Thank you to this man who stepped up and provided a much needed security service to this community. Of course, people will criticize. But they don't have any other good solutions to the problem.
1
Hmm.
Squalor & violence for the many, private security for the few. Where have we read of this scenario before?
O yes, in that other shining beacon, guiding light and Libertarian Paradise, Somalia.
Squalor & violence for the many, private security for the few. Where have we read of this scenario before?
O yes, in that other shining beacon, guiding light and Libertarian Paradise, Somalia.
2
agreed to pay the $194,000 salary of a police officer whose job was going to be cut
-----------------------
Remember all those years of "blue flu" and work slowdowns by the police unions during contract negotiations? They paid off, obviously. No wonder so many Democrat cities are drowning in pension obligations to police and fire departments whose member now lollygag in Cape Coral and similar enclaves, at age 57.
-----------------------
Remember all those years of "blue flu" and work slowdowns by the police unions during contract negotiations? They paid off, obviously. No wonder so many Democrat cities are drowning in pension obligations to police and fire departments whose member now lollygag in Cape Coral and similar enclaves, at age 57.
3
The private trash man runs a private high tech police force. Shades of Robocop redux.
2
Why is the NY Times sucking up to the "progressive" Mitch Landrieu? He's the village idiot. Didn't notice that 1/3 of his police force quit!
One should ask if the Landrieus are receiving kickbacks from the criminal elements in the city. There is no other explanation for Mitch Landrieu's behavior.
There is the smell of corruption hanging over the Landrieu administration, the police department, the parish attornies, and the judges in New Orleans. There is no other reason for such terrible crime levels.
Always follow the money and you will find the reason for this kind of mess.
One should ask if the Landrieus are receiving kickbacks from the criminal elements in the city. There is no other explanation for Mitch Landrieu's behavior.
There is the smell of corruption hanging over the Landrieu administration, the police department, the parish attornies, and the judges in New Orleans. There is no other reason for such terrible crime levels.
Always follow the money and you will find the reason for this kind of mess.
1
"It's Chinatown, Jake." Having toiled in Atlantic City government for several casino-centric years, I know. See "The Mayor and the Mob" by A&E network, and "American Hustle." Our (white) reformer-Mayo-hero, Mike Matthews, was a Jersey Shore follow-on to Camden's mayor, Angelo ("Boom-Boom") Errichetti. Both were mobbed up. Amusingly, the African-American mayor and 2 councilmen who replaced M. Matthews were busted not long after in Operation ComServ for selling zoning variances for $500.00 each -- chump change. All lose their right to ever again hold public office.
The crime level has been high here for DECADES. Mitch made a terrible decision early on to freeze hiring of NOPD for budgetary reasons. Crime is NOT an easy issue to fix, when you have THOUSANDS of inner city youth battling highly dysfunctional family situations, poverty, the drug culture, etc.
I thought the point of paying taxes was so that the government would provide basic services, like security and sanitation. I don't blame Torres for wanting to tackle the problem, but he is unaccountable to the people of the city he is trying to protect and the potential for abuse his huge.
2
I trust Mr Torres far more than most of the locals. LOL
2
I have to laugh at the stories that the NYTs decides to print about my City..... Sid or Lil Sid as we call him raped the city with garbage contracts...then when HIS house was broken into went ballistic....met with the Mayor....formed his lil force - and NOW WE THE TAX PAYERS are paying for it.... BTW last night alone we had a stabbing and shooting in the French Quarter...not to mention all the other crime. Landrieu has funneled millions to non-profs who do nothing...Lil Sid is just garnering pr..... Most citizens wish he would go back to Euretha!
4
Fully privatized and / or public-private initiatives seldom work as intended. They are good for the private part, not for the public.
Just one example, in the UK privatized railroads cost more in subsidies than the whole public system cost before privatization.
Privatizing law and policing will lead to a dystopian future; the police will help if you pay for it. That's how it works in many developing countries. But we are talking about the U.S. now.
Just one example, in the UK privatized railroads cost more in subsidies than the whole public system cost before privatization.
Privatizing law and policing will lead to a dystopian future; the police will help if you pay for it. That's how it works in many developing countries. But we are talking about the U.S. now.
