so you got what i need on the streets of new orleans drug money bought the city's cups officers became the strong arm of drug lords brutalizing anyone who dared speak out [Music] with police undercover agents would have to put their lives on the line to bring down the corrupt officers who hid behind the shattered shield [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] in a city of washington narcotics the drug lords have all the power even over the police corruption in new orleans grew like cancer eating away at public safety and threatening to destroy the city lord by easy wealth crooked cops began breaking the laws they were sworn to uphold i'm jim calstrom former head of the fbi's new york office when it became clear that the police could no longer police themselves the fbi had to get involved it was a case with a line between friends and enemies became dangerously blurred [Music] new orleans 1993 tourists packed the city looking for a good time not all of it legal cocaine was in demand and the dealers cashed in it was a violent business [Music] for protection the drug lords turned to those whose duty was to serve and protect officers lined their pockets while enforcing the will of the dealers they controlled turf-like thugs terrorizing innocent civilians agent stan hadden of the fbi's public corruption unit in new orleans was aware of the growing problem our intelligence told us that there was a great variety of corruption taking place among many different officers on the department however this the one thing that seemed to be the most pervasive was that officers were out there working with drug dealers on the street were protecting drug dealers on the street and we're stealing money and drugs from drug dealers on the street one such drug dealer was terry adams known on the streets as scaboo [Music] he was a small-time operator who was being extorted by officer sammy williams but this time the protection money scaboo paid williams wasn't enough on christmas eve the officer demanded that skaboo pay him 10 000 cash by 6 pm [Music] if scabu failed to show williams threatened to beat him and guaranteed him 20 years to life that evening at 5 p.m special agent stan hadden was finishing up some last minute work about to go home he took one last call it was scabbu his time was running out he told haddon that he was being blackmailed but didn't have the ten thousand dollars the corrupt cop was demanding in less than an hour what are the name of the officers when kabu contacted me we realized that that was our best chance to do something about police corruption and i immediately arranged to meet him and debrief him in person uh there was no way we could get everything together by six o'clock and by the time i met with him it was uh 30 minutes before the deadline yeah i feel pretty good about that haddon and his partner quickly hashed out a plan i think the best one we've got scaboo would meet the officer as arranged but he'd be wearing an fbi wire the agents couldn't arrange ten thousand dollars on such short notice would have to convince the cop to accept smaller payments over several meetings yeah i'm pretty sure okay that could be rough well you know that you worked with him yeah assured by haddon that he would be under constant surveillance scabbu took his position officer sammy williams was still on duty when he arrived with a prisoner cuffed in the back seat of his cruiser williams drove scaboo to a deserted spot behind a seafood market he ordered him to throw the ten thousand dollars into the trunk skaboo told williams he only had three thousand now but would pay the rest later [Music] if the copper rested scabbu he'd never get his payoff agents hoped williams would agree to meet him again for more of the money he did and the fbi had it all on tape hadn't believed this one incident would lay the groundwork for exposing more corruption in the new orleans police department our main objective was to try and create a strategy that would enable us to prosecute as many bad officers as we possibly could in the days that followed agents along with prosecutors from the united states attorney's office began to plan their operation codenamed shattered shield assistant u.s attorney al winters would advise agents every step of the way on what would be needed to convict the dirty crimes we were involved really from day one we met with the case agents on numerous occasions and discussed exactly what we were interested in being developed as far as evidence in in the case as with most corruption cases the fbi's strongest evidence would likely come from wiretaps according to special agent karen jenkins an fbi wiretap specialist securing them isn't easy title three is a court authorized intercept or wiretap it's very difficult to get one approved it's a lengthy process very time consuming basically we have to have approval by fbi officials to get one and beyond that we have to have the review and approval by department of justice officials finally a federal judge will make the final determination as to whether or not one is authorized after delivering two more payoffs to officer williams scaboo had won his trust now the fbi seized the opportunity to take the operation to the next phase would approach williams with a proposition the volume of drug business was going to increase and scaboo would need more cops to protect it perhaps williams was interested in higher payoffs he would need to hire more dirty cops to handle the expansion [Music] williams took the bait scabboo met with him for another recorded payoff in mid-january 1994. don't forget now but this time williams showed up with another one he turned out to be len davis sammy