the training, it appears that the training was well-received. It is our goal to work with the Department and Academy staff to continue this and other training sessions.

[NOPD]

Is another training going to take place in the future ?

From the people that went they all said they learned alot, and after watching a few people in court a lot of other officers need to go.

[Mike Glasser]

The next session will be in about 2 weeks. The date will be announced very shortly. We have gotten a great deal of positive feedback from the officers who attended the first session, so we are eager to have the next one. There are other Training Classes being prepared also. We are working on a more advanced Court training session which will includea mock trial with civilian jury, an Officer Safety/Survival course, and a Traffic Investigation class. We anticipate having all of going these vey shortly.

[Mike Glasser]

The Next Court Training Session is tenatively scheduled for Tuesday, September 26, 2006. Details will be announced and confirmed shortly, and officers will be detailed, probably this Friday. Looking forward to this and other training classes in the works, as well as P/O II, III, and IV classes being developed.

[Mike Glasser]

The Second session of the PANO-sponsored Court-Legal System Training occured yesterday, Tuesday, September 26, 2006, at the Hilton Hotel. Primary instructor-speakers were ADAs Ralph Brandt, Patrick Joseph, & Melanie Tallier from the D.A.'s Office, Franz Ziblich, from the City Attorney's Office, Richard Olivier, former Chief of Screening from the D.A.'s Office, Kevin Boshea, former Chief of Trials from the D.A.'s Office, and the Honorable Judge Leon Cannizarro, Former Chief of Trials, D.A.'s Office, former Judge of Section J , CDC, and currently sitting on the Court of Appeals.

The training went on schedule and from the surveys completed by the attending officers after the training, it appears that the training was well-received. It is our goal to continue to work with the Department and Academy staff to continue to develope other training sessions.

In addition to the Training, several important issues were raised by attending officers, primarily about the Packaging and Custody of Narcotic Evidence and the about involvement of the National Guard in criminal prosecutions of cases made with their intervention. The matters were discussed and some opinions were rendered by members of the D.A.'s Office. We will be adressing these concerns of the officers and the opinions of the attending ADAs with the Police Administration shortly and will report the outcome.