1
At one time mercenaries had a bad reputation. Torres & his hired henchmen are being paid with public dollars to do nothing truly innovative. He behaves as if he invented the wheel. That's the problem with authoritarianism, people just want the crime to stop, but privatization means Torres is unaccountable to the public. Black Lives matter, indeed.
3
The app developed by Mr Torres to report crime quickly to a quick response force is indeed helpful and I'm puzzled by all the negative remarks on this thread. QUIT WHINING
3
There are just not enough "rich folk's"(unless they choose to give up all of their wealth, and put a police officer on every block 24 hours a day!) to hire enough "police officers" to deal with the true source of the problem. We need to improve the educational outcomes for the children of color in that city (and others); and expand job opportunities for those same children when they reach adulthood. The city is just producing the conditions and potential elements for criminality faster than they can produce, or have the ability to fund a response to that criminality.
............Plus we need some mandatory parenting classes, starting in middle school
2
This privatization of services is a direct route to elimination of public services for those who cannot pay. The French Quarter, richer, safer and whiter than most of the city, has it's own private police force now. How likely are the citizens of the French Quarter to support taxes to provide equivalent police protection to the rest of the city? Not very.
And, the underlying cause of crime is only mentioned as side note: 52% unemployment rate among men in large sections of the city. 52%!! There is no level of policing that will prevent people without jobs from trying to get the money to live, somehow. Yes, that means theft, drug dealing, etc. A giant public works program with jobs available for whoever wants them would do more to resolve crime in NO than another 10,000 police officers.
And, the underlying cause of crime is only mentioned as side note: 52% unemployment rate among men in large sections of the city. 52%!! There is no level of policing that will prevent people without jobs from trying to get the money to live, somehow. Yes, that means theft, drug dealing, etc. A giant public works program with jobs available for whoever wants them would do more to resolve crime in NO than another 10,000 police officers.
2
ah, robocop comes true with the privately owner police force. this is a horrendous idea, like dictators or kings - it may work if the right person is in charge, kind and wise, but more often it will just be abused. People in power abuse it, like the Stanford Prison experiments which are now back in the news.
If you're familiar with the history of the NOPD, you'd know its a risk worth taking.
2
This article says Facebook agreed to pay the $194,000 salary of an officer whose position was to be cut? There's the problem right there. How is it that a police officer is making a wage of almost $4000/wk??
In Monmouth County, New Jersey, according to the Asbury Park Press, out of the top 20 highest paid county employees, 19 of them worked at the county jail. Three employees collected in excess of $200,000. Further, the newspaper reported, each jail employee had a benefits package costing taxpayers $50,000/yr.
Politicians have abdicated their role as guardians of the public treasury. Instead, they grant union bosses' demands and in exchange, the politicians receive the unions support and manpower in their re-election bids.
In Monmouth County, New Jersey, according to the Asbury Park Press, out of the top 20 highest paid county employees, 19 of them worked at the county jail. Three employees collected in excess of $200,000. Further, the newspaper reported, each jail employee had a benefits package costing taxpayers $50,000/yr.
Politicians have abdicated their role as guardians of the public treasury. Instead, they grant union bosses' demands and in exchange, the politicians receive the unions support and manpower in their re-election bids.
8
That's a fully burdened salary with benefits and funding of [lifetime] pension. I also believe it included the property rental for the office space.
The officer is not making that much. That figure includes all the administrative costs of having that employee (HR, pension, health, taxes and other admin costs). Those costs are often more than what the employee actually grosses
1
"How is it that a police officer is making a wage of almost $4000 a week?" Seriously? They risk their lives every day. How is it that the 1% of this country is robbing the middle class as the millionaires and billionaires they are?
1
Privatizing the law is to abandon democracy.
There nothing else to be said about this.
There nothing else to be said about this.
18
Rome fell when its citizens elected politicians who gave them bread and circuses while giving the privatization of its security to the Huns. Sound familiar?
Now there's nothing else to be said.
Now there's nothing else to be said.
2
Kind of reminds me what mom used to say - it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
And someone will get hurt. And then we'll see just how well this so-called public/private partnership is working out.
