As City of New Orleans employees are aware, CAO Policy Memo No. 143 went into effect on October 18, 2021. In short, CAO Policy Memo No. 143 requires employees to produce either proof of vaccination or one negative test per week.
Recently, I learned that there were a few NOPD employees who were carried leave without pay (LWOP) as a result of CAO Policy Memo No. 143.
If you, or anyone you know, were carried LWOP as a result of CAO Policy Memo No. 143, the vaccine mandate, please give me or one of the other FOP attorneys a call. Sending a permanent, classified employee of the New Orleans Police Department home without pay is a suspension without due process and needs to be appealed to Civil Service pursuant to New Orleans Civil Service Rule II, Sec. 4.1.
Pursuant to New Orleans Civil Service Rule II, Sec .4.3, appeals have to be filed within 30 days of notice of disciplinary action. Since being sent home LWOP is not a traditional discipline, there is no traditional notice. Keep whatever documentation that is provided. Ask for documentation (maybe a 105) if none is provided. One way or another, call your FOP attorney. We should be able to get the lost pay back.
If this happened to you or this happens to you in the future, pick up the phone and give me a call.
The Oct. 17 article about employees of the New Orleans Police Department and the work these officers do in their off time described how a chemistry professor at the University
— Read on www.theadvocate.com/content/tncms/live/
The following only applies to employees of the New Orleans Police Department.
After much back and forth with the City Administration, CAO Policy Memo 146 goes into effect today, October 18, 2021, for employees of the City of New Orleans. CAO Policy Memo 146 requires all employees to show proof of total vaccination (14 days after 2nd shot or 1 shot vaccine) or a negative test result. Employees without proof of vaccination on file with their HR person will have to present one (1) negative test per week to enter a City worksite. This constitutes a reduction from the initial policy that required 2 negative tests per week.
Employees of the New Orleans Police Department should familiarize themselves with the current version of Special Order 2-2021.SO 2-2021 outlines the specific procedures for NOPD employees as it relates to CAO Policy Memo 146.
If you are an NOPD employee who has to get tested weekly, please keep a detailed record of the following:
Keep a log of any and all time expended getting tested, if that testing is not during regular working hours. In other words, if you aren’t being carried regular working by your regular assignment when you leave to get tested, then you need to record the hours you spent getting tested. If you are leaving from home, start the time when you leave your home and end it when you return home. If you are leaving from or going to somewhere else, count the driving time to the testing site and end it when you are done with the testing.
Keep a log and receipts of any and all monetary expenses associated with testing.
For now, the city employees getting tested weekly should keep the log of time and expenses in case we need it later for legal actions. If you don’t keep these records it could exclude you from benefitting later.
Please contact me about these records in New Orleans and I will be happy to discuss it further. We will be taking the necessary actions on behalf of our members to protect our members. These records will be key to our success in protecting our members. You can email these records to me if you want. I will keep them for you. You can take pictures of receipts and text them to me if you want. The Crescent City Lodge of the FOP is here for you.
The City of New Orleans has stated that it does not intend to grant any exemptions to this CAO Policy Memo 146. That being said, if you are an FOP member who would like to request an exemption to this policy, you are welcome to contact me. Generally, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides for exemptions to these types of policies based on disabilities that prevent vaccination or sincerely held religious beliefs. An employer could have to grant a reasonable accommodation for employees with a disability that prevents the employee from getting vaccinated. Similar reasonable accommodations might have to be granted for employees with a sincerely held religious belief that prevents the employee from being vaccinated.
NOPD officer should be careful submitting exemption requests. They cannot be untruthful. Untruthful requests could subject the employee to disciplinary action. As I stated above, I am happy to assist FOP members with formulating an exemption request.
Any exemption request based on disability would have to explain what disability the exemption seeker had and how that disability interferes with the ability to take the vaccine. Any exemption request based on a sincerely held religious belief would have to be backed up by the religious customs the exemption seeker regularly observed. This would probably only include the Jehova’s Witnesses. All that being said, it is important to remember that if an exemption request were granted, the outcome would be that the exemption seeker would have to comply with the testing provisions of the policy as the policy contains both the mandate and the reasonable accommodation.
If you are sent home unauthorized leave without pay, please contact me immediately. This will be appealable to the Civil Service Commission. Contact me immediately if you are an NOPD employee who is sent home unauthorized leave without pay.
Again, this article only applies to employees of the New Orleans Police Department as of this time. NOPD officers should check back regularly for updates.
Promotions to the position of Senior Police Officer has been one of the FOP’s top priorities since the NOPD first made Senior Police Officers. Out of all of the issues currently facing NOPD employees, this may be the one I heard about the most. The following email was sent out on October 5, 2021. I urge everyone who is eligible to take the steps necessary to get promoted. This is a non competitive promotion. In other words, you have to meet the minimum requirements and take the requisite classes to get promoted.
Everything has to be done by November 5, 2021. That only leaves 1 month to get everything done. If there is someone who is out for some reason, please make sure they have this information.
Who is eligible to be promoted? Any NOPD officer with 3 years experience as a Police Officer or Police Officer 1 is eligible as long as the training is completed and the training certificate is submitted by November 5, 2021. An NOPD officer becomes a Police Officer when the officer graduates from the academy. So, to be promoted, an officer has to have graduated from the academy by November 5, 2018. Any officer who graduated from the academy on or before November 5, 2018 would have permanent status.