williams partner it wasn't surprising davis was known in the projects as a gangster with a badge reviewing the tapes hadn't discovered a problem [Music] both davis and williams used the coded language of the drug trade [Music] to make charges stick the fbi had to record the officers using language that a jury would understand [Music] hadn't pressed scaboo to get williams and davis to use words like dope so there'd be no doubt at trial but when scabu told the cops the dope is in davis suspected something was up if you're uh if you're in the police business and somebody starts using words that are that overt and that plane that immediately makes you suspicious that this person is trying to set you up davis shoved scaboo into the car and told williams to drive the agents would be too conspicuous on the deserted streets if they pursued the cops now they would put scabbu's life at greater risk the only thing they could do was sit patiently and listen to the wire when the car came to a stop davis rage ignited [Music] he yelled that scaboo was never to say the word dope again they immediately took him to a deserted location aggressively searched him you can hear the velcro ripping loose on his clothes and stuff and that was a very tense moment davis insisted that he wouldn't go to jail for careless time he and williams stripped scaboo looking for a wife was sure he was going to die miraculously and never continued his protection deal with davis and williams for the next job the cops drove him to a store where a drop-off was to take place inside scabbu checked a bag at the counter he passed the ticket to an agent posing as a buyer who then retrieved the bag [Music] williams and davis watched as each transaction went down they were promised a thousand dollars for every kilo of cocaine they protected for them the deals meant easy money [Music] davis and williams met scaboo behind stores and alleyways for the protection payoffs [Music] the fbi recorded every word gradually operation shattered shield was building a solid case against police corruption the recordings continued into the spring of 1994. once agents were sure davis and williams were solidly on board the fbi prepared to expand the investigation [Music] with still more cocaine to guard williams and davis would need to recruit more dirty cops federal agents hoped to snare every one of them but agents knew the officers may become suspicious of scabby's rapidly growing drug business they needed to bring in a big time dealer someone whose status is a kingpin would explain the larger shipments you like some sure hadn't called on one down here is an fbi agent trained specifically jj working undercut represent a drug kingpin from from up in the east coast at that time i was in new york city and i'd been contacted uh to come down to just uh be interviewed and go over the actual case a lot of times they'll be looking for a certain person height weight you know color or whatever um to infiltrate or get into a certain group known as jj the agent would act as scabbus cocaine supplier proposing to use new orleans as a hub to store and distribute his product nationwide i was a high-level drug dealer i played that role and i had ties where my operation uh was in both miami and in new york city with the arrival of jayton shattered shield is about to grow from a minor drug business to a booming enterprise jackson was one of the fbi's best undercover agents he was smart and experienced but his life would be in the hands of the informant scaboo who had no training jackson needed to build complete trust with scaboo or they'd both be dead the informant because he lives that world is probably the for me anyway the most important because he himself has been there he's been around these people if he's not believable it's not going to work and i think that was the big thing for me down there was to make sure that uh we were going to be believable jackson and scaboo rehearsed their roles again and again preparing for the real test with davis jackson federal agent after their stint was up they'd kept in touch they hashed and rehashed details of their friendship habits fake memories that they'd have to know and when to say them they were dealing with criminals who could run thorough background checks and who were free to use deadly force we knew that whatever we had we had to keep it simple but we had to make sure that we remembered certain things the biggest thing i thought that helped us was my initials my nickname so no matter how many times they would ask him what's his name he believably said because he only knew jj in april the fbi was ready to introduce jj into the operation he arrived at a hotel carrying what was supposed to be a drug payment of one hundred thousand dollars for the first time williams and davis caught a glimpse of the big time dealer their perceptions would be critical the first encounter was in the sheraton hotel they were going to stand at a distance and just observe it was another test to see if they were willing to do what they were going to do hey i don't know how it's going to work they could arrest me right now and take me off and you know i'm down you know because this will be drug money so it was a test scabbu told the cops about jj and his plan to use new orleans as a transport hub for his cocaine business davis and williams carefully studied jj's every move jackson was creating his character before their eyes it would become his full-time identity and it would have to hold up under scrutiny everything depended on what the cops thought they had seen and if they believed the cash exchange was genuine the plan worked the cops were convinced that jj was the real deal