NOPD gets back to recruitment, crime reduction after Carnival
15th February 2016 · 0 Comments
NOPD officials said last week that the department confiscated 30 guns near parade routes over a 12-day period during Carnival season.
Officials attributed the successful effort to aggressive patrols and a strong public safety plan. The undermanned NOPD’s efforts were also aided by support from state and federal law enforcement agencies in keeping Mardi Gras revelers and parade-goers safe.
NOPD officials credited aggressive patrols and a strong public safety plan for the confiscations. State and federal law enforcement were in the area for many days to assist with Carnival patrols. Superintendent Michael Harrison commended the NOPD and thanked law enforcement partners for their assistance.
“We had a zero tolerance policy for anyone who made the decision to bring a weapon to Carnival and put our residents and visitors in danger, and our results show it,” Harrison told WWL. “We are committed to continuing this aggressive and proactive approach throughout the year.”
WWL reported that the NOPD started working at 100 percent staffing levels on January 29 as part of the public safety plan. All officers assigned to parade routes worked at least eight hours a day. All officers assigned to work in police districts worked a minimum of 12-hour shifts. Officers returned to regular staffing levels Wednesday, February 10.
Local restaurants aided in the effort by providing complimentary meals for law enforcement officers working in the Central Business District. The City of New Orleans and the NOPD also encouraged residents to join in the effort by “adopting” cops by providing them with food, water and other amenities when they interacted with cops along the parade route.
A summary of the confiscations can be found on the city’s website, nola.gov.
Residents were happy to know that immediately after Carnival 94 additional NOPD officers were deployed to patrol the streets of New Orleans.
The officers, who were previously assigned to desk duty, were reassigned to street patrols as part of a NOPD restructuring plan announced last month by Supt. Harrison.
Some residents wondered why it took so long for the NOPD to reassign the officers since both the city’s Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux and Metropolitan Crime Commission executive director Rafael Goyeneche recommended that the NOPD hire civilians to perform NOPD office duties to free up the officers more than a year ago.
The NOPD continues to struggle to hire officers faster than it is losing them but appears to be gaining steam as it streamlines its process for hiring and training police recruits.
In an effort to make it easier to attract and hire NOPD recruits, the City of New Orleans successfully convinced the New Orleans City Council to relax residency rules that require cops, firefighters and EMS workers to live in Orleans Parish. The Civil Service Commission also aided the effort by doing away with requirements that NOPD recruits have completed 60 hours of college credit. Another move made to expedite the hiring process of NOPD recruits has been the awarding of bonuses to veteran officers who successfully bring in new recruits.
NOPD recruitment efforts have also been helped by salary hikes that will make it easier for the NOPD to compete with other law enforcement agencies that offer higher salaries to attract recruits.
It was recently announced that the Louisiana State Police will remain in New Orleans for the foreseeable future. The city’s tourism industry will help to pay for the state troopers deployment by continuing to provide funds from hotel taxes and other fees paid by visitors to the city.
French Quarter businesses said last year that they prefer that the City of New Orleans use proceeds from the tourism industry to hire additional NOPD officers rather than pay for the Civilian Patrols introduced in the Vieux Carre last year to handle minor problems and free up NOPD officers to address more serious crimes.
In other NOPD-related news, an NOPD recruit has been placed on emergency suspension after he was arrested early Wednesday morning, February 10, on various traffic violations including DWI on I-10 East at Louisa.
WWL News reported that at about 1:20 a.m., NOPD Seventh District officers were working a multi-vehicle traffic collision when they saw a car trying to drive around the blocked off area. Officers stopped the driver, who was later identified at NOPD Recruit Gerald Elwood, III, and based on his behavior, elected to conduct a standard field sobriety test.
Elwood reportedly tested positive for alcohol over the legal limit.
Based on the facts of the investigation, officers booked Elwood with several traffic violations including careless operation and driving while intoxicated.
Following the arrest, the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau placed Elwood on emergency suspension.
Elwood is a member of Recruit Class #175.
The NOPD’s PIB is in charge of the ongoing disciplinary investigation.
This article originally published in the February 15, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
