Pre-sale advertisement of the book “Nigger With a Badge” authored by Louisiana State Police Trooper Carl Cavalier, who was notified on October 8, 2021 that he will be terminated from LSP.
On June 10, 2021, we published this feature outlining a week of jam-packed activity within Louisiana State Police (LSP). One of the items we snuck in that feature which attracted very little attention at the time is the following item (#5 on the list), which we repeat at this time:
5. (New revelation by Sound Off Louisiana). Several LSP sources have informed us that LSP’s upper brass is not pleased at all with the upcoming release of a book entitled, “Nigger with a badge.” We have already pre-ordered a copy. Sources tell us that LSP is suspicious that an active trooper wrote the book and that LSP is “going after him” as a result. We’ll certainly report on the book’s contents upon our own reading of it.
We did order the book, but we have deferred commenting on it.
As noted above, LSP conducted an investigation into the book’s authorship. We doubt LSP had to perform much of an investigation in that regard, however, because, when we ordered the book, the receipt for the $50 we paid for the book clearly showed the funds going into an account entitled “Carl Cavalier.”
Once the book was published, Cavalier was seen on several occasions on WBRZ (Channel 2 in Baton Rouge) being interviewed by the station’s chief investigative reporter, Chris Nakamoto. Here is the link for one of those interviews hosted on the Baton Rouge Chapter of the Louisiana NAACP’s Facebook page.
Cavalier was initially suspended for 200 hours and transferred to LSP’s Gaming Division. However, in what may have been the final straw for LSP, Cavalier filed this pro-se lawsuit against LSP on September 30, 2021. From that lawsuit:
On or about June 11, 2021, Petitioner received a phone call from Sgt. Dave Floss regarding a secondary employment application. These questions were directly related to allegations that Petitioner had authored a work of fiction wherein LSP was harshly criticized. Sgt. Floss requested a copy of the book (NWB was released July, 2021).
On or about July 20, 2021 Petitioner was interviewed by LSP: Internal Affairs regarding a complaint he filed against Faye Dysart Morrison, Assistant Secretary of Legal Affairs. At the conclusion of the interview, LTC Van Buren gave Petitioner a hard copy of LSP Procedure Order 901 Code of Ethics, Subsection 42 -Public Statements regarding media contact, specifically
regarding a television interview with WBRZ Investigative Reporter Chris Nakamoto on June 28, 2021 .Petitioner gave the following television and radio interviews regarding criminal conduct by commissioned personnel of Louisiana State Police: June 28, 2021 WBRZ with Chris Nakamoto; July 22, 2021 WBOK New Orleans Radio; July 25, 2021 Interview with Eugene Collins, President of Baton Rouge NAACP; July 28, 2021 Instagram Live interview with Dr. Jamal Taylor; August 18, 2021, WWL Channel 4 Interview with Mike Perlstein.
On or about August 2, 2021, Petitioner returned to active duty at LSP. He was immediately involuntarily transferred from Narcotics to Gaming. This action was a constructive demotion to a far less desirable position than Petitioner previously occupied. Petitioner has eleven (11) years of law enforcement employment, but has no experience with gaming, or casino regulation. Additionally, he was also given correspondence advising him that he was now on administrative leave pending investigation and again sent to his residence indefinitely.
On August 27, 2021, Petitioner received a letter informing him that he would be suspended without pay for forty (40) hours for violation of the LSP Policy on Secondary Employment and one hundred and sixty (160) hours for violation of the LSP Policy on Conduct Unbecoming an Officer. This proposed suspension will result in a loss of income in the amount of five thousand, six hundred and seventy-eight dollars and 00/100 ($5,678.00).
Petitioner contends that the actions directed at him constituted illegal race-based harassment/discrimination and were taken in retaliation /reprisal for his whistle blowing activity.
As we indicated, the filing of the pro-se lawsuit just may have been the proverbial final straw. At any rate, on October 8, 2021, Cavalier was informed that he would be terminated as reflected in the following Findings of an LSP Administrative Investigation:
We corresponded with a number of retired troopers regarding Cavalier. Those retired troopers, while understanding of Cavalier’s goal, nevertheless expressed apprehension about details of the book, which Cavalier now states (see lawsuit material above) is a “work of fiction.”
Specifically, one retried LSP Lieutenant cited violations of LSP Policy and Procedures outlined as having been committed by the author of the book. Further, at least one retired trooper expressed concern over Cavalier’s handling of the following French Quarter arrest on June 24, 2016:
June 24, 2016 arrest of two drunks in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
We also reached out to Ms. Belinda Parker-Brown with Louisiana United International regarding this development. She stated: “This is how this officer was treated once he came into contact with the murder of Ronald Greene. He became frustrated as he began to seek justice for Ronald Greene. He angered his superiors, and that is what has led to his termination. We need to all come together and protect courageous whistleblowers who see these injustices being covered up.”
So, given that an appeal of his termination is all-but-certain, we’ll be there to cover that appeal. We have a feeling that, given the nature of this termination and the circumstances surrounding it, we’ll be far from alone in terms of media outlets covering that appeal.
We have material to present entailing other LSP appeals, but we’ll save that for a subsequent post.
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