While public safety is a broad issue, most people in New Orleans think first of crime, and especially the impact of drugs on crime, when they think about
public safety. The Task Force focused on a multi-faceted approach to addressing the drug problem, as well as strengthening all aspects of the criminal justice system. Its top priority is ensuring that the
New Orleans Police Department has the requisite manpower and training to protect the citizens of our city.The goals from the Public Safety Task Force's Action Plan, as detailed in the
Blueprint for a Better New Orleans, are as follows:
As
long as there is a demand for drugs and market for drug dealers to exploit, no amount of increased law enforcement efforts will have a lasting effect on the City's drug problem. Eliminating the demand for
drugs through effective prevention, education, treatment, and rehabilitation is the only permanent solution to the problem.Eliminate
experimentation with the use of drugs among elementary and middle school students through enhanced educational efforts, structured activities and alternative economic opportunities. 2.0 Improve the staffing level and qualifications of the New Orleans Police Department. The dynamic
development of NOPD over the last five years has been identified as a major reason for the reduction in violent crime and an increase in citizen confidence in their police department. The gains made in NOPD's
development must be nurtured and further enhanced if New Orleans is to continue on a positive road in its fight against crime.Increase staffing
of the NOPD and provide incentives to encourage officers to receive additional training and attain higher levels of education.
3.0 The need for treatment and rehabilitation to address the City's drug problems. The absence of drug treatment and rehabilitation facilities
severely limits the opportunity to reduce the demand for drugs in the City of New Orleans. Public skepticism of the effectiveness of drug rehabilitation efforts works against providing adequate funding for
these efforts.Reduce the demand for drugs, and thereby improve public health and safety, through effective and widely available drug treatment
and rehabilitation efforts, including both inpatient and outpatient facilities and programs. 4.0 The need for a more coordinated approach and more
effective information-sharing among all elements of the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system in New Orleans is
structurally fragmented. City, state and federal agencies share responsibilities for the apprehension, prosecution and incarceration of criminals. This fragmentation hurts efforts to properly track and
provide efficient and fair prosecution of persons arrested for crimes. The most immediate need is to ensure that the components of the criminal justice system have access to and accountability for information
on persons arrested for crimes and can track those individuals through the prosecution process.Create a structure to facilitate a
more coordinated and improved communication system involving all elements of the local, state and federal adult and juvenile criminal justice systems, resulting in improved coordination, efficiency and
accountability. 5.0 The need for educational, worker training and re-entry programs and opportunities for the incarcerated. Until persons incarcerated are provided effective rehabilitation opportunities which offer meaningful, realistic alternatives to a life of crime, our community
will continue to recycle criminals who prey on society, commit new crimes and return to prison. Current statistics indicate that the majority of persons incarcerated for crimes lack education and skills which
would allow them to lead productive lives. A focus on providing tools for incarcerated persons to choose alternatives to crime could begin to break the cycle of crime and recidivism which plagues our City.
Mandate the use of state funds to provide comprehensive training for inmates, probationers, parolees, and ex-inmates, including
basic education, vocational training, and life and workplace skills training, including support systems and employer participation to enhance the likelihood of re-entry as productive members of society.
6.0 The need for greater awareness, resources and programs to address the problem of domestic violence. Next to the violence associated with the traffic of drugs, domestic violence incidents represent the second highest contributor to the murder rate in the City of New
Orleans. While many of these problems have their roots in social and economic deficiencies in the broader society, there are numerous tools which can be employed to mitigate the impact of domestic violence in
our community.Improve public health and safety by reducing the incidence of domestic violence.
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