'Tis the season to be robbing

Cosimo's robbed again: If 8th District Detective Jason Giroir is having deja vu all over again, it's no wonder. Last year he investigated the robbery of Cosimo's Bar, 1201 Burgundy St., on 12.23.07. This year, the annual episode came a few days earlier: this past Thursday (12.18.08).

According to the police report, 2 white guys in their 30s drinking at the bar at 3:40 a.m. were robbed at gunpoint by a black dude who pulled a pistol and demanded their money. They complied and the thief took off on foot toward Esplanade Avenue.

The robber was described as 5'9" to 5'10" tall, wearing a dark bandanna over his face, and a dark shirt.

Last year, Det. Giroir nabbed a suspect within a couple of days after scrutinizing the bar's video surveillance tape.

Quiet, and then: No crimes reported by the 8th District for Friday or Saturday (would that I could believe the French Quarter was actually so safe), but then Sunday (12.21.08) it's like all hell breaks loose:

• 1:13 a.m.: A Hispanic guy, with some apparent beef against the victim, a white man, got out of his car at Burgundy and Conti streets, allegedly took a pistol out of the car's trunk and pointed it at the victim. Then he calmly put the pistol back in the trunk and tried to leave the scene.

But 8th District officers got there first and apprehended James J. Hernandez III, 33, and charged him with aggravated assault. He made the $20,000 bond on the assault charge, but is still being held in OPP on a $100,000 bond for the violation of a protective order.

• 6:20 a.m.: A Hispanic man sitting in his vehicle on St. Louis Street near Bourbon Street was relieved of his ride by a black dude who came up on the driver's side and used a pistol to convince the driver to turn over the keys. The thug took the vehicle, headed down Bourbon and rounded onto Toulouse Street toward the river.

The car thief was described as 18 to 19, 5'6" tall, weighing 180 pounds, with a dark complexion and short haircut, wearing a white jacket with multi-colored stripes, a white T-shirt and dark pants. No description was given whatsoever of the vehicle, nor a license plate number, that might have aided the populace in helping find this stolen car (or truck, or van, or whatever).

• 6:20 a.m.: At the exact same time as the previous incident, a white man walking the Moon Walk near St. Louis Street was accosted by 2 black hoodlums who struck him and took his wallet.

One of the robbers was described as 20 to 25 years old, 5'7" to 5'8" tall, with a short haircut, wearing a checkered shirt and dark pants. He couldn't describe the other perp.

• 7:22 p.m.: Two black fellas found out the hard way that you can't get a gal with a gun. Five black girls were walking near the intersection of Canal Street and Elk Place when the 2 guys began flirting with them. When the girls ignored their advances, one of the guys pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun and demanded their money. The victims fled toward Tulane Avenue and flagged down a police car, pointing out the 2 guys who were trying to flee the scene on a RTA bus.

Police arrested Vontraz T. Pollard (left), 20, and his brother, Tony B. Pollard (right), 17. Each was charged with 5 counts of attempted armed robbery and are sitting in OPP in lieu of $375,00 bond each.

Rape was bogus: After all the stir a report of a rape on Decatur Street caused last week, it turns out the accusation was bogus after all.

The proprietor of the Havana Dreams cigar shop at 1101 Decatur St. is adamant that the rape the police reported happening upstairs at that address on 12.14.08 did not happen at that location.

He said they have video surveillance cameras all other the place and if something had happened there they would have seen it on tape. He's asked the police to clarify the address of the crime for him, but so far has heard nothing from the detective on the case.

NOcrimeline managed to get clarification from Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo who said the allegation of rape turned out to be false, and the accused suspect released after questioning. The confusion over the address was that the incident was called in from 1101 Decatur St., but the alleged crime actually occurred at 1119 Decatur St.

After all that, he's free: It took the NOPD 6 months to apprehend a suspect in June for a robbery that took place in January, then the case dragged through the court until the DA decided not to prosecute Shaffee Dawson after all last Friday (12.19.08).

Dawson, 26, was charged for the armed robbery on 1.16.08 of a white man was walking up the steps at 2020 N. Rampart St. The DA gave no reason for dropping the charges.

Pistol-packing mama freed: A woman 8th District cops arrested last May for allegedly pulling a pistol and pointing it at a couple of guys during a wee-hours argument in the 100 block of Bourbon Street is free of all charges.

Initially charged with aggravated assault and illegally carrying a weapon, the charges against Lyndi B. Gajan, 26, were reduced to carrying a concealed weapon. The DA decided last Wednesday (12.17.08) not to prosecute her. She had been free on her own recognizance, thanks to Criminal District Court Judge Frank Marullo Jr.

Don't be fooled: After Big Chief Riley spent last Friday begging the state to keep National Guardsmen in New Orleans, the Times-Picayune crunched the NOPD's manpower figures to show that Riley will soon have TWICE the national per capita number of officers that other cities have.

Riley told the state New Orleans expects to have 1,508 officers by the first of the year and 1,700 by the end of the year. The T-P concluded:

"Assuming a New Orleans population of 300,000--a number higher than the latest U.S. Census Bureau count but lower than the highest estimates by local demographers--hitting the target would give the city 5.6 sworn officers per 1,000 residents.

"An FBI study using statistics from 2004 found an average of 2.8 officers per 1,000 residents in American cities with at least 250,000 people.

"Before Katrina, the department's numbers peaked at 1,668, which with a population of 455,000 yielded an officer-per-1,000-resident ratio of 3.6."

We have pointed out before that the NOPD has long had more officers per capita than New York City, but is far more crime ridden. So what is the problem?

Management. Simply management. It's not so much how many men you have, it's what you do with them. Having so many of them sitting on their fannies, shuffling papers is doing nothing for crime prevention.

Bill Walsh, a well-respected local attorney and NOcrimeline subscriber, recently emailed Riley and asked him, in essence, "Where have all the officers gone?"

Walsh, in his email told Riley:

"Cursory review of NOPD's compliment of officers makes me think there appears to be a very big discrepancy regarding police officers actually on street fighting crime.

--If there are 8 police districts and approximately 116-120 officers assigned to each district, for a total of approximately 960 officers;

--Each district shift has 12-16 patrol officers assigned, which totals 128 officers per shift for all districts;

--Four 40-hour shifts per week would require a minimum of 128 x 4, or 512 officers per week.

"If I conservatively manpower load the existing police compliment of 1,400 officers at 50% to account for sick or vacation time, this would provide you with 700 officers available.

"My point here is, what are the other police officers doing?"

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com

Thom Kahler