OK, it's been a long couple of weeks. Even when I was out of town for several weeks I knew of a struggle happening at the DA's office as to whether or not to drop the charges against Michael Anderson. The problem was that the DA's office took the case with little evidence hoping that the NOPD would produce more as time went on; they didn't. Then the witness fell off the radar and the the NOPD offered no help in finding her until after the charges were dismissed (the feds even lost track of her even though she was in protective custody for a time). Yes, Jordan should have picked up the phone but that's not to say that the assistant DA's on the case didn't do all that they could from talking to jailhouse snitches to attempting to speak with anyone related to the witness. The case against Michael Anderson is crappy and an attorney cannot ethically keep someone in jail when they have no case. In addition, Anderson was never released from OPP because of pending federal charges which gives the NOPD investigators more time to firm up the case before presenting it to a Grand Jury.All that being said, should Jordan resign? I don't know. Probably not but I don't care much about this issue anymore. It doesn't make any sense as his term is almost up. In addition, the moral over that the DA's office is so low that a change in leadership could actually do more harm than good. Jordan is very bad at dealing with the media and possibly his own employees. Is that recall worthy? I'm not sure but as far as local politicians go, I'd rather recall Nagin first as his shiny head is obviously not on the job.The thing that really gets me is that I don't believe that the DA's office is responsible for the 102 murders we've had this year. They are the final link in the chain: punitive but not preventative. I believe that if we had more cops walking a beat rather than sitting in cars or waiting at the station to respond to dispatch, citizens would be more likely to come forward. I know it's hot out there but would it be so hard to have a cop walk around my neighborhood every once in a while? I'd even have an open door policy in case they needed to use the facilities or required a cold drink (just watch out for feet coming through the ceiling).
Supposedly there are more cops on the street but French Quarter residents recently complained that they are all on Bourbon. I live in Carrollton, not Central City so I am aware that statistically, we are not a "hot spot" however, the crazy stuff that I see happen outside my door has become so normal that I am surprised by the look of horror to visitors when I recount the tales.
Brown Group International was recently paid over a quarter of a million dollars to tell the NOPD how to get along with people when the answers should already be obvious: stop shaking down businesses, beating people up and show up in a timely manner. One thing that keeps getting mentioned over and over again, even pre-K, was that we need more cops. Well, damn it, hire some. It's been two years already, how long does training take and why aren't we offering fabulous incentive programs that include housing and and education reimbursement? Where is all of the money going? Consultants, I guess.
Living here has always been hard but there are so many great things in this city that it makes it even harder to leave. However, the crime and the constant threat of damages either to property or person weighs on each of us wherever we live in the city. I feel like no one is making a difference on this issue. I know that City Council is trying, especially Midura. I see the efforts that she is putting in but they can only do so much. I have little faith that anything will be done while Nagin, Riley and Jordan are at the helm and I don't trust the public to vote in the right people the next time around. I can only hope that I'll be proven wrong but I don't see that happening.