Policing isn't a hobby. And prisons should not be in the hands of private contractors. And on and on.
As someone else has observed, we are all frogs and the water has been boiling for some time.
And someone will get hurt. And then we'll see just how well this so-called public/private partnership is working out.
Policing isn't a hobby. And prisons should not be in the hands of private contractors. And on and on.
As someone else has observed, we are all frogs and the water has been boiling for some time.
1
New Orleans, like many of our major cities, is fundamentally broken. They cannot provide basic services to their residents, so therefore one of two things happen: You get a Detroit, where the city collapses and the only people left are those who can't move. Or you get the private militia, where those with the resources, protect their neighborhoods. Both of the above are irrefutable signs that the current model of the big city is not sustainable. Time to come up with a new alternative.
Of course all of this is great if you are college educated and have money. You can talk about purpose built village clusters and such. However no one seems to have a solution for the poor, under educated, and groups in crisis. Where do these people fit in to the 'Brave New World' of urbanism?
Of course all of this is great if you are college educated and have money. You can talk about purpose built village clusters and such. However no one seems to have a solution for the poor, under educated, and groups in crisis. Where do these people fit in to the 'Brave New World' of urbanism?
7
This is the test kitchen for what the Republicans want to serve up after the next election. It is full of fat for the top cats and scraps for the underdogs. Don't let them do this to our country. Don't let Bush dismantle Medicare, don't let the wealthy get away with this. Register and vote.
6
Isn't New Orleans a Democratic controlled city? Haven't Democrats run this city and places like Baltimore and Detroit for decades? How is their failure the fault of Republicans? How is this even a partisan issue. Bad government is bad government, regardless of who is in charge, something both parties can lay claim to.
3
How are the problems you cite uniquely Republican problems? Cities like Detroit, Chicago, Sacramento, New Orleans and Washington DC haven't had Republican mayors or Republican-controlled city councils in literally decades.
1
None of you live in NOLA. I've just moved from there. It's absolutely unsafe and getting worse day by day. Even in places off the quarter, like CBD or lower garden. Any solution is better than a glacial government response (aka nothing)
6
It is a sad thing that New Orleans is so broke and corrupt that he has to pay to have protection against thugs and other criminals.
3
The city has MANY financial challenges looming. Just bringing the NOPD to proper staffing levels will cost a minor fortune.
How very interesting that this columnist neglected to mention that the new style of policing practised by the University of Chicago Police just killed Samuel Dubose.
Has he not read Charles Blow's analysis of the crime? That would have considerably tempered his enthusiasm.
Has he not read Charles Blow's analysis of the crime? That would have considerably tempered his enthusiasm.
3
Regret to inform you ate wrong. Mr DuBois was allegedly killed by a University of CINCINNATI police officer, not a University of Chicago officer.
1
The officer who murdered Samuel Dubose was a member of the Univeristy of Cincinnati's police department, not Chicago.
1
Great initiative by a fed-up citizen. We need more "Torres" in cities such as Baltimore, Ferguson, Camden, Oakland, and hundreds more across the U.S. overrun by gangsters, drug-dealers and other misfits and their self-appointed "community leaders" hiding behind "anti-Police Brutality" phony movements.
One simple question to "bleeding-heart" liberals: Is the French Quarter better or worse off with Torres' Task Force? Only rational & honest answers please!
One simple question to "bleeding-heart" liberals: Is the French Quarter better or worse off with Torres' Task Force? Only rational & honest answers please!
6
The rich are willing to pony up for policing for their own neighborhood, but not to pay taxes to give the city revenues to improve services for all. It's time for the tax code to be revised so that they are paying a fair share for improvement of the entire community, with services determined by the democratic process. A self governing community is impossible if the rich raise private armies to defend their own values (or lack thereof) against the rest of the community in which they live.
7
Great article and kudos to Sidney. We need more citizens like him.
Wish he still had the clean up contract ass the new company can't do the job.
One big complaint with the writer of this article. He needs to get a dictionary and look
bohemian. Gutter punks are not bohemians nor are they the salt of the earth.
They are gutter punks with their parents credit cards and cell phones. As for being the
salt of the earth I would say they are just the dirt of the earth.
