WVUE FOX 8 reporter David Jones says the New Orleans Police Department has confirmed the reassignment of one of its own officers while an internal investigation continues.
The case centers on Officer Maurice Bailey, who Jones says was “administratively reassigned” last month as the department looks into allegations he smoked a controlled substance inside a police unit.
Jones frames it as a serious credibility issue from the start, because the allegation isn’t based on rumor alone. He reports that law enforcement sources say Bailey was allegedly caught on body-worn camera smoking a controlled substance while inside his police cruiser.
NOPD, Jones says, will not release the footage right now. The department declined his request for the video, citing the fact that the Public Integrity Bureau (PIB) investigation is still active.
That decision may be understandable on procedure, but it creates the kind of public vacuum where distrust grows fast. When the story involves an officer, drugs, and a bodycam, people are going to demand clarity, not silence.
What David Jones Says NOPD Confirmed
In Jones’ report, the key confirmed point is administrative action: NOPD acknowledges Bailey has been reassigned, and it ties that move to “alleged improper activity.” Jones says NOPD confirmed the reassignment happened as recently as mid-December.
Jones also adds an important detail about how the complaint began. He reports that law enforcement sources say the complaint was initiated by a supervisor, and that it remains under investigation by PIB.
That matters because it suggests this wasn’t a random public tip or a political hit. If the trigger came from within supervision, it points to internal concern, and that’s often where the strongest disciplinary cases start.
Jones also connects Bailey to the department’s public-facing image. He notes that FOX 8 spoke with Bailey back in 2022, during his graduation from the police academy, which makes the current allegations feel even more jarring.
If you’re a viewer, you’re left thinking: this is someone who was celebrated not long ago, and now he’s at the center of a scandal that could blow holes through court cases.
The Independent Monitor Weighs In On Credibility
Jones brings in a key outside voice: Stella Cziment of the Office of Independent Police Monitor. Jones reports she can confirm the allegation “on record,” which gives the story weight beyond anonymous sources.
Cziment’s quote, as Jones relays it, goes straight to the heart of what policing relies on. She says it’s a “great privilege” to be a police officer, but that privilege comes with the awareness that “your credibility and your integrity is paramount.”
That line lands because it’s not moralizing for fun. It’s the practical truth: once credibility is damaged, everything an officer touches becomes questionable—reports, arrests, testimony, even routine interactions that used to be assumed legitimate.
And it’s not just about the officer either. A department’s reputati – n is built from thousands of moments, but it can be cratered by a few incidents that make the public think the system doesn’t police itself.
The Domino Effect In Courtrooms
Jones doesn’t stop at the internal discipline angle. He also talks about what could happen next if the allegations are verified and Bailey is terminated.
FOX 8 legal analyst Joe Raspanti, Jones reports, says that any cases where Bailey served as a main witness would “come up for question.” That’s the courtroom ripple that cities fear, because it doesn’t stay contained.
When a witness officer is accused of drug use on duty, defense attorneys don’t just shrug and move on. They dig through past cases, they request records, they challenge credibility, and they can sometimes unravel convictions or weaken pending prosecutions.
This is one of those situations where the public might focus on the shocking headline – “officer allegedly smoking drugs” – but the deeper consequence could be quieter and more damaging. It could be years of work in courtrooms being dragged into uncertainty.
And even if only a small number of cases are affected, the symbolic damage is huge. A city needs residents to trust that when an officer says something happened, it happened. Anything that chips away at that belief makes everyday policing harder.
Rob Krieger’s Earlier Reporting Adds More Context
David Jones’ report is the latest chapter, but WVUE FOX 8 reporter Rob Krieger provided earlier reporting that helps explain why this story keeps resurfacing in public discussion.
Krieger reported in November that NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick planned to change how she handles officers accused of what she called “egregious violations.” Krieger’s report says that change came after FOX 8 raised questions about an officer who smoked meth on duty.
In Krieger’s telling, the incident is graphic and hard to forget. He describes Officer Maurice Bailey allegedly driving an NOPD unit during an overnight shift while his body camera recorded him lighting a meth pipe.
Krieger says FOX 8 obtained a 30-minute bodycam clip connected to the case, and he reports that it showed a chain of events that included buying a lighter, revealing the packaging, and then smoking meth while the camera rolled.
Even reading that, you can feel the public’s reaction: disbelief first, then anger, then a simple question – how does that not end immediately?
