This last year there has been an outcry by the American public on social justice issues. One of those was the push to defund police in reaction to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May of 2020. The defund the police movement has brought change and debate in policing across the country. A recent study examined the possibility of defunding police departments. Newell spoke with former New Orleans Police Chief Ronal Serpas about the study as it pertains to law enforcement issues in New Orleans.
"This study digs deep into the makeup of the calls that come into the 911 system," Newell said, "How we deal with them and the type of calls I should say that come in and how we deal with them. What did it reveal?"
"Essentially what it tells us is that the communities of America have been trained by the post-Johnson law enforcement commission in the 1960s to use 911 and governments have been unable to answer much of the 911 calls without shifting it to the police," Serpas replied. "Whatever we decide to do in the form of re-imagining or redesigning policing, we have to recognize what's taking up time, what is being called about, and then who else might be able to provide that service if you want to move it out."
"There was one line in this study that really caught my attention," Newell said. "Call-takers resolved approximately 50% of calls that were observed without activating any public safety officer."
"That tells you a lot," Serpas said. "People are calling 911 for a host of things that they don't really have anybody else to call... For people 911 has become that number that everybody knows. This report demonstrates how much of an issue that is. Half of the calls are not even government public service related. "
"This challenge that we have on Bourbon street and turning it around is achievable," Newell said. "It doesn't take a lot of rocket science. It takes a holistic approach of both undercover officers, covert officers, and dealing with just a lot of the petty behaviors that we shouldn't accept on Bourbon Street."
"You can't put a police officer at every bar checking people's identification," Serpas said. "The bars have a responsibility. And you know, one of the things about a prevention first approach is there are regulations that those bars need to be aware of... So it's not just the police, but those pictures that show the public what we need to know. When the bullets are flying and the guns are shooting, the police are running to the problem... During the 90s, when Chief Pennington and I were here and during the 2000s, when I was here, the business community would have been all over the political class. About 91,000 people are employed in the hospitality industry. On Bourbon Street, one of the most well-known streets in the world, is being headlined for having multiple shootings throughout the year. Where is the urgency to do something about this in the political class? I know the police are doing everything they can."
