Drastic measures considered to combat violent crime in N.O.
22nd September 2015 · 0 Comments
After the recent triple shooting in the French Quarter, a rising murder rate and a rash of brazen carjackings and armed robberies, residents and elected officials are considering a number of drastic measures to protect themselves and improve public safety in New Orleans. Those steps include residents arming themselves and efforts to promote a more aggressive NOPD stop-and-frisk policy. Residents in some parts of the city, like Lakeview, are also seeking to find someone to actively monitor security cameras set up by residents to protect their homes and loved ones.
During a recent speech he presented to community leaders at the Downtown Development District awards luncheon, State Treasurer John Kennedy told those in attendance, “We all know that we don’t feel as safe as we should, and I will tell you that people are not going to come to, move to, or invest in a place where they don’t feel safe.”
He proposed a solution that, while appealing to some gripped in fear, might be difficult to accomplish while the city’s police department is in the midst of implementing a federally mandated consent decree aimed at bring the NOPD up to federal standards for constitutional policing.
“We need to figure out a way how to get the guns, and the dope and the thugs off the street,” Kennedy said. “The very first part of that plan ought to be an aggressive stop-and-frisk policy in New Orleans. We need to back up our cops.”
While the state treasurer acknowledged that his proposal is not politically correct, he said he believes that it could be carried out without police having to racially profile or target specific groups of people.
“And I’m well aware of the dangers, but we’ve got one of the most diverse police forces in our country, and we’ve got to empower them, not undermine them,” said Kennedy, adding that some in Baton Rouge, the state capitol, are concerned about what he called the dysfunction of New Orleans government.
“…I’ll tell you what we see from Baton Rouge, at least with New Orleans government,” Kennedy said. “We see a lack of focus, we see mayors fighting with sheriffs, fighting with clerks of court, we see people worrying about markers and monuments.”
WWL reported that Kennedy shared his thoughts about how the city can move beyond the many distractions and challenges it faces.
“I want everybody to start working together and focus. Focus on the real issues, the issues of education, the issues of the quality of your streets,” Kennedy said. “Our state can never reach its full potential and its full promise until New Orleanians reach theirs.”
“He did make some valid points,” the Rev. Raymond Brown, a community activist and president of National Action Now, told The Louisiana Weekly. “There is a lot of dysfunction in local government. The mayor wants to tell the clerk of court, the sheriff and civil court judges how to do thier jobs but doesn’t want anybody telling him what he can or cannot do..”
Brown stopped short of agreeing with Kennedy’s assertion that an aggressive stop-and-frisk policy by the NOPD would make things better in New Orleans.
“That might make some residents feel better and safer, but at the end of the day that won’t solve the crime problem,” Brown said. “This situation didn’t develop overnight and it won’t be solved overnight.
“We need better policing, better leadership from City Hall and the NOPD, a commitment to providing better educational; and economic opportunities to young people who fall through the cracks and are looking for an honest way to earn a living. That includes the creation of job-training programs for high school dropouts and those who haven’t earned a G.E.D.”
“My whole thing is, it’s just a bad idea to try to solve a problem by giving cops a license to trample on somebody’s constitutional rights,” Ramessu Merriamen Aha, a New Orleans businessman and former congressional candidate, told The Louisiana Weekly.
“How could we expect an office holder, who is running for an office that has nothing to do with crime, talk about fiscal responsibilities?” W.C. Johnson, a member of Community United for Change and host of the local cable-access show “OurStory,” told The Louisiana Weekly when asked about Kennedy’s remarks. “New Orleans crime is a diversion from the real issue of his office. By turning to crime, John Kennedy shows how inept he is about New Orleans crime and what the U.S. Dept. of Justice is doing to address the problem of crime.
“What John Kennedy is suggesting is that NOPD go back to their failed policies of shoot first and drop the ham sandwich later style of law enforcement,” Johnson continued. “Something the DOJ has outlawed. Then John Kennedy wants to bring back the Paddy Rollers from pre-Civil War days. And with his suggestions, the U.S. Constitution becomes null and void for Black folks. It is obvious, John Kennedy wants to deflect the real issues and talk about emotional issues.”
Johnson said an aggressive stop-and-frisk policy will quickly erode the meager progress made since implementation of the NOPD consent decree began.
“An aggressive stop-and-frisk policy among the NOPD will force the consent decree to be extended 10 to 20 years,” Johnson said. “The NOPD is already having trouble implementing the watered-down version of the ‘People’s Consent Decree’ as it is. Any more interference will only complicate efforts to a point that crime will not only be busting through the roof but crime within the NOPD will increase and dismantle any improvements gained thus far. It is interesting how people who have no clue as to the problem or solution can be heard and unfortunately, many times followed. Politics needs to stay out of the implementation of the NOPD’s consent decree. “
FOX 8 News reported last week that violent crime is motivating some New Orleans residents to take action to protect themselves. While some are utilizing surveillance cameras, others are turning to firearms.
Among those recently impacted by crime is longtime investigative journalist Richard Angelico, who was carjacked outside his home near Bayou St. John Monday night around nine.
“One of them has what looked like a .9mm Barretta pointed in my face and he’s screaming give me your keys, ‘Give me your keys,’” he told FOX 8. “… Somebody told me, ‘Well I guess it’s time to get crime cameras put on your house,’ and I told them no, I guess it’s time to get a concealed carry permit, and that’s what I’m going to do today or tomorrow.”
Instructors at the Shooter’s Club in Harahan told FOX 8 that in recent months they’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people wanting to learn how to shoot and obtain concealed carry permits.
“We’ve had a dramatic increase in women, younger shooters,” firearms instructor Devvin Burgess said.
Kiera Carey was at the range last week, learning to shoot with her fiance’s gun.
“With the crime that’s going on, I have to,” Carey told FOX 8. “I have to be protective at all times.”
She said that she is in the process of applying for her own concealed carry permit.
“If someone does try to approach me and I don’t feel comfortable, I have no problems pulling it out, at all,” Carey said.
Police urge people not to fight back when confronted by someone with a gun. They say it’s always best to calmly hand over whatever is demanded to avoid getting hurt.
But Burgess said he thinks as more and more violent crimes like armed robberies and carjackings occur, he and other instructors will continue to see more customers.
“I think they realize it can happen to them and they want to be prepared for it,” Burgess told FOX 8.
Additional reporting by Louisiana Weekly editor Edmund W. Lewis.
This article originally published in the September 21, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
