NEW ORLEANS — The Nola Coalition started with a simple premise.
“We first of all rejected the idea that public safety does not matter,” said GNO Inc. President Michael Hecht, one of the organizers of the coalition. “We said that public safety does matter to all citizens.”
Two years later, the coalition’s goal to create a safer and more prosperous New Orleans is paying dividends.
According to the organization, in July 2022, violence and loss were at record levels.
Since then, homicides have dropped by 48 percent, shootings have declined by 48 percent, carjackings are down 68 percent, and armed robberies have fallen 56 percent.
While progress has been made violence in New Orleans continues.
“There are three families today, who are grieving from this weekend’s violence,” NOPD Supt. Ann Kirkpatrick said. “What I can say and that’s why I said at the very top, you know something for those who are grieving, these numbers mean nothing to them.”
Charlotte Hayward’s 32-year-old son Brandon was shot and killed in the St. Roch neighborhood on August 3.
“He never was about the violence or anything,” Hayward said. “So, for me to see my child lose his life to violence, I felt like a statistic. I felt like the everyday New Orleans people. Come on bruh this isn’t us.”
The coalition has raised more than $8 million to support youth services, worked to improve NOPD pay and benefits and provided law enforcement with cutting-edge crime-fighting technology.
“The simple truth is that New Orleans’ problems are multifaceted and that means that the solutions to these problems must also be multifaceted,” Orleans DA Jason Williams said.
“One murder is too many,” Hecht said. “One child without hope is too many. We know that generational opportunity and generational hope is the only sustainable answer for the city of New Orleans.”
The NOLA Coalition has a three-year goal of raising $15 million from the private and philanthropic sectors for youth support services in New Orleans.
Watch the complete NOLA Coalition press conference below:
