Pubdate: Sat, 26 Mar 2005
Source: Times, The (Lafayette, LA)
Copyright: South Louisiana Publishing 2005
Contact:  http://www.timesofacadiana.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2474

RX FOR PUBLIC SAFETY

With every act of violence in New Orleans, the sense of uneasiness
grows among residents.

This is familiar and terrifying territory. In the mid-1990s, when
crack had a grip on so many people, virtually no one felt truly safe
here.

But as the violence ebbed and murders dwindled at the end of that
decade, it seemed that New Orleans had gotten a grip on crime. It
doesn't seem that way anymore.

Neither police nor prosecutors seem capable of handling the city's
growing problem with crime. The bad guys seem unafraid of being caught
or convicted. They may be afraid of each other and the retribution
meted out on New Orleans streets, but they show little fear of
authorities.

This, then, is the perfect time to take a hard look at how both
agencies are operating. Thanks to the New Orleans Police Foundation,
that is being done.

The foundation has a track record in this regard. The nonprofit group
brought in the same consultants eight years ago when crime was at its
worst, and they helped then-police Superintendent Richard Pennington
develop a smart crime-fighting strategy. The department added roughly
400 officers and took a computer-driven approach to deploying troops.

Although there were other factors at work as well, the murder rate had
been cut in half two years later.

For whatever reason, the so-called Pennington Plan isn't producing the
same results it once seemed to be. The murder rate has crept back up,
and drug warfare is putting more and more New Orleanians at risk.

Police Superintendent Eddie Compass has welcomed the outside
evaluation. "Maybe we need to look at who we're arresting and what
we're arresting them for," he said. Maybe so. And maybe the
consultants also should assess the quality of police work being done.

Mr. Compass wonders whether the department, which made more than
114,000 arrests in 2004, might be bringing in too many people under
its zero-tolerance approach. Then again, maybe it's not the number of
arrests that is the problem, but the effectiveness of the police work
being done. It's hard to say at this point.

As for the district attorney's office, convictions at trial are a
rarity these days. While most of the arrests made by police last year
were on drug offenses, the conviction rate in such cases was less than
10 percent. Even to the casual observer, dropped charges and
acquittals seem to be the norm. When prosecutors won a second-degree
murder conviction this week in the post-Jazzfest shooting death of
Daniel Breaux, surprise and relief was the common reaction.

What is wrong here? Are prosecuting attorneys ill prepared or are the
cases lacking in solid evidence? Or both? The consultants need to try
to answer that question.

Mr. Compass and District Attorney Eddie Jordan certainly want to
succeed, and New Orleanians need them to succeed. This is a wonderful
and distinctive place to live. It ought to be a safe place as well.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin