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NAACP and residents press Hammond council for police transparency, request subpoena and oversight
Summary
Activists and residents asked the council to subpoena the police chief, release body-camera footage and create a civil complaint review board after months of limited public updates on an alleged tasing/paralysis case; the administration said the file has been forwarded to an outside agency and will follow up.
Hammond — Civic leaders and residents pressed the Hammond City Council on Tuesday to produce answers about a six-month-old police investigation they say has lacked transparency and outside review.
Michael Showers, president of the Greater Tangipahoa Parish NAACP, told the council the community has waited months for results and asked the council to subpoena the police chief, produce body-camera footage and establish a civil complaint review board. Showers said he and others have already prepared public-records requests and are prepared to pursue legal remedies if necessary.
"This has been going on 6 months," Showers said, and he called for immediate action and oversight. Stanley Campbell (District 1) also urged transparency and pointed to a lack of public-facing policy manuals and timelines for the investigation.
Mayor Pete Panopinto and administration officials said the matter had been forwarded to an outside agency; during the meeting staff reported the file had been referred beyond the attorney general’s office and that some materials were with federal investigators. The mayor agreed to follow up with the chief and the AG’s office and to provide an update to the council.
Several council members said they want written materials: the police department policy manual currently in force, a timeline on when files were sent to state or federal partners, and confirmation of whether body-worn-camera audit trails exist and what portions are public under applicable law. City attorneys cautioned that some law-enforcement materials are not automatically public while other records become public after adjudication.
What happens next: Council requested the administration follow up with the chief and attorney general office and to produce available policy and investigatory materials. The NAACP said it will file records requests and may pursue ethics complaints or litigation if the council and administration do not provide timely answers.
