The New Orleans Police Department had a busy week. On Sunday, a mass shooting erupted at a second line parade in the St. Roch Neighborhood, claiming two lives and injuring 11 more. And today a French Quarter shooting left one dead and three wounded.
In addition to the second line, the NOPD responded to a series of almost 20 school shooting threats, leading to the closures of dozens of schools and 6 juvenile arrests.
Thursday afternoon, Newell Normand sat down with NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick and asked her about the NOPD’s response to the recent surge of gun violence and juvenile terrorism.
The conversation started with school threats, where Kirkpatrick expressed frustration, especially given that the investigation revealed every threat to be false, consuming massive amounts of time, personal, and taxpayer dollars.
“I will treat them all seriously,” Kirkpatrick said. “Every single one of them will be investigated as real. But unfortunately, so far, we’re finding they’ve either been cries for help or the person simply doesn’t want to go to school, so they create a fake claim."
She continued, urging parents to stay vigilant of their children’s behavior, “For anyone or any parent who is listening, we are able to get to the account of who issued the threat and we are going to knock on your door because we can find you.”
Kirkpatrick then explained the simplicity of tracing threats, “We easily can get to your IP address. From there we can get to your account, which has a name. Even if you have a fake one we can still get you.”
However, she expressed an understanding that, real or not, each threat must be handled with extreme care. “When this occurs it's creating fear. And no parent, no member of this city should have to fear their kids going to school.”
Second Line Shooting Investigation
The discussion moved from school threats to second line shootings, explaining how the NOPD is approaching the ongoing search for the perpetrators. So far the NOPD has detained one person of interest.
“The important thing to me, as the Super, is that people need to hear from me. In an event like this, they need to hear we are working it and that we do have leads," Kirkpatrick stated.
The Superintendent then explained that the NOPD has become increasingly successful at solving murder cases, stating, “Our ability to solve these homicides is around 75%... And it’s increasing, so we’re getting closer to 80%."
Newell pointed out that the average murder clearance rate for larger cities hovers usually between 40-50%.
As the holiday season approaches, Kirkpatrick explained that it’s expected to see increases in violent crime.
“This time last year, we had 20 murders in the month of November. The holiday season is when we see an uptick in violence… We have had, and are still having, more homicides this month than we had last month, but we’re still 50% down from where we were last year… It’s unfortunate, but our community needs to understand the holiday season is more violent and dangerous in the world of law enforcement.”
Returning to second line safety, Newell asked if there’s been any resistance from the second line leadership from NOPD trying to stop people from carrying guns on parade routes.
Kirkpatrick replied, “Those who are in leadership want to be in partnership, but they need to play the role of announcing not to bring guns to a second line. Legally it counts as a parade, meaning you can’t bring a gun.”
The segment ended with how the NOPD managed to pull out all stops to guarantee a safe environment for more recent, larger citywide, events, like the Taylor Swift concert. Kirkpatrick expressed hope to follow suit in future second line parades.
“I want to provide a sea of blue... Not as an occupying force, but as a statement of your safety… That’s what we’re trying to provide for these large crowds,” Kirkpatrick said.
