Notes from Week 1 of the NOPD Citizens Police Academy

[lunanola]

I was accepted into and am participating in the nine-week inaugural
session of the NOPD Citizens Police Academy (CPA). Part of
participating in this program is communicating the information learned
to our respective communities; I'm pleased to report that it appears
that citizens from all of the Districts are participating.

NOPD Superintendent Riley spoke at the first session of the CPA last
night; here are a few direct quotes: He believes that N.O. has "more
thugs per capita" than elsewhere. Also "If we had 200 officers per
district, New Orleans would have fewer than 100 murders per year." He
believes that "We need a better quality of citizen in New
Orleans" (re: lower rate of poverty, higher mean income, improved
quality of education). Finally, per Riley: "Until we deal with poverty
& education issues, we need increased police presence." He believes
that an additional 400 officers is what it would take to make a
difference/yield a consistent improvement. However, in a city where
institutionalized generational poverty has been a norm, even to the
level of being a family tradition, how long will this increased police
presence be required and is it sustainable?

The most interesting person speaking last night (in my opinion) was
Maj. John P. Bryson, who demonstrated a high degree of sociological
understanding re: community policing. He highlighted the shift from
"cops walking the beat with eyes on the street" and an emphasis on
direct communication between the police and the citizens to our
present distanced stance, with such technological advancements as air-
conditioned patrol cars (with officers maximizing their time inside
the vehicle, windows rolled up) and centralized 9-1-1 dispatch systems
effectively creating an "us and them" perspective over time. While the
technology improves the responsiveness in general, the actual
familiarity with individual officers in a particular neighborhood has
diminished over time. Community awareness on the part of citizens and
improved communication between the citizenry & the police whenever
possible can help to remedy this.

Per the weekly Comstat map, NOPD Chief Riley believes there are ~30
"hot spots" re: crime; currently only ~22 are covered w/ officers each
week. It was acknowledged that improvement in one area/neighborhood
often means that the criminal activity shifts to elsewhere; NOPD is
attempting to discourage this by expanding the area covered when
addressing a "hot spot" (pushing the coverage in the area out from the
center of the "hot spot" over time), but again, it all comes down to
whether or not a sufficient number of officers are available.

The NOPD Citizens academy will include training sessions on all six
bureaus (Criminal Intelligence, Policy & Review, Investigations,
Administration & Support, Public Integrity, Operations), plus
"Simulation Training" and Firearms Training.

Objectives of NOPD Citizens Police Academy are to encourage
cooperation b/t CPA participants and NOPD; create "neighborhood
ambassadors" who will share info w/ respective communities, dispel
false rumors & perceptions re: how NOPD operates & create community-to-
community partnerships.

All in all, it was fast-paced and interesting. While I do believe that
we're being asked absorb a lot in a relatively short period of time
and to think critically about what we're learning, it's also
definitely a PR-based agenda. More to follow over the next eight
weeks.

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