It’s a tough time to be a police officer in America, with the myriad challenges that are facing jurisdictions from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson joined Newell for his monthly sit-down to discuss the latest issues nationally, and update WWL listeners about what the New Orleans Police Department is doing locally.
“There’s not much conversation about the status of front-line workers and first responders and how they are doing individually and collectively with COVID-19,” Newell began. “What is your observations about your own department?”“These are some challenging times for our officers,” Ferguson said. “Going from the cyberattack to the tragic loss of citizens during Mardi Gras, to the pandemic, the civil unrest, hurricane season… we’ve been very, very intentional in ensuring that our officers are aware of all the resources that we have. We have many in the medical community that have reached out and offered services to assist our officers and make sure they’re in the right mindset, mentally and physically fit for work, and they’ve been doing just that. We encourage them to take off when they need to take off, and take care of themselves so that they can take care of others.”
“I think the listening audience would love to hear your reaction to this story out of Chicago that gangs there are now actually targeting the police,” Newell said. “They’re actually following them, videoing them, and stand ready saying that if the police draw down on any rioters or protesters that they intend to kill them. When I read that, I put myself in your shoes as to what the reaction would be. We’re going crazy!”“We’ve been blessed to have a community that works with us, not against us,” Ferguson said. “While we don't necessarily agree on everything, we’ve been able to sit at the table and have some difficult discussions, allow one another to vent, and not take it to that level. It’s very troubling and concerning to see that, but we still intend to do what we are sworn to do, which is protect and serve the citizens and visitors in New Orleans… We continue to stay aware of what's happening across the country so we can stay ahead of it. Our separations, our resignations, retirements and things of that nature, we’ve had 54 this year, which is on the same line as last year, so we’re pretty comfortable. In New York, they had a 400% increase in retirements and resignations, people just getting frustrated with this profession. I commend our officers for staying committed and continuing to do their job.”
“I have been incredibly troubled by the number of people that believe your organization and the organization that I commanded, and others are systemically racist,” Newell continued. “We have a serious disconnect here. I don’t believe that, last time I asked you that, you said no… I find it incredulous, especially in departments that have been historically run by African-Americans, who would be more intuitive about that issue than most. Can you get your finger on that? I can’t figure it out.”
