NEW ORLEANS — Tyrell Morris has had a turbulent tenure as head of the OPCD. He was appointed to lead OPCD in August of 2018 and has been at the helm during some major controversies.
In 2020 and 2021, the Communications District signed two contracts to move the city’s 911 operations to a cloud-based system. They’re now the subject of a lawsuit claiming public bid violations.
Then in February of this year, a heart attack victim waited 90 minutes for an ambulance because his call was not prioritized in the system.
Days later, a 15-year-old died after botched 911-response delayed an ambulance for him.
In March, Morris had to answer for these and other major stumbles and was grilled by city council.
But he was back in the chambers the next month. That’s because in April, an inspector general audit discovered questionable business practices and credit card charges at the OPCD.
The OIG found nearly half of the agency’s $865,000 in credit card charges from 2019 to 2021 were unclear or irregular, potentially in violation of the law.
Again in April, Morris faced friction with City Council over his role as the Violent Crime Reduction Task Force Chairman.
And now: a car crash in a city vehicle and evidence that he illegally altered public documents.
City Council has now called for him to be suspended before his resignation in September.
The Inspector General has an ongoing investigation into OCPD.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.