the fbi was now poised to take operation shattered shield to the next level [Music] by the spring of 1994 the fbi's operation shattered shield targeting new orleans police officers involved in the city's drug trade was in place posing as a drug kingpin named jj undercover special agent juan jackson worked with scaboo the drug dealer turned fbi informant [Music] scaboo rented a hotel room for jj to meet officers len davis and sammy williams for the first time [Music] what's up man what's up that was showtime that was a big deal on any first meeting with any bad guys you know a million things are going through your mind i mean are you going to be believable is anything going to happen it's going to change their attitude it's either going to work from here or we're all going to go home playing the street savvy drug dealer jj insisted that everyone stripped to establish trust for this first meeting jackson didn't wear a wire he didn't need to the room had been thoroughly wired by the fbi for audio and video recording [Music] then in a bold gamble jj invited them to search the room because they were cops davis and williams knew how to find a room wire [Music] but jj bet his life on the fbi's technicians the cops never found the wires jj was beginning to build trust with the officers but officers are trained to sniff out deception i mean you got to think that i'm meeting with two police officers because of the guns you also always have to remember the threat you always have to be conscious of the threat and remember exactly where they are and what they're going to do and where the weapons are with the cops convinced for the moment j.j began to discuss the proposal approved by case agent stan and he played the role of a big-time drug dealer from new york who was using new orleans as a transshipment point simply as a storage point where he could bring dope in leave it for a while have it guarded and protected by the officers and then thereafter have it shipped out to other points unknown for their role jj promised to pay them five thousand dollars every day the cops guarded the warehouse williams and davis were enthusiastic about the plan even offering advice the cops urged j.j to hire young drivers give them company uniforms with name tags and put signs on the sides of the trucks to resemble legitimate companies for the fbi the meeting was flawless the meeting went off without a hitch they bought jj's act they believed him completely and they also said the magic word uh cocaine which got it clearly established on tape that we were talking about the officers protecting a drug operation from that may meet the plan moved quickly the fbi found a warehouse that met their needs far from public view and rival drug dealers jj and scaboo met davis and williams for a walk-through jj and scaboo would meet with lynn davis and sammy williams at the warehouse for what we call the pre-deal meet there at that meeting they would discuss when the dope was coming in how long it was going to stay in in town and how much money jj was going to pay for the officers to guard the dope once inside davis told j.j that he had half a dozen more officers lined up to guard the cocaine shipments they would work in 10-hour shifts uniform police outside guarding payloads of cocaine inside up to a quarter of a million dollars worth in each load at that june meeting came the first big payments from jt more than ten thousand dollars everything is going smoothly but one aspect of the warehouse plan bothered assistant u.s attorney al winters basically what we told the agents unless we had evidence irrefutable evidence that these people knew they were guarding cocaine we couldn't prosecute it because the cops stood guard outside the warehouse they could later claim they didn't know that drugs were inside i think having some sort of video report hadn't had to find a way to prove davis's recruit saw the drug his team mulled over ways to bring the drugs into plain views the officers would have to be recorded seeing and discussing the shipment shipments were delivered to the warehouse one weekend every month according to schedule then in mid-july the fbi sent a shipment that the guards didn't expect with one load already in the warehouse an fbi agent dressed as a courier brought another shipment the driver shocked the guard cops by unloading the cocaine in plain sight this was too overt for len davis's crew they didn't want to see drugs at all they didn't want the vehicles outside the warehouse unloading drugs and stuff where the officers could actually see it quickly the cops called sammy williams on a cell phone jj had given him williams called jj and jj and scaboo raced to the warehouse i was arguing with this guy we were actually screaming at each other what are you doing we you know you know we're whatever and he's observing because the police officer calling lin telling him all what's going on and how this doesn't look good to the cops this whole drug operation was starting to look dangerously unprofessional [Music] the driver made another call [Music] sammy williams arrived to straighten out the problem jj explained it was the driver's school he asked that the cops escort the van to the city limits right away despite the risk the episode worked it showed that the cops knew what was inside the warehouse what's going on [Music] but the episode raised doubts for the cops either jj was an amateur or he was part of a sting either way they'd be watching him more closely [Music] shattered shield wore on into the summer as all of new orleans baked about 100 degrees in august guarding the warehouse proved hard duty the cops complained of the wear and tear on their engines