In my humble opinion the National Guard may be a nice suggestion but, they are not the answer to address our crime problems. I'll first offer the cons to bringing them in and then the pros.
I stated in response to a comment on my previous blog that with bringing in the National Guard we would face a problem of a different type. The first problem would be the biggest of all, a lack of knowledge of the laws of the state & city; secondly, they lack knowledge of the criminal justice system; thirdly, they lack knowledge of law enforcement protocols; and, they would not be as friendly a force as the community and politicians have forced the NOPD to become.
A large majority of the National Guard are not members of the law enforcement community. Most are civilian business people like the ordinary citizen. They are not as well versed in the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution as your average police officer is. With that lack of knowledge will come illegal searches and seizures that will lead to criminal cases being rejected or overturned on appeal.
Again being a civilian, they aren't necessarily aware of the protocols and policies that govern a police agency. They are not familiar with the completion of police reports after affecting an arrest. History has shown us that using the Guard is like using ordinary citizens, in so far as when they make an arrest, they must relate the information to a police officer who will in turn complete the proper reports and affect the actual arrest, thus tying up unnecessary manpower.
The final con I mentioned was that they would be less friendly. This community has cried for a more friendly police department that gives more warnings and new court dates for various criminal offenses. The National Guard would have to come in and adapt to that mindset and forget about their training for use in times of war. You would undoubtedly have a group of people more aggressive in certain situations than is necessary.
The major pro to having the National Guard in the city is additional manpower on the street. You could deploy them to your hotspots, thus forcing the the criminals to either move or become more brazen about how and when they commit crime.
The statements above are only my opinions and I welcome the thoughts and opinions of others. Please remember that this is not an attack on The National Guard. If put into their element, us law enforcement officer would likewise lack skills and knowledge to consistently perform successfully.
I really enjoy your blog this far. Everyone thinks that the solution is to being in the National Guards, when it is not. Everyday I hear different complaints from the citizens and their "problems" most of them not police issues, but they don't understand that. The citizens complain about the police don't respond to calls fast enough, but the citizens don't understand that there are days where their district is being patrolled by 3 units, 2 ranks, and maybe a few task force units that may not be able to respond to CFS. They complain about police presence and such but when you offer he number to Serpas office, they get upset. Serpas is the one who the complaints of a dwindling police force need to go to. Landreau is the one who need to hear those complaints. Not the operators/dispatchers who are only trying to do their job with little to no support. The citizens don't support the admin staff nor the police. It's so much I have to say from my perspective I get emotional over it. The citizens will NEVER understand this police department and it's admin staff. We as citizens/workers don't understand it. The department is so afraid of the citizens and their "complaints" against officers, operators, etc. that they can't do their job correctly. Do you want the police to protect you or baby you?
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you are enjoying what's being written. Hopefully I'll be able to get the right people to read what I'm writing and they'll make changes, or at least the common citizen will be more informed after reading this.
DeleteAs far as the dispatchers/complaint operators go, they do not get enough credit for what they do. Nor do they get paid enough. They tolerate attitudes from both the public and the disrespectful officers whose lives they protect via the radio.
I have thought about this topic a lot recently. I think you make great points of the cons. However, we are short of law enforcement officers and the city does not have the money to hire as many officer as would be needed. I think there are many solutions to solve the crime problem. Bringing in the National Guard is not the only answer, but I do think there are benefits as a short term solution.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, sorry it took so long to respond. The more the New Orleans Police Department loses officers to attrition, you're absolutely correct that that the National Guard may be a short term solution. Former Supt. Riley was on the "Hot Seat" the other day and even he made sense. Although the NOPD just hired 30 new police recruits, it will take approximately 11 months to train them, and by that time the department would have lost between 70-100 officers to attrition. Therefore, the NOPD won't gain anything.
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