Mayor Ray Nagin pledged Tuesday to throw "everything we have" at the violent crime that's plagued New Orleans in the new year.
Nine killings in the first eight days of 2007 are threatening the city's biggest business: tourism and conventions.
Nagin, Police Superintendent Warren Riley, District Attorney Eddie Jordan and other civic leaders gathered near the scene of the city's first homicide to discuss the slayings and tell the public what they'd be doing to stymie the problem.
After ignoring the crime problem in his recent 2007 editorial, and after having campaigned on a "Don't worry; Stay the Course" approach to crime... today the Mayor talked about the "Incredible battle" the city was waging against thugs, and how he was "Drawing a line in the sand".
Then, almost unbelievably, he said: "It's time for change." Apparently "change" means expanded patrols (good), encouraging neighborhood watch groups (good), and installing more "crime cameras" and late night road "checkpoints" (not good).
Helpfully, the WDSU report puts these "changes" in perspective:
Thirteen years ago, with nearly double the population, New Orleans suffered more than 400 homicides. Drastic changes came-- a new chief, different strategies, and community policing. The homicide rate was nearly cut in half within a matter of months.
And speaking of police chiefs, Chief Warren Riley spoke at the gathering, and described the changes to be made to his "second to none" crime strategy. Then he did an interview amongst local reporters and the following exchange occurred:
Reporter: What [took] so long (for this big crime announcement to occur)?
Riley: Well-- What took so long? The community finally woke up. We had a tragedy or two. The community should have in fact probably spoke up sooner. But...
Reporter: The community?
Riley: The community in the sense-- the community has spoken. Enough is enough. They said it.
I'm sorry, but that shit is bananas.
Remember, Riley is the man who joined the Mayor in constantly downplaying and underestimating violent crime throughout 2006. Last Spring, the murder rate was rising precipitously during the mayoral campaign, but Riley dismissed the growing crime concerns of New Orleanians, blaming "some politicians" for fueling public discontent over the perception of rising crime.
Mayor Nagin would only acknowledge "slight upticks" in the crime rate during the campaign. He and Riley minimized the severity of the issue until after Nagin's re-election. Then, less than a month later, the shocking murders of 5 teenagers drew international media attention to the resurgent violent crime in New Orleans. Almost immediately, the National Guard was called into the city. But even after that high profile tragedy, and even after a "crime summit", Our Leaders touted the final 2006 homicide statistics (of a half-populated city) as a sign of progress, and said they had utmost faith in their "second to none" crime strategy.
So, for Riley to now stand in Central City-- a neighborhood which was labeled "the Triangle of Death" six months ago-- and blame "the community" for being asleep at the wheel until "finally" a "tragedy or two" woke us up... well, that's officially disgusting. Chief, if we were "asleep" to crime, you were Mr. Sandman. Hell, just last week an NOPD spokesman implied that the recent surge of murders was due to national trends. Now Riley essentially blames us for not being more outraged at his department's ineffectiveness. Apparently the NOPD can't self-motivate; it needs "the community" to raise hell before changes can be made.
"The community should have in fact probably spoke up sooner." That's a quote for the archives...
Yeah, Chief, I guess we owe you an apology. We should have "spoken up" last spring while you were criticizing "politicians" (like Mitch Landrieu) for talking about rising crime. We should've spoken up when you were touting your "second to none" crime strategy. We should've spoken up while you massaged crime statistics to make your department seem more effective.
Indeed, it is our fault for not speaking up to you and Da Mayor, and saying: "Enough!... Enough of the bullshit."
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Ashley and Adrastos have more.
