NEW ORLEANS — A simple mistake led to the inadvertent leak of highly sensitive tape recordings of New Orleans police officers being interviewed in the payroll irregularities case against Jeffrey Vappie, one of Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s bodyguards, according to an investigation by the Office of Inspector General.
A computer thumb drive containing the confidential interviews was mistakenly put out in an envelope by City Attorney Donesia Turner in response to an unrelated public records request by an embattled former member of the HANO board, Sharon Jasper.
Jasper had been removed from the board and was challenging her dismissal. In complying with Jasper’s request for records, Turner told IG investigators that she “placed the thumb drive in one of her desk drawers.”
“Turner was going to provide Jasper videos of HANO Board meetings and placed the thumb drive containing the videos in an envelope and left it a front desk,” the 20-page IG report states.
After a representative for Jasper picked up the envelope, the PIB recordings and knowledge of the leak passed through multiple hands, including the city’s Independent Police Monitor, federal monitors overseeing the NOPD’s consent decree and City Council President J.P. Morrell, among others.
Eventually, members of the news media obtained copies of the PIB interviews, including WWL Louisiana, and portions of the interviews were made public in news stories.
The PIB investigation focused on Vappie’s irregular hours, his time accompanying Cantrell at the city-owned Pontalba Apartments, and his appointment to the HANO Board by the mayor. The PIB recordings, considered highly confidential, included interviews with Vappie and other members of the mayor’s executive protection team.
Ultimately, Vappie was issued a letter of reprimand for administration violations relating to his hours, including time he spent attending HANO meetings as a board member while on the clock for the NOPD.
U.S. District Judge Susie Morgain, overseeing the consent decree, later ruled that the NOPD’s handling of the Vappie case violating a dozen requirements of the federal agreement, but has withheld sanctions while she awaits a remedial plan by the NOPD.
The IG report lists several recommendations to prevent similar slip-ups, including more secure communications between PIB and the city attorney’s office, tighter protocols by the Independent Police Monitor, and a better system to handle breaches.
The IG’s report notes that “PIB did not attempt to recover the recordings, nor did they receive an offer to have the recordings returned,” the report states.
The Mayor's Office of Communications issued the following statement in response to the OIG report:
"Having reviewed the OIG report, the Cantrell Administration is disappointed in the events that transpired," the statement began. "Moving forward, this administration is hopeful that all parties in any investigation will cooperate with authorities, maintain confidentiality, conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity and encourage others to do the same. While the Law Department’s inadvertent release of confidential information was unfortunate, safeguards have been put in place to ensure that confidential information is maintained by the entrusted agencies.
"To be clear, Mayor Cantrell has always publicly encouraged all City employees to cooperate to the fullest extent possible in any investigation."
Cantrell is currently overseas attending a weeklong climate change conference in Dubai.
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