Local join forces to tackle N.O. crime problem

By Meghan Holmes
Contributing Writer

More than 175 businesses and organizations from the greater New Orleans area have formed a new group known as the NOLA Coalition to reduce violence and support youth across the city. The coalition’s two-part action plan focuses on near-term solutions to reduce violence, concurrent with a $15 million investment in social services directed towards young New Orleanians.

“The time has arrived to help remove the fear our residents have in living their normal lives and return New Orleans to the city we all love,” said Dawn Hebert, president of East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Committee, a part of the coalition.

The coalition’s $15 million commitment to investments in youth services will be disbursed equally over a period of three years, via grants to community-based nonprofit organizations in good standing with a track record of success. The United Way of Southeast Louisiana is administering the funding and reporting on individual grant deliverables established through a competitive RFP process. Grant recipients’ services should align with goals established in the New Orleans Youth Master Plan, a ten-year multi-sector plan for improving outcomes for children and youth across Orleans Parish.

Businesses, philanthropic organizations, as well as local and national individuals provide the funding, with more than $500,000 distributed so far this year. The United Way of Southeast Louisiana partnered with Baptist Community Ministries to distribute the $500,000 to 37 different organizations in May, to expand the capacity of organizations to serve more young people this summer.

“According to the recent Civic Priorities survey, crime and public safety are the most important issues facing New Orleans. The NOLA Coalition, comprised of a diverse cross section of New Orleanians, believes crime is not a problem without a solution. The Coalition’s two-part plan of community support for NOPD and investment in youth services reflects thinking creatively about simultaneously working on immediate solutions, based on existing resources, while developing long term solutions to age-old systemic issues, like the need to invest in our youth,” said Melanie Talia, JD, president and CEO of the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, also part of the coalition.

The coalition also plans to provide immediate support to the New Orleans Police Department. First, through focusing on recruiting and retention, with tactics including creating a human resources division within the police department as well as improving pay and providing raises for things like lateral transfers or advanced education. The group also plans to develop technology in place of sustained manpower shortages, and to further invest in the Violent Crime Abatement Team, as well as similar special-purpose teams, prioritizing gang activity and concentrated violence.

The group also advocates for re-thinking the role of police system-wide, and addressing the shortage of officers with the use of civilians as responders in non-emergency situations, expanding programs like On Scene Services, which uses non-police personnel for traffic accidents. The coalition will support these strategies (among others) with 60-day public reports providing monitoring, assessment and accountability.

“With the increased incidents of vehicle break-ins, shootings along I-10, and car jackings, all happening at night and in broad daylight, it is time for action and assistance. I am hopeful the resources that will become available through the NOLA Coalition will have a lasting, positive effect that will touch many lives,” Hebert said.

Many of the issues the coalition plans to tackle are long-standing problems in New Orleans, but this many civic groups coming together to take action is unprecedented.

“Sometimes, the messenger is the message,” said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc, part of the coalition.

“That is the case with The NOLA Coalition. While the ideas of supporting public safety and investment in our youth are not new, the diversity of this coalition is. I have never before seen so many different people come together with a single voice, and it is inspiring and encouraging. The NOLA Coalition represents all of New Orleans, but we are united by our love of our children, and our love of our city.”

Information on all of the coalition’s plans as well as a full list of participants can be found at https://nolacoalition.info.

This article originally published in the July 18, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.