A New Orleans
police officer has been suspended and charged with malfeasance
in office after investigators determined she used an official police database
to look up a woman's address for personal reasons, according to a department
news release.
Internal investigators found that Officer Carolyn
Dalton, a 16-year veteran, used the computer in her patrol car to look up the
home and business addresses of a woman who was dating a man Dalton was also
dating. Dalton used the database without having been assigned an investigation
that would require such a search, police spokeswoman Remi Braden said.
She is also accused of going to the woman's Chalmette
home, following her around in her car, demanding she stop dating the man and
threatening she would "get her," Braden said, noting Dalton is
believed to have used profanity.
The woman filed a complaint with the St. Bernard
Parish Sheriff's Office on Jan. 8, 2013, and the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau
reassigned Dalton to desk duty that day. The woman secured a restraining order
against Dalton in St. Bernard Parish.
Dalton declined to provide a statement April 23 during
the department's internal criminal investigation, police said. She was read her
Miranda rights but not booked, records show. The investigation at that point
was handed over to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office, police said.
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office notified
the Public Integrity Bureau on Jan. 6 that it had determined Dalton violated
state law by using the mobile computer system for unofficial business. The
office charged Dalton Jan. 16 in a bill of information for malfeasance in
office, a felony.
Public Integrity Bureau Chief Arlinda Westbrook said
in an interview Friday officers chose not to book Dalton immediately in April
because investigators were consulting with federal and state prosecutors to
make sure charges "would stick," and did not want to "barrel
in" only to end up with a weak case.
"My goal is to have a larger hammer and make sure
if I really have a criminal here or somebody who has serious issues that I, on
top of terminate them, I put them away and for a long time, if I can,"
Westbrook said.
Criminal District Court Judge Benedict Willard set
Dalton's arraignment for Thursday (Jan. 30), but records show she did not
attend, so it was re-set for Feb. 13.
Westbrook placed Dalton on emergency suspension
without pay Thursday. Dalton was most recently assigned to the NOPD's 3rd
District, which covers Gentilly, Lakeview, Lakeshore and parts of
Mid-City.
Dalton's attorney, Eric Hessler, of the Police
Association of New Orleans, said the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office investigated
the matter and did not find sufficient evidence of a crime to arrest her.
"I don't know if they didn't find (the woman) credible, or what
happened," he said.
Hessler said he could not comment further because he
was not sure what prosecutors are alleging Dalton has done. He said Dalton's
bill of information contained no details on the allegations other than the
malfeasance in office charge and the date the crime was believed to have been
committed.
"It's supposed to give you enough notice on what
you're being held accountable for," Hessler said. "It can't just say
'armed robbery' it has to say with a gun or knife. If it's theft, you have to
say the amount. This says literally nothing. ... I don't feel comfortable
commenting until I know what the DA's Office is actually alleging."
