Metro Crime Commission: We lost more officers than we hired last year

By Kenny Kuhn | MSN/WWL-Radio | May 5, 2021

New Orleans has a big problem on its hands when it comes to police staffing according to an NOPD watchdog.

Violent crime in New Orleans continues to plague the city despite the New Orleans Police Department hiring 1,100 new police officers. However, the President of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, Rafael Goyeneche says those 1,100 new officers are not enough to overcome the NOPD’s high attrition rate.

“We lost more officers than we hired last year and we are on pace to lose even more officers than we hired this year,” said Goyeneche. “So, that eleven hundred on paper is closer to a thousand.”

He adds the gaps in police staffing will lead to longer response times to 911 calls.

“They have to prioritize. So, when people dial 9-1-1 and they don’t see police arrive in a timely manner, it is not because police officers are sitting in donut shops. It is because there are not enough police officers and there are over 33,000 calls for service per month,” said Goyeneche.