Tagged: police

Every month, New Orleans police file crime statistics with the federal government. These numbers turn into lists of the nation’s most violent cities, and those lists impact factors from economic development to residents’ sense of safety. The Sunday edition of the Times-Picayune and Nola.com features reporting from John Simerman and Gordon Russell on these stats.

A few weeks ago, the New Orleans Inspector General reported that he could not tell if the NOPD institutionalized racial profiling, because the department used such crude methods in collecting data during its stop and frisk program.

I found this report almost insulting, in that all one has to do is garner opinions from law-abiding black men who’ve been stopped for no apparent reason. While the latest controversy over racial profiling stems from the recent implementation of Chief Serpas’ “field interview cards,” the practice is far from new.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is gearing up for a battle over implementing two consent decrees designed to reform the city police department and jail.  

A New Orleans police officer was shot and seriously wounded this morning as he responded to a robbery at the Dollar General store in the 1100-block of Poland Avenue, near the intersection of St. Claude.

The neighborhood is currently locked down, and police have shut the St. Claude bridge in both directions. A Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office helicopter is circling overhead and SWAT teams are searching the area house-by-house, according to news reports and residents who live in the area.

Residents have been advised by police to stay inside and keep their doors locked.