NEW ORLEANS — NOPD says they have a plan to stop the car break-ins happening during Pelicans games. Friday, they said they’ve worked with analytics to determine where exactly the break-ins are happening so they can direct patrol.
“I have personally spoken to the captains of the sixth, the first, and the eighth district to deploy their personnel to address this issue,” NOPD Chief Deputy Superintendent, Hans Ganthier said. “We also have some district investigative units assigned to this process so we feel we have a good plan in place.”
Ganthier says they will use overtime and not take officers off their usual patrol.
Premium Parking, the company that owns the lots where break-ins are happening during Pelicans games, says they have been in contact with the NOPD. Jim Huger, CEO of Premium Parking, says the breaks ins are unfortunate.
“We’ve been in contact with the Saints organization, we’re in constant contact with NOPD letting them know these incidents are happening, and we encourage all customers, don’t put valuables in the car and so forth, but I think together we can beat this and get the city safe again,” Huger said.
Ganthier says he has previously been in contact with Premium Parking in his position with the eighth district but not since his promotion. Ganthier would like Premium Parking to do more.
“They have done a better job at it, but we would like to see a bit more now as the season increases we’d like to see more done, and as we’ll try to reach out to them, each district will reach out to them with those parking lots and see if they can do more,” Ganthier says.
Huger says the lots are park at your own risk, but the company is working to install more lighting and cameras in some lots. He says the burglaries are frustrating for the company as well.
“It’s frustrating as a business owner. We pay lots of taxes, we do a fair share to make sure we’re running an honest business, and when we’re swimming upstream against an obvious failure of city services. It’s frustrating, but we don’t want to be gadflies about it. We want to be part of the solution,” Huger said.
Huger says depending on the event and the night, parking lots are often full, but with the recent car break-ins they worry their lots won’t be used as much.
“We’re victims of this crime just like our customers are, and as a city, we’re victims of this. If people don’t park, if they don’t go to restaurants, if they don’t go to events, as a city, we need to fight this. We’re a utility providing a space to park for folks,” Huger said.
NOPD would also like the public to help. They suggest parking in a well-lit and patrolled area to stay safe.
“If a parking lot is not well-lit, I suggest you find one that has security, is well-lit that you can get to and where people walking can see what’s going on in that parking lot,” Ganthier said.
