Six weeks ago tonight, 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish Jail. Two of them remain at large: convicted murderer Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey, who is facing car theft and domestic violence charges. Despite the lack of attention the escape has received over the last few weeks, police haven't let up on their search.
"It's not ever the case that they stop looking for people like this. They will keep looking," former New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said. "The crime that Groves is guilty of and the crimes that Massey is accused of are the crimes that are going to result in aggressive law enforcement efforts to capture them."
According to Serpas, the search won't get much attention in the media until Massey and Groves are caught. Still, Serpas says police are working diligently to catch the escapees because they pose an immediate danger to the public.
"The nature of the crimes that Groves is convicted of and Massey is accused of are the types of crimes where the government is going to stop looking for those people," Serpas said. "The activities of their search are probably going on every single day, but generally in this type of event, until the news breaks that they have been caught, it's probably not going to get as much attention publicly. It's certainly not to suggest that in the law enforcement community, they are not actively looking for these guys. I suspect that they are and will continue until they find them."
Serpas notes that law enforcement has to work as carefully as possible, considering the violent crimes to which the escapees are tied.
"(Groves) will not stop at anything to protect himself from being caught because he knows what the outcome is--prison for the rest of his life," Serpas said. "That means the police have to be very careful in calculating how to approach him, as many people would suspect. Massey has serious crimes against him, and he, too, may be willing to put anyone else at risk to protect his interests."
Serpas says law enforcement relies on Crimestoppers tips to lead them in the right direction. That's why he urges people who see something to say something.
"That helps the police because one tip might not sound like a lot, but six or seven tips often add up to some good information," Serpas said.
Early in the search, officials said the search cost the city of New Orleans $200,000 a week. City council members we spoke to couldn't confirm that figure. We asked officials in Mayor LaToya Cantrell's office. A spokesperson there said they'd get back to us.
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