The Office of Inspector General concluded its investigation into the former executive director of the Orleans Parish Communications District, Tyrell Morris and said he broke the law. The investigation was centered on why Morris never filed a police report, whether he followed appropriate policies, and whether he potentially altered documents given to WDSU for personal gain. In the end, the report recommends two criminal charges against Morris before he resigned as head of 911 center. Those include, injuring public records given to WDSU and insurance fraud. It also states Morris’ attorney says Morris would not be interviewed for the investigation because he invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.WDSU Investigation In the IG's report it states, "A local news outlet, WDSU, aired several news stories concerning the incident and requested information about the accident from OPCD. On May 11th, 2023, WDSU interviewed Morris telephonically and aired portions of that interview. Morris explained to WDSU that he was in an accident but that he was not impaired while driving. As reported by WDSU, the news outlet received and reviewed the applicable OPCD policy for vehicle accidents involving OPCD employees. WDSU also reported that after their review of the metadata related to the OPCD policy, it appeared that Morris may have altered OPCD SOP 1.3.1 which required employees involved in a vehicle accident submit to drug and alcohol testing to a lesser standard than previously published by OPCD." The City of New Orleans Office of Inspector General initiated this investigation to determine if the allegations were valid and if audio and video recordings related to the automobile accident may possibly have been available to further substantiate or refute the allegations. What WDSU Found On May 7, Morris said he was involved in a car accident in his government issued OPCD vehicle at the intersection of 1-610 and Elysian Fields. WDSU was first on the story on May 11, that's when WDSU Investigates conducted a phone interview with Morris. According to Morris in that interview, a car clipped his right bumper while trying to travel through a light in the turn lane.Morris claimed both he and the person who hit him pulled over.He said because no one was hurt and because there wasn't anyone available to dispatch, Morris and the driver agreed to exchange information. That's when he said he called to cancel the call for service 20 minutes later."No one was injured, neither of us. I myself called it in, gave the location, gave license plate information. And then we kind of waited, but we started the process of exchanging insurance information just like as as the law requires," said Morris. "The dispatcher advised that she did not have any units available. We waited quite a bit, like another 15-20 minutes. I asked the driver. I said hey, there's no injury here. It's property damage. Technically we can exchange information, but it's on you. "WDSU Investigates obtained video of the accident from a city crime camera. It shows video of Morris swerving into the other driver. Then turning on his blue lights and following the other driver. Turning on the blue lights may have broken state law as well.The state law RS 32-318 states:"All persons other than law enforcement officers on official duty are prohibited from equipping, operating, or using motor vehicles with blue colored electric lights thereon."DSU Investigates asked Morris if the other driver was impaired."No, he was talking. He was totally with it. He told me he was heading to work now when he first got there," said Morris. "We exchanged driver's license information. All the normal stuff in an accident. And he said he was. Gonna finish going to work."WDSU Investigates also asked if Morris had been drinking."Wow. Okay, no," said Morris. "That day I was preparing to go out of town, so if the question is 'was I impaired?' The answer is no."OIG interviews give new details. One employee who was interviewed says she saw Morris at the bar with a drink for his birthday that same day.Morris announced his resignation on WDSU as WDSU Investigates was working on the investigation into the former director. Altered Policy Given to WDSU Morris also told WDSU Investigates that he did not get a drug or alcohol test after the accident. "We have a vehicle policy in place issued in 2019 where we did not have a policy at all," Morris said. "So you know the agency has the parameters in place to protect our assets and any event as there is an injury, or you know there may be an elevation of an ally there. The policy speaks to it, but the only damage to the vehicle was the right side of the bumper."WDSU Investigates obtained the policy referenced by Morris. It reads: "If injuries are reported, the operator of the OPCD vehicle(s) must take a drug and alcohol test as soon as possible. The Director of Human Resources should be contacted for the name and location of the testing facility." WDSU