As the Crescent City closes in on five dozen murders within the first three months of 2011, law enforcement officials gathered at a crime summit downtown Saturday afternoon, hoping to stop the violence."The crime rate is unacceptable," said Crimefighters founder Irv Magri. "It's unacceptable in a civilized society."
The meeting, organized by Magri's group, comes a day after the U.S. Justice Department issued two new reports on crime trends in New Orleans and the NOPD. Among the recommendations were that the homicide division improve training and hire more officers."They have told me nothing that I haven't known and seen and complained about," said Magri, retired NOPD officer. "Let me just tell you, this is not politically popular for me to say. But what we need to do is raise the standards for the NOPD officers, dramatically."
The Justice Department's first report last week slammed the NOPD for deeply rooted patterns of violating people's rights. But officials at Saturday's crime summit believe the tide is turning.
"Certainly we've seen some pretty grim recent events with the Department of Justice, with some of the latest murders, but I am optimistic that we're going to get better," said Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman. "I think the leadership in the police department, Superintendent Serpas and the mayor, are committed to change."
NOPD officials say that's what they're working toward, with efforts like ramped up training. But District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro says solving New Orleans' crime problem will take more than a reformed police department.
When you run a city that caters to the under class should it be a surprise that this is what you get?
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