Cantrell Names Local as New Chief 

By Jeff Thomas 

Mayor LaToya Cantrell named Shaun Ferguson as the new chief of the NOPD.  By all accounts, Ferguson is well-qualified to lead the department.  He is universally liked within the department and has a strong pulse on the community.  Mayor Cantrell deserves credit for this selection. Ferguson seems capable of doing a great job. But what his philosophy and approach is going forward will determine how successful he will be.

On the heels of handing New Orleans its lowest reported number of murders in 47 years, former police Chief Michael Harrison has taken his experience and talents to Baltimore.  In addition to orchestrating the reduction in murders, Harrison was able to develop citizen support, hone his  experience and  foster  a good working relationship with Justice Department staffers who oversee the city’s consent decree.  Regardless of all the accolades and successes achieved by Harrison, The Bowl needs more from its police department. 

The narrative that the city needs to hire more officers is not only inaccurate, but more correctly couched in the city’s need for more funding from the state.  (Read Here)  Arguably, the city needs about 1,100 officers on any given day in The Bowl.  During Mardi Gras, when The Bowl explodes with a million people actually inhabiting the city, 2,000 officers are a necessity.  Remarkably, the state of Louisiana reaps a whopping 90 percent of all tax dollars from those tourists’ hotel taxes, but the city is responsible for paying NOPD officers.  (The state foots the bill on state police details during the festivities.) This is just one way the state exploits our city.  (Read here for yet other ways the state exploits NOLA.)

Nevertheless, the biggest problem, no matter how many officers the NOPD employs, is force utilization.  NOPD has a 3-to-1 manager cop-to-officer cop ratio.  Too many officers sit behind desks instead of patrolling the streets. This cultural laziness is the Achilles’ heel of the NOPD.  The new chief must reverse this.  More officers need to hit the streets.

Hopefully, the new chief will recognize that arresting people for trivial crimes has been a major factor in Louisiana’s rank as the mass incarceration leader of the world.  And studies abound showing that incarcerating people for minor offenses causes more crime.  New Orleanians need protection from violent criminals and those who perpetrate property crime.  Clearly, arresting people who perpetrate bad behavior is good policy.  But providing  great schools and economic opportunity discourages people from getting involved in criminal activity in the first place.

Good luck to Chief Harrison.  His experience with consent decrees and familiarity with violent neighborhoods will probably serve him well in Baltimore.  But our new chief, Shaun Ferguson, faces challenges in The Bowl.  A community policing approach might benefit our citizens better than the aggressive, oppressive high-arrest, top-heavy department of the past.


5 thoughts on “New NOPD Chief”
  1. Dear Jeff,

    I believe you are spreading misinformation when you state 90% of the hotel tax in New Orleans goes to the state of Louisiana. According to my state & city hotel tax reports the City of New Orleans collects a 4% hotel tax and a 2.75% hotel tax goes to the State of Louisiana. Another 4 % is dedicated to support the Domed Stadium and a 3% to the New Orleans Convention Center, both of which New Orleans and Jefferson Parishes are the primary beneficiary. The City and State split 50-50 the $1 to $2 per night New Orleans Exhibition Hall room tax. So where is the 90% to the state you mention in your article? The City of New Orleans also reaps substantial sales & property taxes from the hotels and restaurants that cater to the tourists.

    In addition the state has subsidized the New Orleans Saints in various ways, not the City of New Orleans as far as I know. The state also subsidized City Park (a state owned park) for many years, not the City of New Orleans. Plus the state provides additional state police for Mardi Gras and other major events at state expense.

    Where New Orleans has long had a complaint is in the split of Harrah Casino’s revenue, which mostly goes to the state, but the City of New Orleans must police and deal with any negative effects as to crime, traffic, etc.

  2. HUH? Ferguson has been on the force for 21 years? Never heard of him nor any accomplishes ever?
    What valid credible information has he done to show?
    21 years were all served under other police chiefs and decades of growing crime.
    His role models and the statistics do not offer any hope.
    If he had ways to fix the city, why not implement them long ago ?
    Best conclusion,,, after 4 years, Ferguson will retire, take his whopping pension and
    move on to another city too, which seems to be the standard and common practice.
    I do not feel 1 milligram safer over this selection.
    Neither should residents, tourist, of them under da bridge feel safer, ain’t dere no more.
    Stay inside, hire body guards.

      1. ACCORDING TO CHIEF HARRISON, ADMITTED IN A INTERVIEW, THAT THE ENTIRE
        CITY CRIME CAMERAS AND CAMERA CENTER CANNOT STOP ANY CRIMES EITHER.
        SO, THEN, WE CAN CONCLUDE THAT, THE CITY CRIME CAMERA DEPT, IS JUST ANOTHER
        MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR WASTE OF MONEY, WHERE PEOPLE SIT, NAP, PLAY VIDEO GAMES AND TEXT ON CELL PHONES ALL DAY LONG.
        A TYPICAL, VISIBLE, FEEL GOOD, BUT FAKE SCHEME TO IMPLEMENT A MASSIVE “CRONYISM” PROJECT, USING CITIZENS TAXES, MANUFACTURED BY MITCH TO PACIFY, APPEASE, AND CAPITULATE!
        A SIMPLE COUNTERFEIT BUSINESS, WASTING MILLIONS, A SUBSIDIZED SOCIALIST IDEA THAT PEOPLE ARE BEGUILED TO BELIEVE IT IS “CAPITALISM” AT WORK, WHEN IN FACT IT IS “ROBBERY” BY IGNORANCE, AND INK PENS!
        KEEPING THE PUBLIC DIS-EDUCATED, OR MIS-EDUCATED ABOUT CIVICS EDUCATION,
        MILLIONS OF USA CITIES HAS EVOLVED POLITICIANS INTO “BANDITOS” IN SUITS!
        THE POLITICIAN DID NOT HAVE TO KNOW LAW AND CIVICS OR CARE.
        A POLITICIAN NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO CAST SPELLS ON MASS AMOUNTS
        OF CITIZENS AND USE SCHEMES AND SORCERY AND WITCHCRAFT TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO TOLERATE ABUSE, CORRUPTION AND EXPLOITATION !
        POLITICIANS, CREATE or ALLOW A PROBLEM DEVELOP.
        THEN, THEY HIRE CRONY PEOPLE TO STUDY WHAT THEY CREATED,
        THEN, AFTER 20 YEARS OF STUDY, AND YOU NOW HAVE DEMENTIA, THEY RETIRE AND BLAME THE OTHER POLITICIANS AND THEN A NEW PERSON IS VOTED FOR USING THE SAME WORDS FROM HIS PREDECESSOR FROM 20 YEARS AGO BECAUSE NOW THE NEW VOTERS WILL ALSO BE BEGUILED AND THE CYCLE CONTINUES!
        * the politicians greatest skill, is to create, allusions, Illusions, delusions & confusions!*
        UNDER,,, COMMON CORE GRADING,,, this would be a A++++++ about NO LA!!!
        2019 JAN 16

Leave a Reply to Calvin White Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.