then obtained the same document with the same title and date submitted in a 2021 audit but found it had four fewer words than the one supplied by OPCD. That document reads: "The operator of the OPCD vehicle(s) must take a drug and alcohol test as soon as possible." WDSU Investigates found metadata within the documents sent by OPCD. That metadata shows Morris was the last person to modify the OPCD policy regarding the OPCD vehicles.The documents were modified 17 minutes after WDSU Investigates emailed Morris asking about the accident in May, which was four days after the crash. Once that Metadata information was reported, the city council requested the Mayor to suspend Morris as she appointed him into the position. The mayor refused. The OPCD board began its own investigation, but before the board could vote on it Morris resigned immediately. We are now learning that same day the IG requested to interview Morris for its own investigation.OIG InvestigationIn the IG's report states, "A local news outlet, WDSU, aired several news stories concerning the incident and requested information about the accident from OPCD. On May 11th, 2023, WDSU interviewed Morris telephonically and aired portions of that interview. Morris explained to WDSU that he was in an accident but that he was not impaired while driving. As reported by WDSU, the news outlet received and reviewed the applicable OPCD policy for vehicle accidents involving OPCD employees. WDSU also reported that after their review of the metadata related to the OPCD policy, it appeared that Morris may have altered OPCD SOP 1.3.1 which required employees involved in a vehicle accident submit to drug and alcohol testing to a lesser standard than previously published by OPCD." The City of New Orleans Office of Inspector General initiated this investigation to determine if the allegations were valid and if audio and video recordings related to the automobile accident may possibly have been available to further substantiate or refute the allegations. On May 30, the OIG received an audio recording from the OPCD related to the accident. In the recording "Comm 1" later identified as the OPCD call sign for Morris, reported to the OPCD dispatcher that an accident occurred. During the call, Morris requested the New Orleans Police Department 3rd District police unit and stated there were no injuries reported and two vehicles were involved in the accident. The OPCD dispatcher advised that no units were available but would try to get one to that location and after a few minutes, Morris advised dispatch to "mark" the call "NAT," or Necessary Action Taken. On June 2, the OIG received documents from the OPCD related to the SOPs involving the OPCD vehicle. The SOP 1.3.1 dated May 14, 2019, titled "Agency Delegation of Authority," states that "if injuries are reported, the operator of the OPCD vehicles must take a drug and alcohol test as soon as possible."On June 13, based on information from a recent OIG audit, OIG investigators requested and received documents from Richard CPA, a local auditing firm, OPCD SOP 1.3.1. The copy of the SOP provided by Richard had the same date and title as the one provided by the OPCD Counsel on June 2, 2023. OIG was able to determine that the language in Section IX was different and did not begin with "if injuries are reported," as stated in the SOP provided by OPCD counsel on June 2. In July, Cassandra Robert, a senior Financial Analyst, says on May 8, when she learned about the accident, she was tasked with getting the vehicle repaired and filing insurance claims. Robert was shown a drawing obtained from VFIS by the OIG that related to the accident and said the drawings did not correspond with the reports she had seen from WDSU's investigation. Robert stated that Morris personally paid the deductible of $250.00 to the insurance company and did not understand why he paid the deductible. The OIG re-interviewed William Robinson, the other driver involved in the accident and he stated that he didn't have a valid driver's license or insurance at the time of the accident and thought he would be arrested because he lacked proper driving credentials or insurance. Morris questioned Robinson and learned that he was uninsured and driving without a valid driver's license. Morris told Robinson, "If I call another cop, you're going to jail," and Morris gave him his insurance and told Robinson if he left there would be no need for the police to send a responding car. Based on the review of video footage, audio, internal OPCD documents, insurance documents and witness interviews, the OIG was able to conclude that Morris filed a false insurance claim. The OIG says this account did not appear to be accurate and may be in violation of LA revised statute 22:1925, which makes it a felony offense to knowingly and with intent to defraud present to an insurer materially false information in support of defense of an insurance claim. On July 12, 2023, Teresa Thompson, Director