THREE COPS RESIGN WHILE AWAITING CRIMINAL TRIALS

A New Orleans police officer awaiting trial on a shoplifting charge
has resigned from the department amid an internal investigation that
expanded to include questions about her boyfriend's alleged
drug-dealing, police said.

Tawanda McAfee was one of three officers facing criminal charges who
handed in a resignation over the weekend. The other two officers,
Henry Steudlein and Harrison Gardner, former 1st District narcotics
detectives, face trial on malfeasance and perjury charges for
allegedly stealing Police Department money intended for a confidential
informant.

McAfee, a former 4th District patrol officer, had been reassigned to a
desk job after her Feb. 21 shoplifting arrest for allegedly stealing
lip ointment worth $9.99 from a Rite-Aid drugstore. McAfee, working a
St. Charles Avenue parade route at the time, was videotaped in uniform
by drugstore surveillance equipment.

McAfee's case grew more complicated on March 11, when her boyfriend,
Lawrence "Meat" Brown III, 34, was booked with possession with intent
to distribute crack cocaine.

During Brown's arrest following a traffic stop, he allegedly scuffled
with officers before swallowing a handful of crack, which kept him
hospitalized for several days. While Brown was incapacitated, McAfee,
31, gave officers consent to search the Algiers home they shared.
After a small amount of cocaine was found inside the house, the Police
Department's internal investigation of McAfee grew to include the drug
discovery and her involvement with Brown, police spokesman Capt.
Marlon Defillo said.

Steudlein and Gardner, both 33, were indicted by a special state grand
jury in October. The officers are accused of pocketing money earmarked
for an informant and crafting a search warrant under false pretenses.
Because of the cloud of suspicion surrounding the officers, Orleans
Parish prosecutors said they were forced to drop pending drug charges
against more than a dozen defendants who had been arrested by the
former detectives.

None of the former officers could be reached for comment Monday.

"They all resigned while under investigation," Defillo said. "By doing
that, it stops any administrative review because they're no longer
members to the department, but any criminal case against them will
proceed."

While the resignations hit an already understaffed department, the
blow was softened Monday with the addition of six new officers,
including one who signed up during a highly touted recruiting trip to
Cleveland.

Officer William Habukjak was one of about 250 Cleveland police
officers wooed by the NOPD after being laid off because of budget
cuts. On a trip financed by the New Orleans Police Foundation, a team
of recruiters traveled to Cleveland in December, drawing interest from
about 70 officers who received pink slips.

In the end, only Habukjak made the move, despite the offer of a $5,000
signing bonus.

"We're disappointed in the number of officers who followed through and
actually applied," said Police Foundation President Robert
Stellingworth. "We had high hopes and we spent a lot of money to make
that recruiting trip."

The other five officers sworn in Monday are David Lapene Jr., Raymond
Martinez, Max Johnson Sr., Kelsey Lewis and David Patin. Lapene and
Martinez recently returned from military duty in Iraq, Defillo said.
The new officers raise the troop strength to 1,633 officers, 67
officers short of the city's goal of 1,700.