The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) is being forced to hire civilians and organize patrol shifts to reinforce street policing due to the high number of officers choosing to leave the force.
The movement for defund the police and the policies of progressive prosecutors that leave officers with little room for maneuver in the face of the severe crime wave in the city are some of the reasons. The number of police officers has been reduced to less than 1,000, compared to more than 1,300 a few years ago.
Police reduce requirements
NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson noted that police response time to a citizen call averages 11 minutes, but with the help of civilians it could be reduced:
This is a tough fight in which we must hold our own. What we are going to do in the future is to hire civilian and police intake specialists. We are trying to hire 25 civilians so that we can have 24-hour staff, phones to take those reports and 24-hour staff to monitor these reports online.
In addition, Ferguson reported hiring an additional 50 to 75 civilians. Officers serving as detectives will return to work on the street on a rotating basis through a program called the District Assistance Response Team (DART):
75 more officers on patrol, that is what the plan will consist of, officers assigned to administrative districts and investigation units. Their mission is to tackle the backlog of police response, and it will all be in the same district they are serving.
The NOPD is also reducing the requirements for access to the corps: marijuana use will not be considered negatively and low qualifications will not have a negative impact either.
Reversing a steady loss of officers
City officials are seeking to reverse the steady decline in officer attrition by announcing new incentive policies, including:
- Salary increases for all officers and a $30,000 incentive for new hires.
- Coverage of all health care costs.
- Reactivation of a take-home automobile policy for officers.
The plan will last for three years, although it could be extended; it has an estimated cost of almost US$80 million and its objective is to recruit 200 people.
