NEW ORLEANS --
The New Orleans Police Department Commander accused of issuing racially tinged instructions before the start of a shift last Friday is resigning, effective Thursday.
The New Orleans Police Department's Public Integrity Bureau had begun looking into what it called "possible inappropriate instructions" that Eddie Selby gave to Special Operations Division officers last Friday during Essence Fest.
The WDSU I-Team reported that the instructions in question may have been racially insensitive. They related to last weekend's Essence Festival, which attracted a predominantly African-American crowd.
Pending the outcome of the investigation, Selby was reassigned to work in the office of Deputy Chief Defillo by Superintendent Ronal Serpas.
“A critical aspect of this investigation is to determine if any instructions may have resulted in inappropriate police action," Serpas said. "To date, we have determined that SOD made one physical arrest over the holiday weekend. Two suspects were detained and positively identified by the victim of an armed robbery event that had just occurred in the 2000 block of Iberville, on July 4 at approximately 3 a.m.
"PIB is continuing its investigation until Chief (Arlinda) Westbrook is satisfied she has obtained all pertinent facts.”
Selby was promoted to commander of Special Operations in April.
Superintendent Ronal Serpas said when he learned about the instructions, he asked to have the members of the unit interviewed.
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