We know there's a crime problem; we all know there's a crime problem. We saw the District Attorney and Police Chief snipe at each other about the crime problem. We watched as the Chief of Police addressed the City Council, which said there was a crime problem.
But the question remains: When is something going to get done about the crime problem?
Maybe now? Maybe never.
Dr. John Penny, Professor of Criminal Justice at Southern University of New Orleans isn't very optimistic about the solution to the crime problem in New Orleans.
Speaking to WWL, Penny opened his thoughts and observations on whether New Orleans has the muscle to halt the spiraling rate of crime, violence and unrest on the streets.
And his observations are quite sobering.
On the matter of New Orleans Police and its on-going lack of officers:
"How do you beef up a police force that's desperately in need of bodies?" Penny asks. "The criminals know that there is no policing going on."
Penny doesn't stop there. He goes on to call for a return to proactive policing in the City:
"We need proactive policing more now than ever before," Penny explains. "And if we don't, we're going to continue to have this wave of crime that's going to permeate the fabric of our lives here in the City."
Most sobering among Penny's comments are whether there is a will to turn things about, to address the crime problem head on, to bring adequate police staff numbers back, to restore confidence among the populace that the New Orleans Police Department is in control of the streets and is addressing the crime rate:
"I don't know if there is a collective will at this point," Penny admits. "There is a kind of a fragmented thought about turning things—and wanting things to be turned around but there is no collective will to do so at this point."
Finally, Penny offers his vision on how New Orleans will address the matter of violent crime and put the machinery in place to stop it.
"A civic population response," Penny proffers. "People who are fed up with the way things are going and make a demand on [civic] government to change the attitude towards the complacency that is plaguing the very fabric of our City."
Whether this becomes a reality or not remains to be seen. But with the way things are… Something has to be done.
