New Orleans Resorts to Hiring Civilians to do Some Police Tasks

What happens when you try to fix something that isn’t broken? You break it. That appears to be the story about what New Orleans has done to its police department. NOLA is a Democrat-run city with a mayor who, according to 4 WWL News, shows up at court not to support officers or even crime victims but to support violent criminals.

So, it’s not surprising that law enforcement in the Crescent City has been hemorrhaging officers. Which has inspired the city to do something dubious to stop the bleeding: hire civilians to do police work.

This decision shows so little respect for the law enforcement profession it’s amazing it’s seeing the light of day. According to the Washington Times, “The New Orleans Police Department is looking to hire civilians to help hasten response times by alleviating the pressure on the city’s dwindling police force.”

According to NPR, the city will hire “between 50 to 75 civilian employees who can handle administrative duties that don’t require a uniformed officer,” which might work.

However, the Times also notes duties could include “issuing traffic citations… or collecting evidence.” Answering phones is one thing, but traffic enforcement involves high risk, with too many stories of officers injured or killed.

Collecting evidence is a highly specialized skill involving specific protocols that are likely to be challenged in court.

The average response time for “priority calls is 11 minutes.” For non-priority calls—crimes not in progress, the response times average “two and a half hours.”

NOPD has lost 100 officers in just the first six months of 2022, while the city’s homicide rate is “skyrocketing” with“209 murders so far this year.

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Steve Pomper

Steve Pomper is an author, freelance writer, and retired Seattle police officer. During his career, he served as a field training officer, on the Community Police Team, and as a mountain bike patrol coordinator. He’s written five books, including The Obama Gang and De-Policing America, and he is a contributor to the National Police Association and a freelance writer for The Tatum Report.

Originally from New England, he’s a Boston sports fan. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Jody, a retired firefighter. He enjoys spending time with his adult kids and three grandchildren.