Lauren C. Moye, FISM News

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Days ago, New Orleans became the “murder capital of the U.S.” Now, in a desperate attempt to bolster numbers and combat crime, New Orleans police are training civilians to act as detectives and lowering their standards for uniformed officers to allow previously disqualified applicants.

While both Mayor LaToya Cantrell and DA Jason Williams seem outspoken about curbing murder rates, their records speak otherwise. Now, “reimagining” the police force to include civilians is necessary to prevent total chaos within the city.

New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Superintendent Shaun Ferguson announced one week ago that the department would soon be advertising 50 to 75 new civilian positions. According to his report, these deputized positions are meant for low-priority emergency calls ⁠— including thefts, forgeries, medical calls, lost animals, and car accidents on private property ⁠— in an attempt to reduce the average police response time in minutes to the single digits.

The civilian detectives will be trained and required to pass a background check. They are envisioned to work over phone calls but may be required to go in the field if a call has “some evidence that needs to be collected,” Ferguson said on Sept. 20.

The superintendent also encouraged those who had previously been rejected as police officers for marijuana usage or credit history to re-apply after policy changes lowered employment standards.

“My message to you ⁠— to those of you may have been disqualified in the past, I’m urging you to resubmit your application because some of our hiring criteria has changed,” he said.

Both changes are the result of skyrocketing crime and a police force that is already spread too thin.

Currently, NOPD has 971 officers, according to a public records request by local media NOLA. That number includes recruits. For a city that’s 350 square miles, the number is a “historical low.”

Meanwhile, the average NOPD response time for emergency calls was nearly 13 minutes in June, according to department data.

NOPD has also reassigned 75 officers from administrative and investigative services to uniformed patrol. A recent recommendation said that over 200 officers should be moved to make up the deficit and increase street presence.

On Sunday, Mayor Cantrell said, “I am encouraged by the implementation of these additional patrols, in addition to many other game-changing policy and procedural changes that are underway as we continue reimagining policing in New Orleans.”

Earlier this month, the independent crime-tracking organization Metropolitan Crime Commission crowned New Orleans as the murder capital of America with a homicide rate of 52 per 100,000 residents.

St. Louis was the previous murder capital, but they have averaged a rate of 45 homicides per 100,000 this year. In Chicago, the average has been around 18 homicides per 100,000 residents.

Under leadership that promotes “soft-on-crime” policies and an unspoken “defund the police” attitude, murders in New Orleans have increased by 141% between 2019 and now. Shootings have also increased 100%.

Under Cantrell’s leadership, the city hasn’t increased the police budget since 2018. The police budget also underwent a $16 million reduction, or roughly 8% of its existing budget, for 2021.

Ferguson’s solution to make this possible was to force officers to take 26 unpaid days off while cutting the pay of other employees by 10%. The police force lost roughly 150 officers last year under her leadership.

Meanwhile, District Attorney Williams has been touted as New Orleans’ first progressive prosecutor. An analysis of his felony case resolutions by Metro Crime, which monitors crime and law enforcement in Louisiana, found that 19% of cases ended with a plea to a lesser felony and only 41% overall resolved in a conviction.

Only 10% of felony cases were convicted as charged.

For example, one case showed that an attempted murder on a police officer charge along with eight other charges disappeared in order to secure a guilty plea. The man in this case ultimately was assigned 10 years for being a felon in possession of a gun and 5 years for aggravated assault, to be served simultaneously.

While both Cantrell and Williams seem outspoken about curbing murder rates, their records speak otherwise. Now, “reimagining” the police force to include civilians is necessary to prevent total chaos within the city.