Hope Sidney can clean them up too.
Wish he still had the clean up contract ass the new company can't do the job.
One big complaint with the writer of this article. He needs to get a dictionary and look
bohemian. Gutter punks are not bohemians nor are they the salt of the earth.
They are gutter punks with their parents credit cards and cell phones. As for being the
salt of the earth I would say they are just the dirt of the earth.
Hope Sidney can clean them up too.
3
The NOPD is worthless and until recently that is about how much the city paid. The benefit of that is that it was obvious who the crooked cops were. They drove a decent car and had a modest house. Everyone knew someone working as an honest cop could not afford to live such a lower middle class lifestyle. What privatizing public services does is force the public to pay the good wages that are needed to attract good employees. I know this is an oversimplification but when an employee is being paid $20,000/month or $240,000 a year they highly value their job and are very unlikely to do anything that will jeopardize it. Walmart, Burger King and many other employers are unlikely to offer an employee that level of pay. I also don't think any politician can secure a budget from their taxpayers to cover the costs of buying the latest technology and innovative vehicles and related infrastructure to provide us with a top grade police department. The elephant in the room in this article is will Mr. Torres provide that level of policing to the more poverty struck neighborhoods in New Orleans. Don't our poorest community members deserve safe neighborhoods? How are they going to find the resources to remove the human trash in their neighborhoods. What if someone from the historic center of New Orleans gets a flat while traveling outside of their 78 block area? Who's going to come to their aid?
8
Smith and Wesson
1
I have always felt that if the real world begins to resemble the dystopian Science Fiction that I read (Neal Stephenson, Ramez Naam, et al), with its corporate law enforcement and failure of government, then we are in serious trouble.
This situation that the article describes is too close for comfort.
This situation that the article describes is too close for comfort.
4
Never having been or likely to go to New Orleans, I can still feel sorry for her.
Whether absolutely necessary or rapidly-institutionalizing elitism, this sounds like the inspiration for a good several scenes had there been a prequel to the movie ROBOCOP...
Whether absolutely necessary or rapidly-institutionalizing elitism, this sounds like the inspiration for a good several scenes had there been a prequel to the movie ROBOCOP...
1
I have been a reader of nola.com for the last 5 years or so. Two things are always front and center on the website: murders and sports. I have long been sure I don't want to go to New Orleans, where violence seems to BE the sport of choice.
1
the papers are always going to lead with murder and sports because that's what sells. But reading the front page of a website is not the best indication of the actual situation. having said that it seems that nola's police force is indeed broken. The answer should be oversight be a court or the feds and repairing it, not hiring private thugs to police.
1
I've lived here for 15 out of the past 20 years, and the only crime issue I had was when I was jumped in the Quarter by 2 whites or Hispanics after leaving work years before Katrina. It's mostly about using street sense. We do need a lot more of the good guys to pack heat.
Uber cops
2
Remember what happened in Iraq with the private security firms they became a law unto themselves until they had to be disbanded... looks like we are doing the same thing in New Orleans.
6
Sad but true: governments, left to their own devices, are inefficient and bleed taxpayer's money; running government services like private businesses is the only way to increase efficiency and reduce the wasting of taxpayer funds that you and I pay. Bloomberg had it right, and so does Torres.
1
Anyone who still thinks private business is "efficient" has been alseep fpr the past 30 years.
7
"Sad but true: governments, left to their own devices, are inefficient and bleed taxpayer's money"
Even the government loving NYTs, that never saw a tax that it did not want to impose or increase, has said on numerous occasions that "government is always inefficient and usually corrupt".
Even the government loving NYTs, that never saw a tax that it did not want to impose or increase, has said on numerous occasions that "government is always inefficient and usually corrupt".
We may have to follow this path in NYC now that our failed "mayor" has decimated the police force and undermines them at every turn.
2
didn't nyc recently announce or hire a trainload of police? which of course means that they didn't do proper background checks and let in a bunch of thugs, just like the last time they hired en-mass.