from running the air conditioning all day in the heat they wanted a vehicle that was more comfortable that could also endure the long hours perhaps a van the officers asked len davis to provide one and davis brought their request to jj for the investigation it was a huge break the sweaty cops had just handed the fbi a golden opportunity it was a stroke of luck one day lynn uh approached me and said that the officers were complaining that uh they're running their cars in air condition and the cars are starting to overheat you know they're burning gas you know on and on once we were able to rent the van and and put the listing device inside we were able to hear a lot more conversations the fbi quickly filed the paperwork to get court authorized wiretaps for the van technicians carefully installed state-of-the-art microphones they had to yield top sound quality for months with no maintenance the van was a perfect trojan horse for getting inside information i picked this out myself dude the shiny new van made the office very suspicious they wondered if anyone could have tampered with it it ain't nothing wrong with it they wanted to know exactly where davis had gotten the vehicle i've never seen this vehicle before because jj had so completely won davis trust davis told the cops that he himself had rented the van is it all right he vouched telling you it's okay that calmed their fears i picked it out myself what do you think glenn davis didn't want anyone upsetting his flow of payments i picked the fbi would soon learn just how ruthlessly davis guarded his interests after three months of shattered shield more and more new orleans cops came under the fbi's investigation glenn davis and undercover agent jj met often to discuss drug shipments and payoffs for police protection davis made frequent threats they'll tell you we run this city we do whatever we want to do they let me know that very many times if they feel like they want to shut it down they'll shut it down but david liked the money jj knew that as long as the money flowed he would never shut the operation davis called the shots for the other officers he recruited and set the schedules using his cell phone but he complained about his bill [Music] so jj offered davis a new cell phone free of charge if was one more way the fbi could record the cops knowing involvement in drug trafficking eyes [Music] the wires the fbi had planted in the warehouse van were paying off one night two guards on the graveyard shift brought prostitutes to the van the wires picked up everything even the cops sexual indiscretions when jenkins heard this she immediately phoned jj the situation was a chance to catch the cops off balance jj called davis to complain and to see what they'd get on tape he told davis he had checked out the warehouse and found that the cops weren't protected jj wasn't paying cops to have sex he ordered davis to straighten things out davis arrived in a fury his henchmen were threatening to ruin his whole operation lynn was upset lynn was a businessman through lynn wanted it to work exactly one way and he was really upset that i was upset and uh he got up he got up he came out there and and just kicked everybody out jj's call brought davis down on him hard that night [Music] but the episode triggered deep suspicions among the dirty cops [Music] they now felt sure that jj was the problem and believed they could run the operation better themselves they discussed ways to kill jj their plans alarmed agent karen jenkins when i heard those conversations were they were threatening to do harm to our undercover agent it sent a chill down my spine it scared me before i came to new orleans i had worked with jj in another office so i knew him personally and i was very concerned despite the threats to his life jj was resolute keeping the cops engaged with plans to further expand the operation he promised davis that the largest ship would arrive before christmas after that he would move the deliveries to another part of the city i'm talking about you with that jj had to draw out more evidence on tape without making davis suspicious he was very careful he watched everything he paid attention to everything i said there were conversations where we'd talk and i'd use the word cocaine he would count the times i used he would tell him jay you said cocaine five times jay you said kilos five times so i had to be careful at the same time hadn't and his team had to defuse another plot they over find all of our enemies the cops were threatening to kill the couriers and steal the cocaine the agents scrambled delivery times and mapped new routes to and from the warehouse to keep the cops off balance with so many dirty cops the fbi couldn't make a clean sweep from the outside alone agents would need someone powerful in the police force to be a strong ally despite the danger of leaks they decided to seek help from within the new orleans police department october 1994 brought fresh changes to new orleans in a new police chief richard pennington so how do you like her pennington was an outsider from washington dc hired in the hopes of reforming the crescent city's crooked police force since you're just moving in actually why don't you have a have a seat the fbi invited the new chief for a meeting then hadn't introduced jj he informed pennington that operation shattered shield was uncovering corruption deep in the force that he was about to head his name his cooperation would be critical for the success of operation shattered shield on the streets of new orleans davis and williams were still on active duty cruising their territory len davis had a long list of public complaints against him during their rounds