Should city workers be deputized to hand out citations for quality of life offenses like illegal trash dumping and blocking right-of-ways? The New Orleans City Council will soon be taking up the question after a NOCC committee approved the proposal this week.
Ross Bourgeois with the Real Time Crime Center presented the plan on behalf of the Cantrell Administration.
“It will free up our limited police manpower for the purposes of focusing on more significant issues and to provide the quality of life enforcement for some of these sections of the code that have gone relatively unenforced for some time,” said Bourgeois.
Proponents say this will provide for more efficient city government but not making workers have to wait for police officers to arrive to issue a citation. Opponents warn of rogue city workers acting without proper training or restraint.
Either way, should the proposal be adopted you won’t have to worry about a city worker slapping the cuffs on you and dragging you off to OPP.
“Physical arrest by civilians is unlawful, so there will be no physical arrests involved in these citations,” said Bourgeois.
