WDSU/ Cassie Schrim/ April 15
NEW ORLEANS — The Metropolitan Crime Commission is calling for an investigation into the New Orleans mayor and one of her security detail officers.
The MCC released a letter Monday that was sent to the Public Integrity Bureau
The letter asks that the PIB investigate a lunch between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Officer Jeffrey Vappie on April 7.
Photos of the lunch were sent to the MCC.
According to the letter, the lunch took place at Tabelau and the photo showed wine glasses on the table.
The MCC is asking that the PIB investigate if Cantrell and Vappie were working at the time the photos were taken and whether or not they consumed alcohol while on the clock.
The watchdog group is also calling for information on who paid for the meal and whether or not Vappie had permission to eat with the mayor that day if he was on duty.
WDSU has reached out to the NOPD for information on Vappie’s schedule that weekend. WDSU also reached out to the mayor’s office to see if the mayor was working and if the meal was paid for with a city-issued credit card.
At the time of this publication, WDSU has not heard back from the mayor’s office or the NOPD.
You can read MCC’s full letter here.
This comes after Vappie was the center of a Public Integrity Bureau investigation involving his timesheets and time spent at the Pontalba apartment. He was reinstated to the mayor’s security team in June of 2023 when the investigation into him concluded in March of 2023.