one night that october davis and sammy williams patrolled the desire housing project seeing the pair of cops approach two youths took flight williams chased one teenager down bludgeoned him and left him bleeding in the street at that moment kim groves the victim's aunt decided that police had terrorized their neighborhood long enough the next day groves a 32 year old mother of three filed a complaint against lynn davis and his partner she cited the pair for police violence an officer alerted davis about the [Music] complaints do you know him assistant u.s attorney mike mcmahon saw the report she reported not only sammy williams who did the actual brutality but len davis as well who had nothing to do with that pistol whipping and at that point glenn davis became enraged for davis grove's complaint came at the worst possible time it would bring unwanted attention just as the new police chief was coming on board i know what i'm going to do len davis vowed to get revenge the same day that kim groves filed her complaint richard pennington was sworn in as new orleans new chief of police that marked the start of shattered shield's final phase the shift from an fbi effort to a partnership with a city desperate to clean house [Music] that very night agent jenkins recorded several conversations that would show just how rotten some of the city's men in blue had become [Music] the first call was cryptic hours after pennington was sworn in glenn davis made a call on his cell phone he gave an order to an unknown man i need you to do it [Music] the fbi taped the conversation but because davis spoke in modified police code agents didn't know what it meant while they attempted to decipher it agents recorded a second more disturbing call this time the unknown man called davis [Music] as they spoke a police dispatcher announced a murder in the desire housing project the victim's name kim groves when davis heard the news he cried rock-a-bye it was the triumphant cry of a killer when he later heard it the call shocked assistant u.s attorney mike mcmahon as soon as he confirmed the name of kim groves davis shut off the radio and then on the the wiretap conversation over the cell phone just exalted in a primal scream of delight that indeed kim groves was dead when agents reviewed the tapes and checked the phone records they discovered that the man who spoke to davis was paul hardy [Music] davis had asked hardy for a 30 a police code normally used to report a homicide but that night davis used it as an order for the murder of kim groves [Music] with the help of two accomplices hardy acted quick and for just 300 as he sped away over a bridge hardy threw the barrel of the gun into the canal and handed the body of the gun to an accomplice for safe keeping when the fbi realized davis role in the murder agents grew more concerned for jj's safety jj met with davis soon afterward he looked carefully for signs that davis was anxious or upset he saw none the murder of kim groves seemed to have relaxed davis jj still had to play his part the role of a drug lord though uneasy he was careful not to talk about the murder i appreciate it thanks a lot i wanted to ask a lot of questions about it i couldn't the only thing i'd ask him was is anything different happening since the last time i was here he said no and we went on just like nothing ever happened is he a cold-blooded killer i could probably do you in a minute yeah having seen what davis and his cops could do jj had every reason to believe that he could be next he was unaware that they were already planning ways to kill him days after len davis ordered the murder of kim groves the fbi learned of more threats by davis men a new orleans police officer assisting an operation shattered shield received an anonymous threat it came with kim grove's obituary [Music] the message was clear death would come to those who talked that day stan haddon learned of still more threats against jj and the other agents agent jenkins had recorded five cops at the warehouse plotting to kill the couriers in jj then they would steal the cocaine and sell it themselves hadn't had no choice the fbi had to wrap up the operation before it was too late once we realize that the lives of our undercover agents were at serious risk then we had to react to it we had to do something the fbi needed to move up their plans for the big shipment jj had promised to davis a cocaine shipment so large that it would require a half dozen more cops to bargain but hadn't needed a location unfamiliar to the cops a place where the fbi could mobilize quickly he and his team scouted the mardi gras truck stop on elysian fields avenue the spot had good highway access it also posed little risk to the public in the event of a shootout the cocaine would arrive on an 18-wheeler then be loaded into cars and escorted by the cops out of the city every detail had to be mapped out the plan would require the coordination of 85 agents positioned strategically along the routes when davis put out the word about a huge november 18th shipment he enticed new recruits as a load of cocaine worth a quarter of a million dollars arrived davis williams and their crew stood ready as protection agents posing as drivers moved the shipment from the command center hadden and jenkins kept watch of the whole operation there were hundreds of ways the truck stop scenario could go wrong but the undercover agents lives on the line there was no margin for error the cocaine was divided in two loads williams escorted one davis followed the other they shepherded the couriers to the edge of town shielding them from other drug gangs and from the law to make it easier for our surveillance we had