New Orleans, the city where we grew up and have lived our 77 years; where we met and raised our children; the New Orleans that means so much to us, and to so many others who live and visit here, is on the precipice of catastrophic and systemic failure due to an unprecedented amount of crime. Our disseminated police force has been rendered ineffective.
The New Orleans Police Department has been under a U.S. Department of Justice consent decree for 10 years. The consent decree was initially implemented to address and correct flagrant abuses within the NOPD. However, the NOPD has fulfilled almost all of its obligations, but has been losing officers in droves because the decree concerns itself with the rights of the perpetrators instead of the rights of the victims.
U.S. District Judge Susan Morgan, tasked with the implementation of the decree, has worked tirelessly over the past decade, and has dedicated her talents to ensure compliance with the decree. She deserves credit for the nationally recognized results.
We have more personnel filling out forms than we have officers on the streets trying to prevent crime and arrest criminals. The field limitations are now draconian and are no longer productive. We are in substantial compliance, and it is now time for Judge Morgan to dismiss the decree.
Take the time to review the decree and analyze the hundreds of quarterly summary reports which cover dozens of topics representing tens of thousands of required field reports filed by officers and supervisors. The decree itself is 129 pages long and contains 96 sections, 492 paragraphs and more than 1,000 subsections. The “definitions” occupy seven full pages. Saint Peter himself would be unable to comply.
Not one word concerns preventing or solving crime. You can read the entire document online.
Meanwhile, the citizens of New Orleans, the entire metropolitan population and our respected visitors are being accosted at every turn by all types of vagrants and aggressive offenders, particularly in the historic tourist district. This includes confrontational panhandlers, homeless people sleeping and defecating where they see fit, trash lining the streets and sidewalks and the constant, very real threat of damage to personal property. Which brings us to our next point.
As of last week, the city has had 210 armed carjackings, seven on Labor Day alone, and over 400 armed robberies since January 1st. Commercial parking lots and residential neighborhoods experience dozens of cars broken into daily, with the windows shattered. And NOPD advises there is absolutely nothing they can do.
By the end of August, we had recorded 187 murders year to date, placing us almost at the top of the per capita murder rate in the country. Additionally, we have a much greater number of active shootings than murders due to poor marksmanship.
When friends from out of town ask if it’s safe to visit, it’s difficult to respond positively. We warn them about potential criminal activity, carjackings, and tell them to be very careful and to be aware of their surroundings at all times.
The city administration and a group of concerned citizens are seeking a dismissal of the consent decree. After over a decade of oversight and monitoring and an expenditure of $70 million, it’s time to let the police do their work in a constitutional manner and not spend valuable hours completing compliance forms and paying Washington lawyers millions of dollars a year to review documents. Is the NOPD fully compliant with every provision of the decree? No. Is possible that they will ever be? Of course not.
We are sick about the condition of our city, and keep asking ourselves, “Why are we still here?” The answer is because New Orleans is our lifeblood, and we refuse to give up so easily to let it rot in the hands of criminals.
Is there a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel? We sure hope so. However, we don’t know how long we can hold out. There does come a time, especially at our age, that we must consider the options of cutting our losses and seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
Wayne and Diane Ducote are lifelong residents of New Orleans.
