the Evil Line

How we fight crime in Baton Rouge:

Both Evans and Thibodeaux are alleged by prosecutors to have accepted money or other things of value from St. Pierre in return for steering no-bid business to St. Pierre’s technology and crime-camera company, NetMethods.

Chester told the judge that Evans steered crime-camera work to NetMethods after he received gifts that included “tickets to approximately four New Orleans Saints football games; a 50th birthday party … and overnight trips at various hotels in New Orleans.”

NetMethods later was awarded approximately $3.5 million from the city-parish to establish a wireless network of surveillance cameras and a gunshot detection system in high crime areas in Baton Rouge.

According to a 2010 report from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the wireless system is not robust enough for officers to consistently use while in the field.

Maintenance fees for the security canopy cost the Baton Rouge Police Department more than $400,000 annually and system failures appear to be frequent, based on a review of numerous e-mail exchanges and other written reports.

I'm not sure what to say.