of Training and Compliance, OPCD, was reinterviewed in regard to findings from a recent computer search requested by the OIG. Thompson said she went into PowerDMS to research the information requested by the OIG at her previous interview. During that search, she found that Morris had deleted the SOP in question on May 24, 2023, after it had been previously altered by Morris on May 11, 2023. Thompson provided the OIG with the printouts from PowerDMS showing the changes and deletion. Thompson said she took over the role as the sole user to edit the policies within PowerDMS on June 2, 2023. Thompson said she did not make any of the changes or deletions and wanted the OIG to see the information immediately.On July 13, 2023, Jared Brossett, former Director of Support Services, OPCD, was interviewed by OIG Investigators. Brossett learned about the accident from Cassandra Robert. Brossett said Morris tasked his staff with obtaining quotes for the repair of the vehicle. He said Robert was the person responsible for obtaining the accident quotes and interacting with the insurance company. Brossett recalled Morris held a meeting, not long after the accident with Support Services unit of OPCD. In the meeting, Morris blamed the other driver for the accident and said there was a mole in the OPCD that reported the accident to the news media. Morris added that whoever the mole may be, he could not touch them due to whistleblower protections. Brossett said subsequent to the staff meeting, Morris requested the two of them meet. At that time, Morris told Brossett that he thought Brossett was the “mole” and that he asked Brossett to help make this go away. Brossett denied making any changes to the SOP in question and did not know who made those changes.On August 9, 2023, OIG Investigators interviewed Taylor Green, Emergency Communications Specialist II, OPCD, regarding her knowledge of events surrounding the night of the accident.Green said she was at a local bar the night of the accident and by chance saw Morris. It was Morris’ birthday and they interacted. She saw Morris order a drink at the bar, but did not know how many he may have had to drink. Green said another OPCD employee, she identified as Ernest, who was Morris’ driver, was also present. Green estimated they were at the bar for about sixty to ninety minutes. Green drove separately from Morris but recalled going outside to a food truck in the parking lot to eat. Green, Morris, and Ernest all ordered food and they all ate in her vehicle. After they ate, she departed in her vehicle. Green was unaware if Morris and his driver remained at the bar or went elsewhere. She did not know what vehicle either was driving or how they got to the bar.OIG Investigators attempted on numerous times to interview Morris, but on September 18, 2023, Morris’ legal counsel informed the OIG General Counsel that Morris wished to assert his 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and declined to be interviewed.OIG Recommendations To ensure that OPCD has proper policies, revisions, and accountability associated within their operations, the OIG recommended the following actions: • OPCD should review all of its policies to determine if they require updating and or revision. • OPCD should implement employee controls on its policies and should update the titles accordingly. SOP 1.3.1 was erroneously titled and appears to have been altered by the former OPCD Executive Director. The OPCD should establish a review process for policies to ensure they are properly titled, complete, and have not been revised without an approval process. • The OPCD policies regarding vehicle accidents should closely mirror the City Accident Policy for vehicles, which is a well-established protocol.OPCD StatementOrleans Parish Communication District Interim Executive Director Karl Fasold is issuing no comment on behalf of OPCD with respect to the recent release of the OIG Report. OPCD sent WDSU this statement: "With respect to the OIG’s recommendations for the agency, Fasold’s administration will continue to focus on its new direction for the agency through consistent collaboration with the OIG to ensure agency best practices are met. As of November 1st, and reported to the city council, all policies have been reviewed and revised as necessary by an internal policy working group, consisting of all the Department Leads and the Deputy Executive Director, and are in their final implementation process. All policies will be reviewed by the group annually with Human Resources and OPCD legal counsel as well as all reviewed by an outside party."They also added the OPCD vehicle policy has reverted to its original version, effectively matching the vehicle policy for the City of New Orleans. "All policy revisions will be made as a collective effort of the policy working group, with the continuation of PowerDMS as the repository, providing the tracking and sign-off of employees in real-time, as revisions are made."