You may recall that the federal government announced it would bring some assets forward to help assist the New Orleans Police Department. It's something that’s actually been going on for over a year, though violent crime has been surging for the past two years. Interim U.S. Attorney Duane Evans came on the show to discuss the latest efforts that have federal, state, and local law enforcement working together on a more regular basis.
What types of cases has your office been seeing and what concerns do you have?
We've been seeing a little bit of everything. I think that what the public needs to know is the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern district of Louisiana, as well as the rest of the United States, are seeing a spike in violent crime. This surge is the perfect time for us to get together for federal, state, and local law enforcement to join forces. My office doesn’t just focus on Orleans Parish. There’s 12 other parishes that make up the Eastern District of Louisiana. We have to be very versatile in our office, but also recognize and acknowledge the fact that together we need to address, and formulate and execute a plan to reduce violent crime.
What stimulated the creation of this task force to help the NOPD?
We've had initiatives and task forces in place in previous years but there was more that needed to be done. I was drawn to the V-CAT Unit, which stands for Violent Crime Abatement Team. V-CAT is composed of members the FBI, the Louisiana State Police, and the NOPD… personally, for me, intel is key, and that’s why we want the V-CAT Unit to be a one stop shop for major players at the federal, state, and local levels of law enforcement to meet on a regular basis and exchange notes.
You assigned federal prosecutors to the eight NOPD districts. How committed is your office to helping the NOPD?
It will go ahead until further notice. V-CAT has been in existence since 2020. We are here to get results. If we don’t get results we will tweak the system and get additional resources if we need to. Right now, we feel that we have sufficient boots on the ground between all of the participating law enforcement agencies to address what's happening in New Orleans, as well as the other 12 parishes that comprise the Eastern district of Louisiana.