NEW ORLEANS — From the NOLA Coalition:
Over the past 60 days, New Orleans has seen a continued elevated focus on public safety. Crime and quality-of-life are now daily topics of our elected leaders, the media and the public. Moreover, this focus has been followed by action. While it is too early to necessarily correlate to results, the work we have seen is promising, and appears to be driving nascent improvement. These recent actions include:
- NOPD redeployed 75 commissioned officers to begin patrol duty, increasing the number of officers on-duty in all districts
- The Cantrell Administration is proposing large portion of $195M of ARPA (Tranche 2) to be invested in public safety, and is currently working through details with the City Council
- The Civil Service Commission unanimously approved the Administration’s NOPD Recruitment & Retention Plan
- District Attorney Jason Williams has started to post a new set of accountability dashboards for the DA’s office
- Captain Ron Rasmussen has been brought in from Seattle to advise on technology integration for NOPD
- Over $3.6M has been raised for investment in Youth Services, and nearly $1M was given out to 23 nonprofits by the United Way
- The NOLA Coalition has started scoping “211 Express,” and app to provide seamless access to social services
The full report summarizes progress, and outstanding needed actions, within the context of the NOLA Coalition’s two platforms.
History
Compelled by a shared concern with the surge in violent crime, across all residents, the NOLA Coalition formed in July of 2022. At this time, the NOLA Coalition introduced its concurrent two-part platform:
- Community Support for NOPD – Near-term actions to reduce violence
- Investment in Youth Support Services – A $15M commitment to youth social services
Since announcement, membership and momentum has rapidly grown. The two platforms, and full membership list, can be seen at www.NOLAcoalition.info.
The strategies supported by the NOLA Coalition are not new; rather, they are ideas and tactics that have been long espoused by elected leaders, businesses, local civic groups, and national experts. What makes the NOLA Coalition different is:
- Diverse Membership – A geographic, racial, political, and organizational diversity that reflects the full breadth of New Orleans
- Concurrent Strategies – The NOLA Coalition rejects the trade-off between safety today, and systemic change for tomorrow. Rather, the Coalition believes that both must be pursued simultaneously, with equal vigor. While we cannot police our way out of this crisis, we also recognize that safety today generates the conditions for investment in generational change