Logically there is no reason why a private police force should do a better job than traditional government funded law enforcement (dollar per dollar). In fact there are good reasons to suspect that privatized law enforcement is a bad deal for governments and for the citizens who are taxed by them. Among the concerns are profit motivation and an inverse correlation between efficacy and future business.
Why then are so many local governments contracting with a 'rent-a-cops'? Likely for the same reasons that they are allowing companies like Uber to unfairly undercut long-established regulated businesses like taxi service: naivete and money.
There is a contemporary American delusion that suggests that 'new' solutions to old problems are better than complex and sometimes byzantine extant strategies. And of course there are throngs of companies and people lining up to profit from all this 'newness'. The problem is that nothing is new under the sun. Just ask anyone old enough to recall the sort of glorious 'police' work performed by the Pinkerton Agency in the 1920s.
Sometimes I wonder if people read any history at all.
Why then are so many local governments contracting with a 'rent-a-cops'? Likely for the same reasons that they are allowing companies like Uber to unfairly undercut long-established regulated businesses like taxi service: naivete and money.
There is a contemporary American delusion that suggests that 'new' solutions to old problems are better than complex and sometimes byzantine extant strategies. And of course there are throngs of companies and people lining up to profit from all this 'newness'. The problem is that nothing is new under the sun. Just ask anyone old enough to recall the sort of glorious 'police' work performed by the Pinkerton Agency in the 1920s.
Sometimes I wonder if people read any history at all.
16
When average response time for police approaches half an hour, you can argue about the solution, but you have a serious problem. Policing is not about responding so much as already being there, so anything that cuts that response time is good.
3
Have we learned nothing from Paul Verhoeven's "Robocop"?
2
Telephone-based police dispatch is a terribly inefficient system that dates back to the 19th century. I'm glad someone is finally starting to change it.
The writer quotes a citizen stating everyone knows a "911" call will not produce an effective and timely response. I was not surprised by that.
Then the writer quoted a statistic--for every public aw enforcement officer in America, there are three private security personnel. Wow! That stood out.
Two thoughts: First, as every reader of the NYT knows, America's police departments are under siege, generally for stalking and targeting young black people, but also for infringing on personal rights in general. Secondly, when America's volunteer army went to war in Iraq, they fought hand in hand with private contractors--groups like Blackwater.
I don't know where all this leads, but, obviously, the times they are a changin.
Then the writer quoted a statistic--for every public aw enforcement officer in America, there are three private security personnel. Wow! That stood out.
Two thoughts: First, as every reader of the NYT knows, America's police departments are under siege, generally for stalking and targeting young black people, but also for infringing on personal rights in general. Secondly, when America's volunteer army went to war in Iraq, they fought hand in hand with private contractors--groups like Blackwater.
I don't know where all this leads, but, obviously, the times they are a changin.
1
" America's police departments are under siege, generally for stalking and targeting young black people,"
But young black males, who make up about 6% of the US population, account for over 50% of crimes, so who should the police target?
But young black males, who make up about 6% of the US population, account for over 50% of crimes, so who should the police target?
We have already privatized our prison system [hence 2.2 million incarcerated], we are sub-contracting parole and collection services for court delinquents, it's only a matter of time [I'd say 10 years] before all private police patrols are granted power of arrest authority.
2
Katrina notwithstanding. The notion that you can privatise all services of government and "run it like a business" is utter absurd. NOLA and Louisiana in general suffer from the fantasy that tax are bad and government doesn't need our money. If we want our government to work it will cost money, holding it accountable when it doesn't is why we have a ballot box not a board of directors.
17
‘Hey, why didn’t you put the State Police in my neighborhood? How come there are no Polarises riding around my neighborhood?'
Because 'you people' can't afford to pay for it.
A fine example of government by the rich, for the rich.
Because 'you people' can't afford to pay for it.
A fine example of government by the rich, for the rich.
23
Corruption is bound to follow when sworn police officers are allowed to moonlight in same city that they protect for a private security concern, and one which only patrols a narrow slice of the same city. Outsourcing policing is crazy - what happens when other firms get into same business and these individuals start encountering each other in hot pursuit?
23
The result may be the bad guys start running into each other trying to get away from the private and public police forces.
"Corruption is bound to follow..." Yeah, it might tarnish the pristine record of the NOPD.
