The vice president of the New Orleans City Council says city leaders, including Mayor Latoya Cantrell, are prioritizing the city's tourism economy at the detriment to public safety in most of the city.
"I think a lot of people feel like the city is more fixated on tourism than addressing (the crime problem)--the appearance of there not being crime rather than solving it," said council vice president J. P. Morrell said in an interview with WWL-TV.
Morrell cited last weekend's Essence Festival as a prime example.
"They were pulling 10 to 20 officers per district," the at-large city councilman said. "When you pull that many officers from all the districts to the Quarter, the rest of the city is less safe, but the tourists are."
Morrell says those officers were assigned to work the French Quarter and the C-B-D, leaving residents elsewhere vulnerable. He cited a car crash involving a stolen vehicle as an example.
"There was someone yesterday on Elysian Fields," Morrell said. "Her car was devastated by a stolen car--a vehicle fleeing--and they could not get an officer out there for hours. Someone was t-boned by a person in a stolen vehicle. They're calling for help, and there's no one to respond."
Morrell says Mayor Latoya Cantrell and NOPD leadership are obsessed with how the city is perceived elsewhere in the United States. Morrell says city leaders need to prioritize residents' safety over projecting a tourist-friendly image.
"It's the same reason why the administration keeps downplaying crime--because they want to make sure that the nation doesn't see the city having a crime problem even though the residents that are here obviously know that's true."
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell spoke out against the councilmembers’ criticism.
Cantrell said in a statement to WWLTV:
"Public safety remains my number one priority, and my administration remains laser-focused on the goal of reducing crime in New Orleans. For anyone to say that we don’t take crime and public safety seriously, is someone who is not paying attention to the prevention, intervention and community transformation strategies that this administration has put forward. As I have consistently stated, public safety is more than just police and law enforcement which is why my administration is taking and continues to take a holistic approach to addressing this issue," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.
"Programs like establishing the first ever Guaranteed Basic Income pilot for New Orleans youth, youth workforce development programs and Project Golden Eagle– one of our many partnerships with the Louisiana State Police– are just some of the ways my administration addresses the root causes of crime. Alongside these core strategies, my administration also encourages people to take personal responsibility for their actions, to hold themselves accountable and not resort to violence and harming others when engaged in disputes. This is a community wide problem that requires a community wide response."
