New proposal aims to help NOPD to get a handle on gun violence
22nd February 2016 · 0 Comments
If New Orleans City Councilman James Gray has his way, an ordinance he plans to introduce in March will help police to get a handle on gun violence in the city by requiring private gun owners to report lost or stolen guns to the NOPD.
While federal law already requires licensed gun dealers to report lost or stolen firearms, there is currently no such requirement in place for private gun owners.
While some residents and law enforcement officials may see the proposal as a much-needed step to curb gun violence in the Crescent City, the idea has not been popular with opponents of gun-control measures.
Amy Hunter, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, said the organization is opposed to mandatory reporting laws because they “make criminals out of law-abiding people.”
In a story dated Feb. 19, 2016, Nola.com reported that NOPD records show that more than 2,100 guns were reported stolen in New Orleans between 2012 and 2015.
NOPD officials said the proposed ordinance would aid police by helping them to track down illicit guns and prevent shootings.
Gray, whose district includes the Lower Ninth Ward and eastern New Orleans, said the ordinance would target people who give their guns to criminals and later report them stolen.
“When someone’s gun is used in a crime they become a suspect, and many times their answer is ‘Oh, that gun was stolen,’” Gray told Nola.com. “Well, that answer would be much more convincing to me if you reported it stolen last year, when it was stolen, as opposed to when it was used in a crime.”
According to Nola.com, Councilmembers Jason Williams, Nadine Ramsey. LaToya Cantrell and Stacy Head indicated they would likely vote in favor of a mandatory reporting ordinance.
“I am in favor of whatever we can do within the bounds of the law and the constitution to promote rational gun safety,” Councilmember Jared Brossett told Nola.com. “However, I would be wary of going too far in the direction of criminalizing lawful gun owners. Plus, when considering a requirement to report a lost or stolen gun, the element of when or whether a gun owner is or becomes aware seems to present challenging enforcement questions.”
While Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro did not commit to supporting the ordinance, he did tell Nola.com, “We’ve been preaching, ‘If you’re the victim of a crime, get involved,’ because if you don’t you may be causing someone else a very serious problem down the road.”
Mark Selmi, a spokesman for the law firm that represents the California Rifle and Pistol Association, warned the New Orleans City Council not to take steps similar to those taken by cities like Los Angeles and Sacramento.
“Criminalizing the Second Amendment has never been an effective means for resolving the complex nature of violent crime,” Selmi told Nola.com. “It merely acts as a smokescreen for politicians pandering for votes in the wake of tragic events, and facilitates their contempt for providing adequate levels of police protection and social services for our urban communities.”
In other news, NOPD officials said last week that its intensive three-week leadership-training program kicked off with dozens of officers participating. FOX 8 News reported last week that the Leadership in Police Organizations (LPO) program is designed to provide officers at every rank with the skills required to become successful and effective leaders.
The intensive program was developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and places emphasis on the systematic development of leaders at all levels of an organization.
“The LPO is focused on the concept of ‘every officer a leader’ and the program provides an instrumental character and career-building experience,” NOPD Supt. Michael Harrison told FOX 8 News. “As a graduate and instructor of the LPO course, I can personally speak to its effectiveness. LPO represents our continued investment in our officers and our commitment to creating the police department’s next generation of leaders.”
For the next three months, participants will meet for one week each month and develop skills that will enable them to lead both on and off the clock. This class is the seventh launched since the NOPD began providing LPO training in 2012.
Over the past four years, the NOPD has trained more than 200 officers, including 14 officers who have been approved to serve as LPO-certified instructors.
In other NOPD news, a Domino’s pizza delivery worker who was attacked by four men in an incident captured on a Bourbon Street camera early on Sunday, Feb. 14. The victim came forward last week to talk about the attack.
The NOPD arrested two men following the brutal beating, which occurred before the sun came up on Valentine’s Day.
The victim was riding his bicycle in the area Sunday around 1:40 a.m. when four people stopped him. The suspects asked him to buy pizza by the slice. When the pizza delivery driver told them he was not allowed to sell individual slices, they attacked him.
“I feel like it was very awful. I feel like you’re not safe to even deliver a pizza. It’s not right. You can’t even do your job,” Dionne Dorsey told FOX 8 News.
Police said the attackers were trying to steal the pizza, and within seconds, several men started kicking and punching him. Another man appears to set something down in the video, and then he joins in.
At least four men attacked the victim. Some of them even stomped on the victim while he appeared to be unconscious.
Tedesco pointed out that the attack continued until a woman stepped in to help. The video shows a man dragging the victim away in an attempt to get him out of danger.
He said that the people who stepped in to help also showed a lot of courage after the incident, helping police to catch two of the suspected attackers.
This article originally published in the February 22, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