"Corruption is bound to follow..." Yeah, it might tarnish the pristine record of the NOPD.
What a joke this guy is. He's a dilettante looking for a new 'game' to play. He sits in his house monitoring his iPad to rtack the gps-enabled polarises--as if it's a richie-rich game for the big kid.
Grow up and find something to do with you money besides trying to rig public-private partnerships with the police. Btw-you think Torres ever pays tickets or gets called out for his transgressions in New Orleans or other surrounding parishes? Let me give you a guess. Is mayorship next for this clown? He'll fit right in the cess.
Grow up and find something to do with you money besides trying to rig public-private partnerships with the police. Btw-you think Torres ever pays tickets or gets called out for his transgressions in New Orleans or other surrounding parishes? Let me give you a guess. Is mayorship next for this clown? He'll fit right in the cess.
33
I don't know, but with 2 shootings in Santa Barbara within a year, maybe you could learn something here. Just sayin.'
Like the proverbial frog in the pot of water who slowly boils to death as the heat increases, we fail to notice how we come ever closer to a dystopian "two Americas" future ruled completely by the 1%. We're already most of the way there, and this takes us yet another step closer.
How wonderful that a rich man can use his wealth to create a security force that protects him and his neighborhood. Did it ever occur to him to use some of his money to feed, clothe, educate, and provide mental health services to the "gutter punks" who befoul his fair boulevards? Or better yet, to promote public policy and a tax structure that would allow the government to provide these services? Of course not. His disdain for the masses could not be more clear. He is not concerned with creating a safer, more fair society. He is concerned only with protecting his fortune. It's people like him that give the wealthy a bad name. Truly, I weep for this country.
One final observation: homeless people have nothing. Separating them from their dogs - possibly their only companion and source of solace - is a cruel thing to do. Or maybe I missed the part about how the plan was eventually to reunite dog and owner.
How wonderful that a rich man can use his wealth to create a security force that protects him and his neighborhood. Did it ever occur to him to use some of his money to feed, clothe, educate, and provide mental health services to the "gutter punks" who befoul his fair boulevards? Or better yet, to promote public policy and a tax structure that would allow the government to provide these services? Of course not. His disdain for the masses could not be more clear. He is not concerned with creating a safer, more fair society. He is concerned only with protecting his fortune. It's people like him that give the wealthy a bad name. Truly, I weep for this country.
One final observation: homeless people have nothing. Separating them from their dogs - possibly their only companion and source of solace - is a cruel thing to do. Or maybe I missed the part about how the plan was eventually to reunite dog and owner.
96
Utterly naive and insensible. A little life experience is obviously in order, once you get beat up and ripped off by the people you think are underdogs and victims you might, it's not definite, wake up about the nasties out there. They are real, and they don't change with "services."
Right on! I was just going to say a few words about this type of egomaniacal entrepreneurship where the "gutter punks" were sent to jail along with their medicine and their dogs to the pound in order to sanitize the atmosphere. As the repairman he wants to be seen as, he should have dug deeper into the causes (rather than only getting rid of the consequences) by targeting homelessness, poverty, lack of access to medical care for humans and dogs, etc.
I'm going to try to figure out his app and give him some useful ideas, free of charge.
I'm going to try to figure out his app and give him some useful ideas, free of charge.
The young Gutter Punks here do NOT, in general, have mental health issues. They're just lazy as crap and don't even go take showers when they are available. The reason they have dogs, by the way, it's because its much more of a hassle to arrest them when a dog is involved. Don't be so naive.
3
I've hung around Bourbon St. It's lively and fun and filled with every type of body and personality. The residents love it-until it feels not safe. When it's not safe wealthy individuals will do whatever it takes to make their neighborhood safe. It is their right to do so. Torres proved his point.
12
thank you, NYT journalist David Amsden for presenting a balance of considerations into urban issues and including opinions of disparate characters such as Torres, Landrieu, Harrison etc. - above and beyond recent NYT forays into personifying New Orleans (like the T mag profile of 3rd street mansion last week or the bywater-kale-neverland articles)
4
Privatizing government services results in the rich getting services and the poor getting screwed. The need for private police services is a direct result of the populace voting for people who spend more time worrying about other peoples' private lives than about funding needed public services.
