In response to the surge in violent crime in 2022, which seemingly spilled into 2023 with two cases of triple homicides grabbing much attention, the Cantrell administration on Wednesday announced a 14-member task force to address the deadly issue.
Among the members of that task force are interim NOPD Superintendent Michelle Woodfork, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, and several leaders of city departments. The city council is not a part of the task force.
On Wednesday’s edition of the Newell Normand Show, Newell spoke with Michael Hecht, the president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc.
GNO, Inc is the leading business and economic development body in the region.
It also spearheaded the founding of the NOLA Coalition last year. That coalition was directly established to figure out pathways to combat the outbreak of crime that threatened not just business development but the safety of New Orleans. On Wednesday, Hecht told Newell the new task force being convened by the mayor seems to be taking the right approach, first, by viewing crime as a public health emergency.
“It goes back to kind of the beginning of this. Six months ago. The NOLA Coalition said we want to see violent crime addressed with the same urgency and the same holistic approach as the COVID pandemic. And so, when you’re telling me that, I’m kind feeling that this has the fingerprints of Dr. Avegno (the Director of Public Health in New Orleans). On one hand, we can sit here and say, my God, why weren’t we doing this two years ago, but putting that aside, it is what it is. This feels like the right approach. Now, of course, the key thing is when those recommendations come out of this, about how we approach this holistically with not just police but with mental health and child and youth and family services, how those policies get implemented and executed is where the rubber is going to meet the road,” Hecht told Newell.
In Hecht’s views some of the problems that have hamstrung the city seem basic such as garbage collection and street maintenance. He compared them to basics in football: blocking and tackling. Even for the more complicated and consequential issue of crime, Hecht believes there’s a basic breakdown that is not being addressed.
“When you look at a lot of the challenges that we’re having with NOPD right now, a lot of it feels like blocking and tackling challenges. The recruiting is a good example of that. When you take a look at the recruiting numbers and we’re taking in thousands of recruits but then we’re only able to yield under one percent every year, that’s a system problem that we need to address. It’s a blocking and tackling problem. It’s something that we have to get in there and just like if we were like a salesperson for a company and we weren’t getting the sales that we need, figure out where we’re losing our customers along the way. So much of this city feels like that. It’s not about money. It’s not about ideas, it’s about execution,” said Hecht.
