NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Earlier this week, both councilmen-at-large lobbed criticism toward Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration and their efforts to combat violent crime in New Orleans.
Cantrell spoke with WGNO, first addressing the contention that she doesn’t understand the scope of the violent crime problem in the city.
“When I hear that, it’s an insult, quite frankly, me not understanding what’s on the ground and in this city,” Cantrell told WGNO’s LBJ. “Having been a crisis manager since day one and public safety has not been separated from that. Being a Black woman having a Black daughter raised in the city of New Orleans. Having experienced crime firsthand myself,” said Cantrell.
You can view the full interview below
The mayor also spoke of the over 400 arrests made by police last month as an example of the work police are doing to keep citizens safe.
She then pointed to several social programs geared at dealing with system-involved young people like today’s graduation of the Summer Success Program that gave young people employment this summer.
According to Cantrell, “That’s meeting our young people where they are that is treating root causes, to ensure that they reach their fullest potential. I was there you know who wasn’t there and who I’ve never seen, the council members that you mention show up at anything relative to prevention, intervention as well as response.”
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When asked whether she considered ours to be a city in crisis, Cantrell responded, “Absolutely we know the numbers, we know the families. They’re not just a number we know the impact that it has on our community. Trauma is real. Hurt people hurt people.”
Cantrell also stated that she agreed that the citizens deserve public officials working together to solve the city’s problems.
