NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Police have reassigned a sergeant accused of a making a slur about President Barack Obama before his visit to the city last Friday. According to a news release, Sgt. Chris Landry was reassigned after making the alleged comment about Obama during a training event Thursday.
Police would not discuss details of the incident or whether Landry had been originally assigned to a role during Obama's visit.
According to media reports and other sources, Landry was attending an animal control training session when he supposedly made a remark about the "animal coming to town tomorrow," an alleged reference to Obama.
In a statement, chief Ronal Serpas says Landry was reassigned because the police training program was designed to improve officers' interaction with the public. The department would not provide details of his reassignment.
Both the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) union and the department's Public Integrity Bureau are investigating the matter.
Landry is a 16-year veteran, vice president of the FOP and serves on its executive board.
In a statement, NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas says, “It was imperative that we reassign this officer immediately after learning this serious allegation. The entire purpose of our officer re-training program is to continuously improve the way our officers interact with the public. Offensive remarks made by any officer are simply not tolerated in this department.”
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