With crime on the rise in the Crescent City, residents are wondering what it will take to get the violence and theft back under control.
Rafael Goyeneche of the watchdog Metropolitan Crime Commission has recently placed the blame on the New Orleans District Attorney’s office as well as judges’ leniency towards violent offenders, saying the turnstile that spits alleged criminals quickly back onto the streets is demoralizing for a beleaguered and short-staffed NOPD.
Goyeneche was back on WWL Radio to discuss the New Orleans City Council’s recent inquiry into the reasons for the growing crime wave, and he says he saw a bit of hope amid the histrionics.
“What we saw, a lot of it in my opinion was political theater,” Goyeneche told Newell Normand. “I think it’s good that the council wants to get a better handle, but in watching some of the presentations and watching some of the questions, it was a little hard to take. I wonder where the incumbent councilmembers have been the last two years while the numbers of police officers have been dropping.”
He said the problems with prosecution have been building for quite some time.
“The district attorney’s office for over a year has been failing in their responsibility to hold violent offenders accountable,” Goyeneche said, indicating that the issues predate the election of some of city councilmembers. “The new members, I think there’s a better argument that they’re attempting to quickly come up to speed on what’s happening. I’d like to think that this was an opportunity for them to establish a baseline, and that they would take that information and not just take it at face value but do their own fact-checking to determine if some of the statements that were made were factually correct.”
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Once again, Goyeneche took issue with the D.A.
“From where I was sitting, particularly with respect to some of the comments that were made by the district attorney’s office and Jason Williams, I question the accuracy of some of the statements that he made,” he said.
However, he also saw reasons for optimism.
“Let’s look at the glass half full,” Goyeneche said.
“The rosy side is that we have a new council. It’s very obvious that they are focused on crime, finally. They are hearing their constituents demand that something be done about it. And while that was the first step, I want to see what’s going to happen down the road.”
Goyeneche did give Williams’s office credit for one immediate change: an apparent new policy on bail. Previously, the D.A.’s office had been loathe to push for bail even for the most violent offenders, but an indictment hearing for an armed robbery suspect indicated a change.
“Last night, the A.D.A… expressed to the judge that she was recommending a half-million dollar bond on an armed robbery suspect. And the judge responded, ‘What’s changed?’”
Goyeneche quoted the A.D.A. that the new policy involves bail recommendations for alleged violent offenders.
“That is a positive outcome, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “For the first time in a year, you’re actually seeing the D.A.’s office… representing the victims of crime.”
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