A deputy constable for one of New Orleans’ city courts has been suspended while authorities investigate a complaint that he did not act when a witness told him a woman was being raped.
The constable for 2nd City Court told New Orleans news outlets the deputy was suspended pending an investigation. The deputy constable’s name was not released. He was on a private duty security job at the time of the July 26 incident in the French Quarter.
His suspension was announced after New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Shaun Ferguson called a news conference to address allegations that a city police officer had refused to respond.
“At no time did an NOPD officer refuse assistance,” Ferguson said.
News outlets report that on audio of a 911 call, a woman is heard telling a dispatcher she saw a man she thought to be an NOPD officer a block away, not responding to the scene of what she believed was a man raping an unconscious woman.
Ferguson said an investigation into the rape report was ongoing. An investigation into city police response was closed after investigators learned the individual was a deputy constable.
SOURCE: The Associated Press
