NEW ORLEANS — Whether it’s a carjacking or a shooting, violent crime is at the doorstep of neighborhoods across New Orleans and New Orleanians are tired of it.
“When are they going to do something,” pleaded one New Orleans resident Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s gotten to the point where it’s really an emergency situation,” New Orleans Councilmember at-large Helena Moreno. “Ordinarily, sometimes when things are really hard or really alarming, I like to start by saying, ‘Look I don’t want to scare anyone but the facts are this,’ but unfortunately I can’t even say that anymore because everyone is already scared, all over the city.”
Moreno says a game plan will be the goal Thursday when NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson goes before the city council. Then, Monday, a special meeting involving all criminal justice players.
“We’re going to use the city council as a platform to drive this dialogue and bring all parties together,” said Moreno. “One of the reasons why we’re having to call this meeting is because the public doesn’t feel like things are getting better or there’s any plan to make things better.”
How to get there is already causing friction between Chief Ferguson and Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams. They had same-day news conferences Wednesday. Williams says not enough arrests are being made while Ferguson blamed the system.
“The most important number that is critical to public safety is how frequently the NOPD makes an arrest and solves a case when a citizen is victimized,” said Williams.
“I stand firm on what I have been saying for the last six months. We have an issue with our criminal justice system in holding individuals accountable to no fault of any component of this system,” said Ferguson.
Both men are committed to solutions and point to the pandemic as making their jobs harder. On the same day as their new conferences, three people were murdered in New Orleans by midafternoon.
“This is what we’re trying to end, this type of trauma impacting the people of New Orleans,” said Moreno.
Moreno says differences and politics will play no role in finding solutions because fixing the problem is too important for people whose sense of hope is shattered.
“We can’t just stay there in that hopelessness,” said Moreno. “I think change is going to be necessary very quickly and we really don’t have any more time to waste. How many more lives are we going to lose,” said Moreno.