New Orleans in the 1990s wasn't exactly a postcard. It was the murder capital of the country, a city where the air was thick with humidity and the streets felt like a powder keg. But the most terrifying thing about that era wasn't just the soaring homicide rate—it was the people wearing the badges. At the center of that darkness stood Len Davis New Orleans police officer, a man so feared he earned the nickname "The Desire Terrorist."
You might’ve heard of "RoboCop." That’s what some called him because of his massive frame and seemingly unstoppable aggression. But for the residents of the Desire housing projects, there was nothing heroic about him. Honestly, the story of Len Davis is a jarring reminder of what happens when the line between the law and the underworld completely disappears. He didn't just break the rules; he dismantled them.
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The Night Everything Changed for Kim Groves
The name Kim Groves should be known by everyone in America. She was a 32-year-old mother of three who did something incredibly brave and, tragically, incredibly dangerous. In October 1994, she witnessed Davis and his partner, Sammie Williams, brutally beating a 17-year-old boy named Nathan Norwood.
She didn't look away. Instead, she filed a formal brutality complaint with the NOPD.
She probably thought she was doing the right thing for her neighborhood. But in the 1990s NOPD, Internal Affairs was a sieve. Word of her complaint reached Davis within hours. He didn't call a lawyer; he called a hitman.
"Get That Whore": The FBI Wiretap
What makes the Len Davis New Orleans case so surreal is that the FBI was already watching him. They were running "Operation Shattered Shield," a sting aimed at a massive drug protection racket Davis was running. They had his phones tapped.
As they listened, they heard something that would haunt the agents forever. Davis was caught on tape coordinating with a drug dealer named Paul "Cool" Hardy. He gave Hardy the description of what Kim Groves was wearing. He told him where she was standing.
"Get that whore," Davis was recorded saying.
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Just 24 hours after she filed her complaint, Kim Groves was shot in the head while walking near her home in the Lower Ninth Ward. When the news of her death came over the police radio, Davis was recorded celebrating. He used the police code "N.A.T."—Necessary Action Taken. It's the kind of detail that sounds like a bad movie script, but it was real life in New Orleans.
A Legacy of Wrongful Convictions
For a long time, people thought the Kim Groves murder was the extent of his "extra-curricular" activities. We were wrong. Recently, the full scope of his damage has started to surface.
In 2022, three men who had spent nearly 30 years in prison for the murder of Rondell Santinac were finally freed. Why? Because evidence emerged that Davis and his partner were actually the ones involved in that 1994 killing. They had framed the teenagers to cover their own tracks. Basically, Davis was using his badge to clear the way for his own criminal enterprise, and innocent kids paid the price with decades of their lives.
It's sorta hard to wrap your head around. A decorated officer—he actually won a Medal of Merit in 1993—was simultaneously running cocaine protection rackets and ordering hits on civilians.
The Current Status: Death Row and Commutations
For decades, Davis sat on federal death row. He was the first on-duty police officer in modern U.S. history to be sentenced to death for federal civil rights violations. His legal team fought the sentence for years, getting it overturned once before a second jury handed it right back to him in 2005.
Then came December 2024.
In one of his final acts, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates, including Len Davis New Orleans' most notorious cop. His sentence was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But here is the weirdest part: Davis actually fought the commutation. He filed a motion from his cell at the ADX Florence supermax facility in Colorado, trying to block the life sentence. He claimed he wanted his death sentence to stand so his appeals would get "heightened scrutiny," which he hoped would eventually prove his innocence. The courts didn't buy it. As of early 2026, he remains behind bars in the most secure prison in the world, likely never to see the light of day again.
Why This Still Matters in 2026
The story of Len Davis isn't just "true crime" trivia. It’s the reason New Orleans ended up under a federal consent decree. It changed how the city views the police. When people talk about "systemic issues," they’re talking about the environment that allowed a man like Davis to have a disciplinary file "as thick as a phone book" and still stay on the street.
The impact on the Groves family is still felt today. Her daughter, Jasmine Groves, has spent thirty years keeping her mother’s memory alive. For the people of the Ninth Ward, the name Len Davis is a scar that hasn't quite healed.
Actionable Takeaways for Understanding Police Reform
If you're looking to understand how the Len Davis New Orleans case shaped modern law enforcement, keep these points in mind:
- Internal Affairs Transparency: The leak of Kim Groves' complaint is why modern departments have much stricter protocols on who can see whistleblower identities.
- Federal Oversight: This case was a primary catalyst for the Department of Justice stepping in to oversee local departments that show "patterns and practices" of abuse.
- Wrongful Conviction Audits: The recent exonerations linked to Davis show why it is vital for cities to have Conviction Integrity Units to review old cases from corrupt eras.
The city is different now, but the ghost of the 1990s still lingers in every courtroom and precinct. Knowing this history is the only way to make sure it doesn't repeat.
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To dive deeper into the legal precedent set by this case, you can review the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals records which detail the "color of law" arguments used to convict Davis. You can also research the work of the ACLU of Louisiana regarding the ongoing impact of the 1990s NOPD era on current community trust.