NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A New Orleans East community activist is trying to get the attention of NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick in hopes she will hear his ideas for beefing up the department and reducing crime in his neighborhood.
Former New Orleans Police Community Advisory Board President Anthony Jackson wrote Kirkpatrick a letter, listing possible solutions.
The letter follows Kirkpatrick’s announcement about an investigation into her department’s response time once it was revealed it took 7th District police officers more than 20 minutes to arrive at the deadly arson fire.
“As a New Orleans East resident, I was extremely furious with the department, which is why the community decided to draft the letter,” Jackson explained. “Because we all figured that if the department couldn’t handle a stressful situation, we, as the community, decided to use our voice to help them.”
Jackson is asking Kirkpatrick to consult the city council on how the 7th District can be assisted amid the department’s staffing shortage.
“That will allow NOPD to partner with other law enforcement agencies to assist during stressful situations when there is a shortage of manpower,” Jackson explained.
WGNO reached out to NOPD’s communications team, hoping to speak with Kirkpatrick, but we did not hear back before the deadline. However, we did ask Mayor LaToya Cantrell about her thoughts on the idea.
“So, the superintendent of police will continue to look at crime trends where they’re occurring and deploy deployment strategies associated with it, so that we can respond to the needs of our community in real time,” Cantrell said.
Jackson is also asking Kirkpatrick to schedule a town hall meeting and implement a policy that would require NOPD recruits to work for the department for a minimum of three years to increase retention.
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