The New Orleans Police Department's manpower struggles are only getting worse. Despite new hiring, attrition has taken its toll.
NOPD's struggles to hire enough cops are not new, but the current staffing levels are the worst they have been in four decades.
"The current manpower in the police department is at its lowest level since 1978," said New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche.
Goyeneche says a hiring freeze ten years ago, made by then-Mayor Mitch Landrieu as he worked to keep the city out of bankruptcy, is still having an effect. Goyeneche says since that freeze was lifted, hiring efforts have not been able to keep pace.
"We only had 14 officers graduate from the academy last week," Goyeneche said. "Last year, we lost 96 police officers."
The shrinking police force is forcing officers to do more work with fewer resources.
"If you're working in the patrol division, you're literally running from one call for service to the next," Goyeneche said.
And he wonders why, in an election year, no city leaders are talking about ways to stop the attrition.
"I haven't seen a crime plan that includes a pay raise for officers," said Goyeneche. "I haven't seen a crime plan that says we need to beef up our recruitment."