52
"As municipal budgets have stagnated or plummeted, state and local governments have taken to outsourcing police work to the private sector."
Though we associate the term more with Europe than ourselves, this of course is what austerity is all about. A disassembling of the public sector so that profit makers can takeover. With it, oversight and accountability go to the wayside, unions are dismantled, wages and benefits go downward, and costs are not necessarily lower, just more hidden. Welcome to the new America where the public good devolves and recedes into a race to the bottom for public institutions. What's happening in education, and what happened to public education in New Orleans in particular, serve as prime examples.
Though we associate the term more with Europe than ourselves, this of course is what austerity is all about. A disassembling of the public sector so that profit makers can takeover. With it, oversight and accountability go to the wayside, unions are dismantled, wages and benefits go downward, and costs are not necessarily lower, just more hidden. Welcome to the new America where the public good devolves and recedes into a race to the bottom for public institutions. What's happening in education, and what happened to public education in New Orleans in particular, serve as prime examples.
45
A similar phenomenon is increasingly visible and palpable in Canada as far as education and healthcare. Public services are deliberately allowed - if not encouraged - to decay and under-perform - and their respective shortcomings are used as examples of failures of government, public funding, etc., in order to push for privatization. The consequences will be dire in your country and mine.
1
This article highlights the confluence of two different but related streams in American culture. On the one hand we have always had a fascination with and admiration for “Lone Rangers.” It doesn’t matter who the “ranger” is: Ray Donovan, Tony Soprano, Dirty Harry, Batman, or a plethora of politicians whose mantra is “I get things done!” We like the “outsider” who rejects the “corrupt system” even if his motives or values are questionable. The second stream is the belief that “private enterprise” i.e., corporations, can magically do things that government just cannot seem to do. It does not matter if these cultural streams are rational or even accurate because they represent certain core cultural values that people like Mr. Torres tap into. As disillusionment with and cynicism towards “da gummint” has increased, there have been multiple openings for individuals and businesses that wish to shift public responsibilities and resources into private hands. There is no question that the political process can be slow and ineffective, especially as public services at all levels have been systematically drained of funds over the past three decades of Republican “tax aversion therapy” but there are broad social implications concerning the resources available to “haves’ and “have nots” that need to be considered before we find ourselves in a genuine “Rollerball” world.
27
Huh? The 'rollerball' world is already here in the US.
Seems that the elephant in the room is that there are a lot of poor, perhaps unemployed, if not uneducated, people living in NO who need some help. Cities are just microcosms of the nation. You can only bleed a city and patch it up for so long until you realize that you have to look at the whole picture and then make some difficult choices, which indeed may be more taxation, a bit less freedom (read structure and demand for personal responsibility), and yes, respect for the needs and beliefs of others.
As Torres said "Easy." In theory, that is, but ultimately, it will not be more police much less more money for everyone. It will be conversations about what is important, what is necessary, and what is icing, which no one should eat regularly (needs vs. wants).
As Torres said "Easy." In theory, that is, but ultimately, it will not be more police much less more money for everyone. It will be conversations about what is important, what is necessary, and what is icing, which no one should eat regularly (needs vs. wants).
5
My first visit to the Quarter was 35 years ago when it was very dangerous to venture off of a few streets. Then slowly The walkable Quarter expanded as it became safer and a little cleaner. Because of the age the Quarter was always a bit dirty and felt neglected---part of the charm. I found it enjoyable to spend a few days eating good food and visiting historical sites.
I visited for a week in June and could have left in a day. Filthy doesn't describe this old city. Drunks were falling down on all the streets, not only Bourbon. The homeless or drunks were laid out on sidewalks everywhere anytime of the day or night. I didn't encounter any crime and saw many police but I was heartbroken. I'm sorry to say that the Quarter was more beautiful, interesting and fit for just regular folks 35 years ago when you didn't dare venture far from Jackson Square.
I'm for anything and anybody who can do anything for this broken down historical district.
