Leslie Jacobs’ Crime Plan

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Other cities have successfully reduced violent crime and made their streets and neighborhoods safer. New Orleans can as well. As mayor, it will be my number one priority.–Leslie Jacobs

Exercising Leadership

A new Police Chief.

I’m committed to a national search for the best man or woman we can find. The application process will be open to anyone, but I want someone with a proven track record of reducing violent crime, who has demonstrated success in changing the culture of a department, and will be held accountable to measurable improvements. We have to be able to trust our police department, and it must start at the top.

These are four key criteria I will look for in our new top crime fighter:

1. A Police Chief who can lead the department, instill a culture of accountability and is committed to working in partnership with all parties of the criminal justice system;
2. A Police Chief with a proven record of neighborhood policing— building trust with and engaging neighborhoods and nonprofits in the effort to reduce violent crime;
3. A Police Chief committed to accountability up and down the line, who will have a transparent, open reporting system on tracking crime, neighborhood-by-neighborhood;
4. A Police Chief who is able to use the latest technology to protect our citizens.

As mayor, I’ll take the lead in building a healthy, integrated criminal justice system.

You and I already pay our tax dollars to make this system operable. There is no excuse for its leaders not to be working together and working smarter, so we stretch our resources and create a more effective and integrated criminal justice system.

As mayor, my priority will be to work with the new Police Chief, the District Attorney, the Sheriff, the Criminal Judges, the Office of Public Defender, and the Clerk of Court to make sure that all facets of the criminal justice system are adequately funded and working together. Period.

Creating Accountability

There will be clear standards and expectations for all in city government, but especially in the police department, and these standards will be applied consistently. There will be no tolerance for patronage, politics, and favoritism to any person, group, or issue other than the facts and good work for the people of New Orleans. But all the promises in the world won’t mean a thing unless there are effective ways of measuring whether those expectations are being met.

Hold commanders accountable for reducing the violent crime rates in their precincts.

Through the direction of the new police chief, we will institute effective and accurate collection of crime data on a district-by-district basis. Using this data we will track the progress in reducing crime. If a commander cannot show a meaningful improvement in stopping crime, we’ll find a new commander who can get the job done.

Zero tolerance for officers who abuse their power and break the law.

There are many committed and honest officers serving in the New Orleans Police Department. But dishonest and corrupt colleagues undermine their good work and reputations. Our policy towards those who abuse their office or break the law will be simple and clear: zero-tolerance.

Enable the public to monitor NOPD’s operations and progress.

Timely and accurate reporting on the performance of the department as well as contracting and spending will be made available to the public using a “dashboard” that tracks expenditures, reports crime data and discloses the department’s measures of effectiveness.

Restoring Trust

We can stop crime by enlisting the citizens of New Orleans in our fight – but that will require the restoration of public trust in the police department as a true partner in the effort to make our neighborhoods safe and secure.

Building trust with residents through a commitment to neighborhood policing.

I will hire a new police chief with a proven record of creating neighborhood policing initiatives to incorporate the help of everyone from churches to non-profits to folks sitting on their stoops as partners with the police in stopping violent crime in our neighborhoods….and we’ll get officers out from behind their desks and onto the street.

Raising the bar for officer hiring and training.

Putting more officers on the street won’t make a difference if they aren’t well trained and committed to effective enforcement. We will overhaul our hiring and training programs at NOPD with an eye toward not only recruiting the best men and women but also preparing them to pursue investigations and work in partnership with the District Attorney’s office to make cases that stick and get the criminals off the streets.

Employing 21st Century Tactics and Tools

New Orleans can’t wait a moment longer to adopt the successful strategies used by other cities to target chronic offenders and to use technology to maximize the time and efforts of our officers.

We won’t just work harder to fight crime, we’ll work smarter.

Too many misdemeanor arrests are clogging up our criminal justice system and diverting our resources. We have to change focus by:

1. Prioritizing high crime “hot spots” with additional resources and enforcement measures;
2. Targeting the relatively small number of chronic, repeat violent offenders through coordinated investigations and sentencing:
   1. Supporting the District Attorney and Juvenile Judges in instituting and funding meaningful alternative sentencing and diversionary programs;
   2. More effectively using technology to maximize our enforcement resources, such as:
      1. an integrated information system that is single entry and streamlined for the entire system, not just NOPD,
      2. better forensics and more DNA testing, and
      3. implementing an improved remote monitoring (ankle bracelet) system.

Investing in Our Youth

Finding meaningful ways to engage our youth is an equally important tool in reducing crime.

Investing in NORD will be a key priority.

I’m committed to:

• Prioritizing some of the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and/or FEMA funds to restore New Orleans Recreation Department facilities;
• Restructuring the governance of NORD as proposed by the Citizens Advisory Council;
• Re-envisioning NORD not only as a provider of activities, but as a partner and facilitator with other non-profits in maximizing resources, so we can provide more quality and diverse programming for our children;

Our children must be in school.

I am committed to better enforcement of the truancy laws.

Our goal will be to raise the expectations of our children.

Our young people need to believe that a quality job and post-secondary education are within their reach. As mayor, I would:

• Work with area high schools to urge them to take advantage of Louisiana’s dual enrollment program, which allows High School Juniors and Seniors to take college courses for free and receive both high school and college credit;
• Partner schools with businesses to provide job shadowing, internships and exposure to careers;
• Set a goal that with the Senior Class of 2015 (freshman class of 2011), half will go to college after high school.

Stopping crime in New Orleans can be done – but it will take leadership, accountability and the support of our entire community to succeed. The time for excuses is long gone. Now we need results.–Leslie Jacobs