Antoinette Frank

Antoinette Renee Frank
Mugshot of Antoinette Frank.
Born	(1971-04-30) April 30, 1971 (age 45) Opelousas, Louisiana
Occupation	Police officer, New Orleans Police Department (former, 1993-1995)
Criminal charge	3 counts of first-degree murder
Criminal penalty	Death
Criminal status	Incarcerated at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, St. Gabriel, Louisiana
Conviction(s)	September 22, 1995

Antoinette Renee Frank (born April 30, 1971) is a former New Orleans police officer, convicted of the murder of three people.

On March 4, 1995, Frank and an accomplice, Rogers Lacaze, committed a violent armed robbery at a restaurant which resulted in the killing of two members of the family who ran the establishment, and fellow New Orleans Police Department officer Ronald A. Williams II.

Frank is one of only two women on death row in Louisiana, at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel.

Frank applied to the New Orleans Police Department in early 1993. During the hiring process, numerous red flags turned up. According to author Chuck Hustmyre, a former federal agent and author of a book about Frank, Killer with a Badge, she was caught lying on several sections of her application, and failed two standard psychiatric evaluations. Psychiatrist Philip Scurria examined her and advised in no uncertain terms that she should not be hired, saying she was "shallow and superficial".

Despite this, Frank got a second chance to apply. The NOPD was chronically short-handed; at the time, its officers were paid lower than in similarly-sized cities, and it was losing officers faster than they could be replaced. Its ranks had been decimated by several arrests for murder and drug activity. Many potential applicants were shut out due to a requirement that all officers be residents of New Orleans—a requirement that was only changed in 2014. Additionally, Frank was a black female, and police officials thought having more blacks on the force would ease the city's longstanding racial tensions. Frank was hired on February 7, 1993. She graduated from the Police Academy on February 28, 1993.

Although Frank graduated near the top of her academy class, her tenure with the NOPD was mostly undistinguished. Her fellow officers thought she was rather shy. Many of them also thought she had no idea what police work really entailed, and lacked the decisiveness to be a good officer. At times, they thought she veered into irrational behavior. As early as August 1993, her superiors wanted to send her back to the academy for further training. She frequently had to go through supervisory review.