NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Four Orleans Parish investigators resigned abruptly amid an internal investigation inside the sheriff’s office.
The departure of Major Edwin Hosli, the head of the Orleans Parish investigative unit, and three other members of the team happened Friday, The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate reported.
The internal investigation concerns irregularities involving work hours and private employment.
The sheriff’s office said all four employees voluntarily resigned, and the office has not received any subpoenas or warrants related to any of the employees.
“We don’t know everything that the Sheriff’s Office has uncovered,” said Rafael Goyeneche, President of the watchdog group, Metropolitan Crime Commission.
One of the employees who exited with Hosli declined to comment, and two others could not immediately be reached for comment. Hosli said he exited because “it was just time for a change.”
Hosli, who once served as the commander of the New Orleans Police Department’s 8th district, was embroiled in a controversy over a private business that had police officers review traffic camera tickets for a city vendor. He was cleared of wrongdoing, but criticized in a Justice Department inspector general’s report.
Another employee who quit Friday worked as a private investigator while conducting investigations for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a federal investigation into the New Orleans police department called loosely-regulated off-duty details an “aorta of corruption.”
All four investigators worked in a unit that earned praise from officials who oversee the jail’s reform pact with the federal government.
The resignations occurred as the jail experienced shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. So far, the virus has sidelined nearly a dozen employees with positive test results.
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