JONATHAN BURNETTE v. NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT (2024)

Officer Jonathan Burnette is charged with a single instance of violating the following New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”) rule:

Employees shall not post any material on the internet including but not limited to photos, videos, word documents, etc. that violates any local, state, or federal law, and/or embarrasses, humiliates, discredits or harms the operations and reputation of the Police Department or any of its members.

V I. Rule 3: Professional Conduct; Paragraph 13: Social Networking Websites, Facebook, MySpace, Print or Transmitted Media. Officer Burnette made the post during a national law enforcement conference.

Based on the circumstances of the case, I cannot find that the NOPD's imposition of a five-day suspension was an abuse of discretion. For these reasons, I concur in the majority's decision to affirm.

LEDET, J., CONCURS WITH REASONS