Obviously, crime is at the forefront of everyone's mind. New Orleans has seen some early success as it relates to crime, but carjackings, armed robberies and shootings are still happening every day, and frustrations are mounting. City Councilman Oliver Thomas spoke with me on the show to discuss those small, early victories and what the city has to do to decrease crime and keep the crime rate low.
The Council has started asking certain city offices some tough questions about what they're doing, what they're not doing, and where the breakdowns are. What do you hope to accomplish in the very near future?
We saw early the miscommunication between the District Attorney Jason Williams and New Orleans Police Chief Shaun Ferguson. We can't be successful if the courts, the DA, and all the other branches of the criminal justice system aren't at least on the same page in their mission to keep the public safe.
Where did the epiphany come from in regards to crime and the NOPD staffing? We've been talking about this for the past two to three years and all of a sudden, the new Council is a breath of fresh air. But we still have finger pointing going on.
I'm sick of the finger pointing. If one more person tells me something about Katrina, Ida, COVID, or a computer crashing, I'll probably have to be committed. I learned that when you're a leader, your personal feelings don't matter and do the work of the public. That's ultimately what has to happen. People don't want to hear about whose fault it was, or what the last person did. What are you doing right now? Residents don’t care about who’s at fault. Everybody needs to step up their game, yesterday!
Ultimately, nothing gets done without all parties buying in, so how is the Council getting folks to work together?
I like that this Council makes accountability the order of the day. These issues plaguing our city are so urgent. Somebody has to step up and raise their voice, and I think we did that. We saw success when the police chief and the DA got together. We saw success when Mayor LaToya Cantrell called a coordinating meeting with everyone. We’re also seeing success in the public ramping up the pressure and everybody's changing their tune… I think we've gotten to a period in politics where officials are operating in their own silos and they're comfortable just being there. There has to be an understanding that the team approach is really the dream approach.