Pay particular attention to the date everything needs to be completed: November 5, 2021. The (1) registration much be completed, (2) the training must be completed, and (3) the course completion certificates must be submitted no later than NOVEMBER 5, 2021. It will be difficult to complete this training in one day. The point is: Don’t wait until November 5 to try to do it all
The email announcing the promotional courses read as follows:
Superintendent Shaun D. Ferguson is proud to announce on-line training modules in anticipation for the promotional position of Senior Police Officer. Minimum qualification requirements for this application include:
Permanent status as a Police Officer with NOPD. Three (3) years of experience with NOPD in any combination of Police Officer or Police Officer I.
Successful completion of the current New Orleans Police Academy Police Officer II, III, IV, or Senior Police Officer training program.
A letter from the Police Education and Training Division certifying successful completion of this training must be submitted.
OPENING/CLOSING DATES:
The opening date for this training is effective with this message. All future applicants for promotion to the Senior Police Officer position must complete the assigned training curriculum and submit the required course completion certificates no later than November 5, 2021.
SENIOR POLICE OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
The Academy has formulated a SPO curriculum that will be delivered in a series of web-based training courses. Candidates are required to complete a total of five interactive courses offered by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services – COPS Program). The VCPI “E-Learn Center” offers 24/7 access to these courses which include a variety of learning tools, multi-media segments, and exercises. Officers may access this training website on personal time from any computer with Internet connectivity. The modules can be paused and resumed to the location where discontinued. Participants will be able to print a certificate of training upon successfully passing each course examination.
SENIOR POLICE OFFICER CURRICULUM:
I. ETHICAL DECISION MAKING: POLICING WITH PRINCIPLED INSIGHT Synopsis – EDM explores the practice of decision making and the ethical principles that support effective policing. EDM stresses that police ethics are not just an after-thought or a means of discouraging bad behavior, with public trust integrity and liability hinging on each and every decision. Ethics are a controlling insight that informs and guides police practitioners from an internal personal capacity while exploring realistic modern-day challenges faced in the policing profession.
Run Time: 2 hours Completion Time: 4 hours
II. COMMUNITY POLICING DEFINED Synopsis – Provides participants with a basic awareness and understanding of the fundamental principles and best practices of community policing. Describes the practice of community policing while also examining how it can be effectively applied. The course explores partnerships, problem solving, and organizational transformation as they relate to specific issues and challenges facing today’s law enforcement professionals and the communities they serve.
Run Time: 4 hours Completion Time: 8 hours
III. COMMUNITY POLICING: IMPROVING POLICE EFFICACY AND BUILDING TRUST Synopsis – Explores how emerging issues are necessitating a commitment to the key components of community policing: partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving. The course includes an examination of the current state of policing—both locally and nationally— addressing the current and emerging issues that challenge the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies and the well-being of the communities they serve. CPIPEBT challenges participants to explore the principles and practices of community policing as a means of achieving the public safety mission with greater efficiency by gaining and maintaining public trust and engaging the community in the shared responsibility of effective policing.
Run Time: 3 hours Completion Time: 6 hours
IV. PROBLEM ORIENTED POLICING: THE SARA MODEL Synopsis – Provides participants with a basic awareness and understanding of the fundamental principles of a common approach used by many community policing agencies to identify and solve repeat crime and community problems: the SARA model. The SARA model allows agencies to scan through multiple data sources, conduct a thorough analysis of a problem through the lens of the crime triangle, formulate a response, and continuously assess the impact of the response to the problem.
Run Time: 1 hour Completion Time: 2 hours
V. CRIME REDUCTION: ENFORCEMENT AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES Synopsis – Designed to provide participants with an overview of best practices for crime reduction, including guidelines for implementing an organizational model for crime reduction at all levels within a police department. The course offers useful strategies for problem solving in order to develop immediate, short-term, and long-term responses to crime within a community.
Run Time: 2 hours Completion Time: 4 hours
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ON-LINE TRAINING:
Eligible SPO candidates shall access the VCPI website at VCPI (vcpionline.org) and click on the “LOG-IN” screen. From there click on the “CREATE AN ACCOUNT” heading to register as a new user.
Upon access to the E-Learn Center you will be prompted to a menu in the left corner titled “STUDENT DASHBOARD”, from there access the “VIEW/REGISTER FOR COURSES” and then click “REGISTER MYSELF” to take each of the SPO required training modules.
A tutorial on how to use the commands is provided initially and can be viewed at any time by clicking on the “help” button on the top right of the screen. The modules are sequential and cannot be opened out of order. Officers taking the courses must complete all pages and each tab/insert within each page to be eligible for the certification exam. If at any time you exit the modules, reentry will allow you to go back to the location where you left off.
SUBMITTAL OF TRAINING CERTIFICATES: Upon completion of the modules and the course exams, you will be able to click on the final section to print the “Certificate”. The five completed certificates (in total) shall be personally delivered to the front desk receptionist at the Police Academy Monday thru Friday between the hours of 8AM and 3PM. DO NOT EMAIL CERTIFICATES.If you experience any difficulties with the on-line training, contact Duane Johnson, Academy Curriculum Director, dujohnson@nola.gov .
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