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After leading the FBI New Orleans Division for two years, Jeffrey Sallet on Friday (Nov. 3) is leaving his post as special-agent-in-charge of the office that covers Louisiana to lead the FBI division based in Chicago. Eric J. Rommal, who previously worked in FBI offices in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., will replace Sallet in New Orleans at the end of this month.
Before he departed, Sallet sat down with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on Oct. 25 to talk about Louisiana's legacies of public corruption and violent crime, the case that keeps him up at night and his favorite lunch spot.
How much public corruption is there in New Orleans, compared to other cities where you've worked?
I have had the unique opportunity of working in the area of corruption for the four New England states of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. I had the perspective of being the national chief of corruption and civil rights, and I would say that the corruption in this state is at an extremely unacceptable level.
The citizens of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana should expect and demand honest government. Last time I checked, government works for the citizens, the citizens do not work for government.
We have two corruption squads in the city of New Orleans. There are field offices that are five times our size that don't have that. We are very committed to eradicating it, but it's going to take a sustained effort. It's going to take commitment of the people in this state, not only the people working for our office, to not tolerate it.
Note: There are a total of 56 FBI field offices, nationwide. The FBI New Orleans office covers the entire state of Louisiana. The New Orleans division is comprised of approximately 400 employees, including FBI agents, task force officers employed by local agencies, clerical workers and other employees.
Have you learned anything in the last two years to explain Louisiana's history of public corruption?
You could talk about all the nuances related to this. One is, you don't have term limits on your sheriffs and your district attorneys. Is it a healthy environment when the same family controls a parish through one of those means for decades? Do you really want to upset someone who has been in power for 30 years and may never get out of power?
The way the system has been set up, there's been neglect throughout the years. The expectations of the people doing some of these jobs is, 'Hey I'm in an office, and I'm going to take what I can get.' And the people around them often fear confronting that.
Public corruption 'can't get much worse,' says outgoing FBI New Orleans director
This is an interesting little interview.
Before he departed, Sallet sat down with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on Oct. 25 to talk about Louisiana's legacies of public corruption and violent crime, the case that keeps him up at night and his favorite lunch spot.
How much public corruption is there in New Orleans, compared to other cities where you've worked?
I have had the unique opportunity of working in the area of corruption for the four New England states of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. I had the perspective of being the national chief of corruption and civil rights, and I would say that the corruption in this state is at an extremely unacceptable level.
The citizens of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana should expect and demand honest government. Last time I checked, government works for the citizens, the citizens do not work for government.
We have two corruption squads in the city of New Orleans. There are field offices that are five times our size that don't have that. We are very committed to eradicating it, but it's going to take a sustained effort. It's going to take commitment of the people in this state, not only the people working for our office, to not tolerate it.
Note: There are a total of 56 FBI field offices, nationwide. The FBI New Orleans office covers the entire state of Louisiana. The New Orleans division is comprised of approximately 400 employees, including FBI agents, task force officers employed by local agencies, clerical workers and other employees.
Have you learned anything in the last two years to explain Louisiana's history of public corruption?
You could talk about all the nuances related to this. One is, you don't have term limits on your sheriffs and your district attorneys. Is it a healthy environment when the same family controls a parish through one of those means for decades? Do you really want to upset someone who has been in power for 30 years and may never get out of power?
The way the system has been set up, there's been neglect throughout the years. The expectations of the people doing some of these jobs is, 'Hey I'm in an office, and I'm going to take what I can get.' And the people around them often fear confronting that.
Public corruption 'can't get much worse,' says outgoing FBI New Orleans director
This is an interesting little interview.
