The Cantrell administration has announced plans to keep police officers from quitting, in the form of bonuses paid out for staying another three years. But New Orleans City Council Vice President J.P. Morrell points out that while more money isn't going to upset anyone, bonuses aren't pay raises -- and there's an important difference:
"When officers would call me, the two questions they had is 'how long will this last?' Three years, not great," said Morrell. "And the other question was, 'well, these payments, are they going to go towards my pension or my retirement?' And they absolutely do not go towards your pension and retirement."
Morrell told WWL's Tommy Tucker that if NOPD doesn't deal with the main issues officers are complaining about -- the management style in NOPD leadership -- officers will continue to leave.
"I still have grave concerns that when that first wave of payments goes out in March, especially when people realize it's not going toward their retirement, for people that are at or near retirement age, they're going to take that lump-sum payment, and they're just going to leave," Morrell said.
