In a New Orleans Advocate story of February 22, the City of New Orleans received some good and positive news from the Judge over seeing the Federal consent degree the city has been operating under for the past decade. The Federal court said it was clear that cooperation improved dramatically and progress accelarated dramatically the past few months due to the hard work of people in the courtroom and other officials.
According to the article, NOPD's new superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick was given credit for the department working closely and together with the Federal monitors for the improvements. Because of the plan by Kirkpatrick and her deputy Chief Nicholas Gernon, compliance with the degree is a step closer. This writer believes what we have here now is elementary, that means the right people are in the right positions to handle a problem that has been long running.
That piece of good news for the City and NOPD goes hand in hand with a earlier January report in the Advocate where the murder rate in New Orleans in 2023 fell 27% from 2022 and that the down trend began 3 months before the New Year. That downward trend was the subject of a PolitiDose commentary in January. And once again this writer reminds it's readers that the improvements and good news began months before Jeff Landry was elected governor, months before Landry appointed a New Orleans Crime Commission and months before Landry authorized the State Police to work with New Orleans.
Why is it important to remember that? Well, it's because the GOP has a history of trying to take credit when good things take place on the democratic watch.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
