Despite promise to stay, La. state troopers M.I.A. in French Quarter

2nd March 2015   ·   0 Comments

Some French Quarter residents, business owners and workers who were relieved to learn last month that the Louisiana State Police had ironed out an agreement with the City of New Orleans to remain in the French Quarter and help out with other parts of the city through May are now wondering what happened to the state troopers, who have been conspicuously absent the past two weeks, FOX 8 News reported last week.

Once relieved that state troopers would remain in the city through May and were working on a plan to keep them here year-round, residents and others in the Quarter are now scrambling to devise a strategy for keeping the Vieux Carré safe.

As the New Orleans City Council pondered the challenge last week, several NOPD officers were presented with commendations from the City of New Orleans for their exemplary performance in apprehending a suspect accused in a Feb. 12 double homicide which took place on St. Charles Avenue during the recent Muses parade.

“This case, though critical, exemplifies the cases we handle every day,” NOPD Commander Chris Goodley told the Council last week..

Despite the double homicide and a shooting at the intersection of Canal and Rampart streets, authorities ware pleased with the embattled department’s overall performance.

City and NOPD leaders assembled a coalition of crime fighters that included 150 state troopers, retired NOPD officers, St. John the Baptist and Orleans Parish sheriff’s deputies and campus police from the University of New Orleans and Tulane University. Law enforcement officers logged in 59,000 man hours in the 12-day Carnival season, making 443 arrests.

“That’s 523 officers, plus another 71 were recruits and aides,” Deputy Supt. Bob Bardy said last week.

While the 150 state troopers deployed to New Orleans for Mardi Gras played a significant role in keeping the city and its residents safe, some French Quarter residents and business owners said they were caught off guard by the troopers’ post-Mardi Gras departure.

“I was — I thought they would be here through May, so I was surprised,” Bob Simms of the French Quarter Management District told FOX 8.

City council members also had questions for the Louisiana State Police last week as they assessed public safety during Mardi Gras season.

“There was a report in the last couple of days that you weren’t in the Quarter for now, and I had heard you would be here through May,” Criminal Justice Committee chairwoman Susan Guildry told LSP officials last week.

“Right now we’re developing deployment plans, and how we might do that,” LSP Lt. Col.. David Staton responded.

While French Quarter management officials said they hope the matter can be resolved quickly, they told FOX 8 that they plan to continue to push for additional NOPD security in the Quarter in areas outside of Bourbon Street.

Shootings on Bourbon make national headlines, but Decatur Street merchants complain about daily harassment by transient youth.

“We got a lot of aggressive transient people on Decatur, and we want to see those addressed too,” said Simms.

The new plan will include additional officers riding four-wheel vehicles.

“The plan we’re putting together now includes patrolling all the Quarter,” said Simms.

French Quarter residents and business owners said they hope that whatever plan emerges, State Police will be a key part.

LSP Commander Mike Ed­mon­son said last month that the state troopers would remain in New Orleans through May and that the statewide law enforcement agency would make adjustments to its own budget to pay for it. Local tourism officials have since announced that the industry will do its part by putting up finds to pay for LSP protection beyond special events like Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Essence Fest and the Bayou Classic.

NOPD officials said last week that they are hopeful that they can begin to end the “blue hemorrhaging” in the undermanned department that has witnessed the departure of veteran officers faster than they can be replaced. They said last week that the department has been contacted by more than 900 NOPD applicants, including about 300 in January and more than 600 in February.

The uptick in applicants last month was likely impacted by the Civil Service Commission’s in February to do away with the NOPD’s requirement that prospective recruits have completed 60 hours of college courses.

Some critics have warned that eliminating the college course requirement could lead to a “dumbing down” of the police force while others expressed concerns about how lowering the education standards would impact community relations and constitutional policing.

The NOPD currently has about 1,100 officers in a city that some say needs 1,600 officers to be adequately protected.

This article originally published in the March 2, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.