The New Orleans City Council meets today to again take up the matter of NOPD moving its command staff from an aging headquarters in Mid City to the CBD.
New Orleans City Council Criminal Justice Committee Chairman Oliver Thomas last month put the move on pause, bringing up concerns about how the issue was communicated with them.
"This is too important to play games with," said Thomas, who said while the need for a new police H.Q. is apparent, the plan to move into three floors of the DXC Technology building at 1615 Poydras St. came on suddenly.
City councilmember Lesli Harris, whose district will host the new H.Q., says she was caught off guard, too.
"Certainly we need to have more conversations about anticipating issues like this," she said.
City chief administrative officer Gilbert Montaño offered an explanation:
"I'll take ownership of that; however, during the negotiation of the agreement nothing is meant to be public and when it accelerates which it often has this wasn't an anticipated way that we wanted to roll it out," he told the committee
Meanwhile, Chief Ann Kirkpatrick said heavy mold, vermin infestation, and mechanical issues are making the current H.Q. an unsafe place to work.
"It's even health issues such as mold, heavy mold in theses buildings, rodent infestation," said Kirkpatrick. "People shouldn't have to come to their office and see rodent drippings on their desk."
