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Private company shortens NOPD response times, looks to expand

OSS takes reports just like an officer would and sends it back to NOPD. They can take reports on the interstate as well.

NEW ORLEANS — On Scene Services is a private company that's been contracted with the City of New Orleans and NOPD since 2018, according to Ethan Cheramie, CEO and Founder of On Scene Services, better known as OSS.

The company began as a startup and has been completely self-funded, Cheramie said.

Now, as City Councilmembers and NOPD express they want the company to expand to shorten 911 wait times, OSS is asking for the City to begin funding the program.

OSS has two units it deploys Monday through Friday in Orleans Parish.

According to data from OSS, NOPD gets an average of 27,000 car wreck calls a year, and 58 percent of them occur between 7 a.m. - 7 p.m,. Monday-to-Friday.

Cheramie said he hopes the expansion will allow them to increase to seven units working 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. on weekdays.

"That would provide an immediate impact of about 10,000 annual calls removed from the New Orleans Police Departments call burden," Cheramie said.

According to Cheramie that equates to about 13 NOPD officers or 25,000 hours saved that could go to higher priority calls.

He said they've been discussing the expansion with the City and NOPD for about a year.

"Total cost to the city is still something that's going to be negotiated, but it should still be substantially cheaper than what it should cost NOPD to process this many calls that we process," Cheramie said.

The agents that work for OSS right now are all retired, unarmed NOPD officers, Cheramie said.

"We only respond to car crashes," Cheramie said, "Be it a single car, a hit and run, accidents that are just property damage or accidents with injury. We're there for one job."

OSS takes reports just like an officer would and sends it back to NOPD. They can take reports on the interstate as well.

"We are the country's first alternative police response for car accidents," Cheramie said.

According to NOPD Director of Communications, Gary Scheets, NOPD wants to see the company and partnership expand, but it's a matter of how much the City is willing to put towards funding it.

"We'll obviously take what we can get. We know we need the expansion. We know the council is in favor of this sort of expansion. We know the mayors in favor of this sort of expansion," Scheets said, "And so we'll get what we can get so we can get those services rolling and have more officers on the street fighting crime."

The big question now is when this could go into effect.

"My timeline would be tomorrow really to get those on," Cheramie said, "But we do have a little bit of homework to do on our end and procurement with the City and then we're running from there."

Scheets said NOPD hopes to see the expansion happen in the coming months.

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