NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— One of the most popular Krewes in New Orleans—the Krewe of Boo wants the show to go on, even if the NOPD doesn’t have enough police officers to protect the parade. The Krewe of Boo is hiring its own security for their popular Halloween parade.
“It is going to keep rolling. I will always find a solution and make things happen. It is too important,” Brian Kern who is the “Chief Spookster” or The Captain of The Krewe of Boo said.
Kern is taking matters into his own hands, making sure his parade with 14 floats, 500 riders, and 35 marching groups has enough police officers.
“We have a police shortage. Until that’s solved, we are going to have issues doing these big events,” he said.
Kern said they have half of the needed officers from the NOPD working detail through the Office of Police Secondary Employment (OPSE). The other half is coming from a “Rent-A-Cop” program that hires officers from other police departments.
“They are all licensed police officers from different police departments. Not sure where they are coming from, but we have enough to do what we need this year,” he said.
It is not cheap and the Krewe foots the bill.
“They are going to be more expensive. The show must go on, and the parade must roll,” Kern said.
Last year they got quite the fright when they didn’t have enough officers, so they had to shorten its route.
“It is very important that the parade goes down Canal Street. It is a 3-mile parade. When you cut it down to two miles, it is just not long enough,” Kern said.
So all this begs the question—what’s going to happen to all the upcoming Mardi Gras parades in regards to security?
“Police officers are not required to work for this, but for carnival season all the Mardi Gras parades, it is mandatory for the officers, everyone has to work, so all hands on deck,” he said.
Kern wants to make a whole weekend out of this. On Friday October 21st, Flow Tribe will play at Republic NOLA for the Captain’s Masquerade Ball. Then on Saturday morning on October 22nd, there will be a Zombie Run that starts at Lucy’s. The Krewe of Boo parade will roll on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. The parade lasts about one hour and a half from start to finish.
In this parade look for great local throws like Sally’s Pralines, Elmer’s CheeWees, T-shirts, and so much more. This year they will also be throwing “Ghoul’s Gold” doubloons in which they teamed up with local sponsors, so if you present one of your doubloons at one of the businesses, you will get special discounts.
