NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell and NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson have been hammered for months to come up with a plan to address the city’s spike in crime and shrinking police department.
They reached out to two former New York City top cops for help.
The non-profit New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation fronted the money to give the NOPD a fresh set of eyes.
“We’re excited to know there’s a plan in the works to really do a deep dive into the NOPD and bring about some much-needed change,” NOPJF Chair Elizabeth Boh said.
Last month, former NYPD Chief of Patrols Fausto Pichardo and the one-time commander of New York’s Crime Prevention Unit, Thomas Conforti, were in New Orleans for about 10 days.
They met with NOPD officials and rank and file officers to assess deployment and other challenges.
According to the Police and Justice Foundation, they produced an 88-page, detailed plan to improve the NOPD’s operations.
“This is kind of our glimmer of hope that we really are ready to turn this around,” Boh said.
Chief Pichardo is now expected to spend up to six months as a "consulting chief of operations” at the NOPD, helping to implement the plan.
“I don’t see it being a bad thing," New Orleans police union President Captain Michael Glasser said. "A plan is better than no plan as long as it addresses two ongoing issues at the NOPD."
First, stopping the rapid rate of officers leaving the department.
“We’re a 1,600 officer department being operated by 900 officers and in two months it will be 800,” Glasser said. “We’re not going to survive if we don’t fix that.”
Second, redeploying the officers they do have.
“I think you’re going to see some consolidation of units, consolidation of districts and a reassessment of where we have our personnel,” Glasser added.
The NOPD is expected to formally introduce Chief Pichardo, next Wednesday.
“I was told he was in charge of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, so he’s got a great background for Mardi Gras and will be here for Mardi Gras,” Boh said.
WWL-TV has also learned that a civilian management consultant, John Linder, will be working closely with the Pichardo’s team.
Linder was one of the architects of the NOPD’s bold turnaround plan back in the 1990s, which help cut the city’s murder rate in half.
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