Louisiana declared a state of emergency on Friday over a shortage of police officers. Republican Governor Jeff Landry said that the lack of law enforcement in the state has caused an "increased crime and less public safety":
As a former police officer and sheriff’s deputy, I understand the vital role our law enforcement officers play in our communities. Currently, our state is facing a shortage of officers, resulting in increased crime and less public safety. Today’s executive order, and the upcoming crime special session, will ensure our law enforcement officers are supported and we can begin to bring law and order back to our state.
The Louisiana Sheriffs Association reported that as of July 2023, approximately 1,800 deputies throughout the region left their jobs in the various sheriffs' offices. Police departments are "experiencing record-low employment and an increase in police officer response times."
For this reason, the executive director of the Louisiana Sheriffs Association, Michael Ranatza, is pleased with the decision made by Gov. Jeff Landry since it values the importance of law enforcement officers:
We applaud Governor Landry for highlighting the importance of the law enforcement profession and our state’s desperate need to fill valuable front line deputy positions.
Jeff Landry to host special session on Louisiana crime
The state of emergency is not the only thing the governor is doing to address the situation. The Republican governor also announced that he will hold a special session on crime. According to the document released by Landry’s office, he is asking the state House and Senate to rule on 24 issues.
Dailywire reported that the governor wants state legislators to look at restricting parole eligibility, expanding the criteria to revoke parole, upgrading illegal use of weapons to the violent crime category, making it a crime to sell fentanyl to minors, increasing penalties for carjackings or even granting immunity (under certain conditions) to law enforcement officers.
