Crescent City Lynching by Tom Smith

Late 19th centuryScandal and corruption continued within the New Orleans Police Department. In the municipal elections of 1888, Joseph A. Shakspeare was again elected Mayor. This administration introduced a bill known as Act #63, which called for the election of six commissioners to reorganize and act as administrators of the Police Department. Finally, after much opposition, the Supreme Court ordered the bill to be put into effect. Police Chief David C. Hennessy, who had been previously appointed by Mayor Shakspeare, was unanimously chosen as Superintendent of Police on March 13, 1889. Superintendent Hennessy was a brave and zealous officer, and under his command the improvement was rapid and marked. Because of his devotion to duty and his fight against crime in the city, he brought upon himself the enmity of the lawless. Hennessy was assassinated on October 15, 1889, at about 11:30 P.M. as he neared his home on Basin Street after a meeting of the Police Board. Captain John Journee was placed in temporary command of the Department by the Board of Commissioners. A monument 26 feet (7.9 m) high (8m) and 71/2 feet square (5.3 m2) was erected in tribute to the memory of the murdered chief, and unveiled on May 29, 1892. This monument now stands in Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery. From the many applicants, the Board of Commissioners unanimously elected Dexter S. Gaster to the position of Superintendent of Police on January 21, 1891. The police force numbered 325 at this time. The story is that Superintendent Gaster was needed during an inspection of the hundreds of officers, and when he was found, his badge was re-pinned upside down with the statement, "Now you will stand out." Gaster adopted the upside-down badge, and this became the tradition for each following superintendent. D.C. Hennesy, Superintendt of the New Orleans Police, expired at 9:00a.m. in 1890