NEW ORLEANS — While the critical shortage of New Orleans police officers is hampering crime-fighting and now forcing the city to pay large fines to shore up the police pension fund, there is a silver lining, according to a report released Thursday by the New Orleans Inspector General.
After a staggering net loss of 287 officers between May 2021 and April 2023 – bringing the force to an historic low of just over 900 cops – the first four months of this year saw a reversal of that trend, the report states.
Through the end of April, the city hired 39 police recruits, far surpassing the 25 recruits hired in all of 2022. The other half of the equation – retention of existing officers – also seems to be improving, the report states.
“The NOPD and other stakeholders have already taken steps to address some of the issues underlying the staffing crisis,” the report states. “However, the city should monitor the effectiveness of its efforts towards improved recruitment and retention to ensure these resources are spent in the way that is most likely to attract and retain qualified officers.”
The report credits the city’s payment of pay raises and retention bonuses of up to $20,000 for veteran officers as factors in slowing attrition. But Inspector General Ed Michel, noting that the bonuses were a one-time perk, said the city must continue to apply a full-court press to keep the numbers moving in the right direction.
“This trend is just unacceptable,” Michel said in an interview. “Recruitment efforts cannot realistically alleviate this problem. NOPD needs to analyze the factors driving officer retention as well as factor on recruitment.”
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