A New Orleans police officer accused of collecting more than $111,000 for overtime he did not work may have created another problem for the city: thousands of red-light camera citations he was responsible for reviewing are now being questioned.
Senior Police Officer Brandon Coleman faces 350 criminal charges after a joint investigation by the Louisiana State Police and New Orleans Office of Inspector General. Louisiana State Police said investigators determined that Coleman received more than $111,000 in fraudulent overtime payments between December 2024 and December 2025.
Much of the disputed overtime involved reviewing automated traffic-camera citations. Arrest records obtained by FOX 8 show Coleman claimed 2,138 overtime hours for that work, while investigators concluded the system records reflected little more than 110 hours of actual review activity.
Those records also describe instances when Coleman processed hundreds of citations within minutes. FOX 8’s later review of the case found that motorists are now questioning whether citations bearing Coleman’s approval received the video review required before they were issued.
One Shift Included 303 Ticket Reviews in 14 Minutes
Investigators examined timestamps from the system used by officers to review automated-camera violations. According to the arrest affidavit described by FOX 8, Coleman sometimes remained logged into the system for long periods without processing citations and then approved large batches in rapid succession.
On March 22, 2025, Coleman processed 303 red-light citations in 14 minutes, the affidavit says. That works out to approximately 2.8 seconds per citation. Investigators said a reasonable pace would be no more than about three citations per minute.
FOX 8 separately reviewed video associated with a contested citation approved by Coleman. The clip lasted 12 seconds, and the apparent violation did not occur until roughly seven seconds into the video. The station reported finding similar timing in other citations it examined.
The arrest records cited by FOX 8 indicate that Coleman claimed to have reviewed between 47,000 and 111,000 camera citations during the period investigators examined.
The OIG Had Already Flagged Extremely Fast Ticket Reviews
The concern about rapid citation reviews did not begin with Coleman’s criminal case. In January, the New Orleans Office of Inspector General released a follow-up evaluation of the city’s Traffic Camera Safety Program covering violations recorded during 2024.
The OIG said NOPD officers reviewing camera citations were responsible for examining the violation photos and video, checking vehicle-registration information and verifying details including the vehicle, travel lane, date and time before approving or rejecting a citation.
Its analysis found that 92% of citations issued for 2024 violations were reviewed in less than 30 seconds. Sixty-eight percent were reviewed within 10 seconds, while 23% were reviewed within three seconds or less.
The OIG concluded that review times remained concerning despite changes to NOPD policies, quality controls and performance monitoring. The report also noted that its timing method measured the elapsed time between successive citation decisions rather than the precise moment an officer began viewing each ticket.
A Driver Has Been Contesting a Ticket Bearing Coleman’s Signature
A New Orleans motorist who asked FOX 8 not to identify her said she had already spent more than a year contesting a camera citation bearing Coleman’s signature. She told the station that she had questioned during the dispute whether anyone had actually reviewed the footage.
FOX 8 legal analyst Joe Raspanti said motorists who have already paid citations as well as those with unpaid tickets may have a basis to challenge citations if they can establish that the required review did not occur. He also said the allegations could lead to broader litigation involving affected motorists.
Those are Raspanti’s legal assessments rather than a court ruling on the validity of Coleman’s citations.
The Payroll Investigation Led to 350 Criminal Charges
FOX 8’s earlier Unchecked Overtime investigation recorded Coleman at home during periods when payroll records showed him working. The New Orleans Office of Inspector General opened an inquiry, and Louisiana State Police joined the investigation in April.
State Police arrested Coleman on August 7. He was booked on 325 counts of filing false public records, 23 counts of public payroll fraud, one count of malfeasance in office and one count of theft.
Coleman’s attorney, Bobby Hjortsberg, has disputed the allegations. He told FOX 8 that Coleman performed work remotely and specifically rejected investigators’ conclusions about his traffic-camera work, saying the defense would show the red-light allegations were false.
The overtime investigation also preceded tighter timekeeping controls inside NOPD. In a July press release, the Office of Inspector General said NOPD overtime costs fell by more than 45% between the first halves of 2025 and 2026, from approximately $18 million to $9.66 million, a difference of more than $8.33 million.
Coleman is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
New Orleans Provides a Process to Contest Camera Citations
The City of New Orleans continues to provide an administrative process for motorists who want to challenge photo-safety citations. Its Central Adjudication Bureau says camera tickets may be contested at an in-person hearing.
To request a hearing, the city instructs the vehicle owner to sign the coupon on the reverse side of the citation and mail it with the corresponding barcode to the violation processing center listed by the city. The hearing date is then mailed to the address associated with the vehicle through the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles.
Drivers can also use the city’s Traffic Camera Safety Program page to access information about camera tickets, locations and payment services.