By Natasha Robin | WVUE | January 26, 2021
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) -The Criminal Justice Stakeholders come together, recognizing there’s a crime problem.
They say there’s a need for some changes in the new year to solve it.
Violent crime over the last year skyrocketed in some areas. The leaders in the criminal justice system are now working together to come up with ideas for every component of the system.
NOPD Chief Shaun Ferguson has a manpower issue and says his officers are arresting the same people over and over again.
The Chief Judges of Criminal District Court and Juvenile Court were both at the table.
Criminal Court Judge Karen Herman pointed out the backlog of cases they’re facing because of the pandemic and how they plan to address that moving forward.
There was also a discussion of electronic monitoring and how that program could help keep track of offenders. In Juvenile Court, Judge Candice Anderson pointed to the amount of programs now available for juveniles as an alternative to incarceration.
“We are not going to solve this problem by putting them all in jail and see how that turns out. It’s not going to make things any better,” says Juvenile Chief Judge Candice Anderson.
“So the fact that you have the heads of these agencies there, including the Mayor, I think is more than just a symbolic gesture. It is a recognition that we have some problems,” says Rafael Goyeneche.
The criminal justice stakeholders say this is just the first step. They plan to continue working together and sharing data in the future.
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