Discipline for deputy

Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal said Monday disciplinary action would “most definitely” be taken against one deputy involved in a series of arrests and confrontations that occurred at the Sugar Cane Festival and Fair fais-do-do following a completed internal affairs investigation into several allegations of police brutality.

Ackal declined to make public the internal affairs division’s findings, citing the confidential nature of such investigations in general. He said the disclosure of the report could be of particular detriment to several parties involved.

Also, Ackal has suspended — but not permanently disbanded — the bicycle patrol until further notice, attributing his decision to both the fais-do-do incidents and the patrol’s history of having “bullies.”

The investigation also will result in some degree of internal “restructuring,” Ackal said, and some deputies could be asked to take “sensitivity education courses.”

“We’re still receiving reports that some of our deputies are rude,” Ackal said. “Someone acting up reflects badly on all of us. If everybody thinks that we’re all like that, we’ve got a problem.”

Ackal referred to the deputy likely to be disciplined as “a hot head” who has a history of arrests that have elicited “resisting arrests” charges. He said a high occurrence of resisting arrests charges “tells you that (he is) the problem.”

“He’s a damn good officer,” Ackal said. “He’s just got a mean streak.”

That deputy will not be allowed to be a part of the bike patrol, and Ackal said an “oral reprimand (would not) suffice,” adding he would not hesitate to fire an officer.

But Ackal said he would wait for the legal conclusion of the complainants’ cases — cases in city court in which the complainants are defendants, charged for their alleged misbehavior at the fais-do-do — before determining the disciplinary action, as a public announcement now could affect “their day in court.”

Charges pending

At least six men were arrested Sept. 26 during the fais-do-do and charged with several offenses, including intimidation, public intoxication and remaining where forbidden. Several of them said in interviews later with The Daily Iberian that bicycle patrol officers used excessive force in arresting them, publicly beat them and forced them to remain detained in a van for several hours.

Rolling Segura, who has declined interview requests, was injured enough to be taken to the hospital at his own request, Capt. Wendell Raborn, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said two weeks after the festival.

It remains unclear how many of the men still are facing charges and whether the internal affairs investigation would play any role in their outcome. New Iberia City Prosecutor Anne Stevens said last week she had received charges for only one of four names read to her over the telephone.  Stevens did not return a phone call Monday but told a Sheriff’s Office staffer she had received the charges on the men involved. Ackal said the internal investigation was likely to blame for any processing delays.

One of the complainants arrested during the fais-do-do, Ricky Theriot, said he still was being charged as of Monday.

Theriot said the publicity generated by his arrest and the subsequent media coverage has damaged his reputation as a local business owner and coach.

“Everyone I see everywhere asks me about it,” he said.

He said law enforcement officials involved in his proceedings have encouraged him to “pay the fine and be done with it.” But Theriot said he hoped the others arrested with him that night would persist in their complaints and not fold out of fear of retribution.

“It’s out of control,” he said. “If we don’t stand up, it’s going to happen to someone else.”

Records request

The Sheriff’s Office last week declined a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Daily Iberian seeking access to the internal affairs report.

The internal affairs division spent the past month interviewing complainants, bicycle patrol deputies and witnesses. Capt. Russell Hebert, one the investigating officers, refused to be interviewed but discussed the case with at least one of the complainants.

Steve Elledge, counsel to the Sheriff’s Office, said the report is exempt from the Public Records Act because it is an internal affairs investigation, citing Louisiana R.S. 40:2532. That law states certain information, such as “a law enforcement officer’s home address, photograph” or other confidential information cannot be released without the officer’s written consent.

“(R.S.) 40:2532 doesn’t include the internal affairs report,” Louisiana Press Association lawyer Dave Woolridge said.

He said that law doesn’t mean the internal affairs report is not a public document, only that the private information can be redacted, or blotted out. He said an Oct. 10 ruling by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal states that there is “strong public interest” in disclosure of an internal affairs report.

The case, involving a request of The (Baton Rouge) Advocate seeking internal affairs investigation reports from the Baton Rouge Police Department, could be heard before the Louisiana Supreme Court, but a court official said Friday she had not yet received a request for the court to consider the case.