If words made it so, the citizens of New Orleans should feel safer today.

Yesterday, Mayor Nagin made a speech to the Baton Rouge Press Club. Below are
a few of his comments from today’s Daily Monopoly about crime and some questions
that his comments beg, but were apparently not asked:

“The state will have some comfort” that New Orleans is getting its law enforcement back on track, Nagin said, ….

Is being the “Murder Capital” (47 murders in 85 days) of the United States Nagin’s
idea of getting law enforcement “on track”?

Nagin said the New Orleans Police Department has graduated one class of 40 officers and another 40-member class is under way now, Nagin said.

How many members of the NOPD have retired, resigned or been charged with
crimes since the first of the year?

Nagin said …police are also focusing on the city’s crime “hot spots,” and will continue to use cameras to monitor some neighborhoods.

Cameras? Didn’t we just read that cameras are ineffective weapons in
reducing crime? See story here.

“We can still use the State Police for special events” but their continued presence can end when the state’s budget year ends June 30, Nagin said.

How does Nagin square eliminating the State Police in mid-summer when
he said “although the added forces are needed to see the city through summer
months when crimes typically increase”?

Nagin suggested that the National Guard forces might be phased out 100 troops at a time over a period of months starting around Sept. 1, but did not suggest a specific end date.

Did the criminals agree to a detente? Or his Nagin just going to declare victory over crime
on September 1?

Head’s up for the bad guys

Such statements are reminiscent of Mayor Nagin’s comments a few months after the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flooded New Orleans. He declared the city the safest
place in America and declared that there were “too many law enforcement personnel” in the city. They left and crime went up dramatically.

We only hope that the criminals in New Orleans didn’t read today’s Daily Monopoly.
The mayor has now given the criminals a time-line for a reduction in law enforcement
in New Orleans.

Rather than feel safer the people of New Orleans, if they felt safe before the mayor’s
comments, should now be in fear. At least they now have a time-line to know when
to expect crime to spike (even higher).

C.B.