Mayor Ray Nagin said he was "quite surprised" by the barbs traded this week between District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro and Police Superintendent Warren Riley.Cannizzaro said publicly that he doesn't think the New Orleans Police Department stacks up to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and the FBI. Riley later decried the comments as harmful to the city's reputation.
Nagin on Friday echoed Riley's observation that all seemed fine just a few weeks ago. "I was out there with the DA during Night Out Against Crime and I just saw a totally different thing: He and the chief were pretty lovey-dovey. So I don't know what happened. Sounds like they had a little spat, " the mayor said.
Nagin also expressed concern about the effect Cannizzaro's comments could have on officers. "I just worry about that from a standpoint of what's the officers on the street hearing, " he said. "Keep in mind, these officers have been with us, most of them, since Katrina. Eighty percent of them suffered damage to their homes. They haven't had a lot of time for a break, and they continue to work very hard.
"We're trying to get the criminal justice system to work together, and then the DA comes out and says that, " Nagin said. "I'm just going to chalk it up that he had a bad day. Something must have happened earlier that day and, hopefully, we won't have an outburst like that in the future."