one of the courier cars go to the east and one go to the west because we had two complete surveillance teams operating simultaneously and we didn't want the two to get crossed up with each other the operation went off without a hitch six additional cops were videotaped in the act of drug trafficking the fbi was about to enter the last phase of shattered shield arresting the corrupt cops who would kill anyone who opposed them [Music] after the big truck stop operation fbi agents moved quickly on the murder of kim groves they searched the house of the hitman paul hardy there agents found an unauthorized copy of a guide to police codes the same codes that davis used when he ordered grove's murder [Music] another search at the home of one of hardy's accomplices turned up the murder weapon a nine millimeter handgun the two investigations shattered shield and the murder were closing at the same time [Music] for the ringleaders the fbi took no chances agents came to lend davis's house the next day he was off guard look ain't done you put your hands on top of your head look i'm a police officer man your hands on top of your head the thug with a back was arrested on federal drug charges and for the murder of kim grove for davis partner sammy williams agents would use a different approach haddon wanted to flip williams to the prosecution side at that point it worked and they decided okay let's uh throw another curveball and then let's just bring juan so they brought me into the door and i introduced myself especially to juan jackson the fbi you could see the color leave his face his world just came crashing down sammy williams turned government witness his testimony would later prove crucial for getting convictions hadden and his team had no time to lose before news of davis and william's arrests could spread they had to deliver the rest of the gang to justice dozens of armed men in uniform the strategy we were to employ was to arrest lynn davis on december the 5th and then on december the 6th we had all of these officers appear before a federal grand jury and then on december 7th the grand jury ordered all these officers to come to the fbi office to give handwriting exemplars len davis's recruits arrived at the fbi's office to give handwriting samples for analysis together with 60 fellow officers [Music] since the drug ring involved no written records and so many officers provided writing samples the crooked cops suspected nothing like the others before it the fbi's ruse worked one by one more than a dozen dirty cops of new orleans were arrested that was a safe way to do it because obviously all of these officers were armed and they were facing very serious charges and and that was a way to do it to avoid any potential for any bloodshed or any unwanted resistance by the officers in court the fbi's recordings built a solid case against the officers the videos and audio tapes spoke louder than the code words and erased all doubts that jurors might have had agent karen jenkins knew the evidence was strong the jury was able to hear for themselves what the officers said they were able to see for themselves what they were doing because of the videos that we had that wasn't me it could have been anybody as prosecutor al winters had predicted early in the investigation davis tried to talk his way out of it police officers know what that is it's a homicide even after all the safeguards we took davis's defense at the trial was that he was conducting his own undercover operation that it was not really done according to the book but you know he was a a poor uh a cop and didn't have a lot of training but he was trying to conduct his own undercover operation davis never admitted any wrongdoing he didn't need to the audio and videotape spoke for themselves faced with a prospect of convicting those sworn to protect them the citizens of the jury listened intently the tapes were were chilling and as those tapes were played the courtroom was as silent as as a cathedral as the jury reached the verdict yes your honor we have will the defendant please stand the jury deliberated just 15 minutes we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree and hereby sentence the defendant len davis was sentenced to death for his role in kim grove's murder which was later commuted to life in two other trials davis and his co-conspirators received 18 convictions for drug trafficking 15 officers were headed for prison [Music] because he cooperated with prosecutors sami williams was sentenced to just five years he would never again i wear a badge you have irrevocably stained that uniform you once wore but i must reluctantly recognize that other crimes can only be solved with cooperation of people like you caught dismissed for the big easy hadden's case brought a long hard look in the mirror you know i think that the city of new orleans has been very tolerant of all sorts of of conduct which might be considered improper in other parts of the country it's part of the culture here and i'm a louisiana native but i think this was a wake-up call to the citizens of new orleans that there was a serious problem within the nopd and that problem had to be addressed you know you take an oath and i think that when you do that there's no excuse for anything else i think we helped i think that uh now their focus is different i think hiring i think pay scale i think everything about what the new orleans police department's about is different under chief pennington the new orleans police department revamped its practices and fired more rogue cops the big easy had cleaned house the department and the fbi continue to work together to bring justice to the city's streets [Music] you