New
Orleans, La. -
One of the women
involved in a Canal Street fight, captured in a video that's gone viral,
says she's glad a police officer has been suspended for allegedly not doing
enough to stop the fight. The attorney for the officer takes issue with the
allegations and plans to appeal the suspension.
It's an incident that
many say did not have to escalate, including the woman who got the worst of the
fight.
"I think he
should have done more," she said, "more than what he was doing."
The woman said NOPD
Officer Cortez Hankton and another officer got out of their car while
patrolling Canal Street, about a minute after the fight began.
FOX 8 asked her if
she requested Ofc. Hankton to do more. "I didn't have to, he was right
there when this all happened," she said.
According to her, her
boyfriend and another man began fighting. At some point she and the other man's
sister were also drawn into the brawl.
"What he is
doing?" wondered Tulane criminologist Peter Scharf as he watched the
YouTube video, which has gotten over 60,000 hits. "Is he monitoring the
scene or is he just passive? But it's sure ugly."
The victim said her
injuries were serious, noting bruises all over her body and a knot on her
forehead. She said she required hospitalization for several days after the
fight.
The woman also said
she and her boyfriend were arrested after the fight, but Ofc. Hankton never
showed up in court and the charges were dropped.
"If he had done
his job, none of this would have happened," she said.
Hankton's attorney
says he will appeal the officer's suspension.
"He's incredibly
disappointed by this. He plans to put on a vigorous defense," said Raymond
Burkart III.
Burkart said the
officer was doing his job and awaiting backup, a statement disputed by NOPD
Superintendent Ronal Serpas.
It's a case that's a
concern to people involved in officer training.
"There may be
some confusion among police officers that needs to be clarified. Somehow he
thought he had to wait for backup," said Mary Claire Landry, a police
training expert with the Family Justice Center.
There are accounts of
similar brawls happening at least once or twice a week on Canal Street, and
Landry says it's important for officers to respond correctly.
"Those
situations are going to escalate there's no doubt about it, if you don't
de-escalate that... you really have to take action and separate the
parties," Landry told FOX 8.
Dr. Scharf says it's
not clear whether Ofc. Hankton acted improperly. "It's embarrassing but
was it beyond the standard? So reasonable tactics, that's the question,"
said Scharf.
It's an issue that
will likely be decided by Civil Service, once the suspension appeal is filed.