Skip Gallagher’s Role And The Problem Of Oversight
Krieger also introduces Skip Gallagher, a forensic scientist with NOPD Watchdog, who reviewed multiple Public Integrity Bureau investigations involving Bailey, including the one Krieger described.
Gallagher, in Krieger’s report, makes a point that’s easy to overlook but crucial in real life: bodycam video piles up in enormous amounts. Gallagher notes it’s “sort of impressive” anyone even found the clip, because there are “hundreds of hours” being turned in.
That detail points to a bigger problem that goes beyond one officer. If oversight depends on randomly catching the worst moments in a sea of footage, then the system is partly luck-based, and that’s not a comfortable foundation for public safety.
It’s also a warning sign for any city leaning on body cameras as the solution to accountability. Cameras don’t create accountability by themselves. They create evidence, and evidence still has to be found, reviewed, acted on, and punished consistently.
Chief Kirkpatrick Explains Her Thinking – And The Backlash
Krieger reports that documents showed the department confiscated Bailey’s weapon and pulled him off the street, but that he later returned to work in a desk-duty role while awaiting a final disciplinary hearing.
Krieger says Kirkpatrick explained her thinking in blunt terms. She told FOX 8 she didn’t want to send someone home for months during an investigation, “go to the gym all day,” and still receive full salary, so she preferred to keep the person working without police powers.
Krieger’s report also notes a key dispute: Kirkpatrick believed an emergency suspension would still mean full pay until the final hearing, while the Civil Service Department told FOX 8 suspensions are unpaid unless the employee appeals.
If those two understandings are both floating around inside the same system, it explains how a department can end up with outcomes that look outrageous to the public. It also suggests the “rules” might be less clear in practice than people assume.
Here’s where my view is simple: due process matters, but the system cannot be so slow and muddled that it looks like it protects misconduct more than it protects the public. That kind of imbalance poisons legitimacy fast.
The “Second Positive Test” Detail Changes Everything
Krieger’s reporting gets darker as it continues. He says documents showed Bailey later skipped work, received a reprimand, then was drug tested again, producing another positive test for meth.
Krieger reports that Bailey admitted he relapsed and ultimately resigned under investigation. Krieger also reports Bailey was paid nearly $13,000 during the administrative period, including sick pay leave, and even received a $5,000 retention bonus paid by the city.
Those numbers are the kind that make taxpayers furious, because it sounds like the system is set up to keep checks flowing even when the conduct described is beyond the pale.
It also adds pressure on leadership. Once the public hears “positive test,” “confession,” “months,” and “paid leave,” they stop believing the department is serious about standards.
Policy Changes After FOX 8’s Investigation
Krieger reports that after FOX 8 questioned why Bailey was allowed to keep working, Kirkpatrick announced an immediate change. She said that after talking with attorneys in civil service, she believed she could move faster in egregious cases by holding an initial due process hearing within days.
Under Krieger’s account, that would allow NOPD leadership to suspend an officer without pay more swiftly instead of waiting for a long investigation to play out.
Krieger adds that Kirkpatrick also raised the idea that Louisiana should adopt rules allowing an officer engaged in misconduct to be stripped of POST certification, which would make it harder for someone to resign under investigation and quietly pop up in another department later.
That’s one of those ideas that sounds harsh until you’ve watched enough cases where an officer exits one agency under a cloud and reappears somewhere else like nothing happened. If law enforcement is going to demand trust, it needs strong guardrails against the “musical chairs” problem.
Where David Jones’ Update Leaves Things Now
Jones’ report lands in the middle of this larger story and shows the department still isn’t free of the issue. He says Bailey has been reassigned again and a PIB investigation remains ongoing, while key evidence – the bodycam footage – remains unreleased to the public.
Jones’ inclusion of Joe Raspanti’s warning also suggests the department has more at stake than one internal discipline decision. If this moves toward termination, or if the allegation is substantiated, there may be a wave of legal challenges tied to Bailey’s prior work.
And if it turns out the allegation is not verified, NOPD still faces a credibility fight because the public has already heard the claim was strong enough to prompt reassignment and internal confirmation from the independent monitor.
Either way, the department has to treat transparency and speed like part of public safety. Because when people stop trusting the system, cooperation drops, witnesses disappear, and everyday policing gets more dangerous for everyone – officers included.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