I visited for a week in June and could have left in a day. Filthy doesn't describe this old city. Drunks were falling down on all the streets, not only Bourbon. The homeless or drunks were laid out on sidewalks everywhere anytime of the day or night. I didn't encounter any crime and saw many police but I was heartbroken. I'm sorry to say that the Quarter was more beautiful, interesting and fit for just regular folks 35 years ago when you didn't dare venture far from Jackson Square.
I'm for anything and anybody who can do anything for this broken down historical district.
7
Thank you for giving us a true picture of this area. So many people want to describe it in terms of "exotic, bohemian, etc" which it is not! IT IS A DIRTY, DANGEROUS SLUM!
I've been looking after my neighbourhoods in every way I can for all the many decades I have lived in them. No gang (uniformed or otherwise), no insurance, no training, no weapon, no armour, no pay and no thanks. And I'm no Bruce Wayne let alone Clark Kent - I'm one of the most cowardly and timid people I know. It's all a matter of what you believe in.
10
The Trans-Pacific Partnership has now opened the door to corporation run governments by allowing corporations to sue democratically elected government in corporation run tribunals to force the will of the corporations upon the societies they represent. Military "security" contractors were used even more extensively than before in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide corporation military muscle behind western corporate colonialism. Now we have the growing deployment of corporate police forces to pacify the domestic population. Once all the pieces are collected together in one place, the picture of the real-world starts becoming indistinguishable from a science fiction corporate totalitarian world script. At what point does one stop pretending the script is only fantasy?
22
Blade Runner
The technological democratic system does not solve the problems of the urban population The problems is lack of oportunities of the most vulnerable communities in large urban centers
4
Very interesting and well-balanced article. No hype, even though this touches on so many nerves.
2
Debrahart,
Nerves are touched because it reports the reality of life in America - guns, violence, the phony rich versus poor discussions being described as a "class war", divisive politics with the intent of getting massive campaign money to get elected rather than solving problems, phoney "trickle down" economics (Saks 5th Avenue says "Thanks"), fathers not supporting their illegitimate children, teenage pregnancies....
We need a moral voice and not call it racism or other nonsensical labels that only perpetuates ignorance and divisiveness.
Nerves are touched because it reports the reality of life in America - guns, violence, the phony rich versus poor discussions being described as a "class war", divisive politics with the intent of getting massive campaign money to get elected rather than solving problems, phoney "trickle down" economics (Saks 5th Avenue says "Thanks"), fathers not supporting their illegitimate children, teenage pregnancies....
We need a moral voice and not call it racism or other nonsensical labels that only perpetuates ignorance and divisiveness.
3
‘‘Frankly, it’s a gigantic paradigm shift in terms of how this city has approached public safety..." And it's the paradigm shift Ray Lewis mentioned earlier in the article -- the rich neighborhoods will get their privately-funded extra police, and the non-rich neighborhoods will suffer the under-serving, probably under-funded municipal police.
15
Art,
So present some realistic solutions. And don't go on to the black versus white stuff. People are tired of hearing it. Worse, the race card game only worsens the problem. Whites are tired of it and it only creates animosity.
So present some realistic solutions. And don't go on to the black versus white stuff. People are tired of hearing it. Worse, the race card game only worsens the problem. Whites are tired of it and it only creates animosity.
1
The solution is you make the people in the city and the state and the country pay enough taxes to have social services amd well-trained policemen who don't see the world as us versus them inundate the neighborhoods where crime waves occur.
And, since you made this about race, I will make three points: (1) we will sooner than later be past the point where the "whites" being "tired of it" will be able to dictate the direction of society; (2) the animosity you threaten to unleash already exists, it's just that we white people are good at pretending it doesn't; and (3) it's becoming too obvious to ignore that "white America" (my cultural and biological ancestors) owe so much in reparations to "black America" that the debt can never be paid. White America is an unredeemable moral wretch. I have no doubt "brown America" will do much better.
And, since you made this about race, I will make three points: (1) we will sooner than later be past the point where the "whites" being "tired of it" will be able to dictate the direction of society; (2) the animosity you threaten to unleash already exists, it's just that we white people are good at pretending it doesn't; and (3) it's becoming too obvious to ignore that "white America" (my cultural and biological ancestors) owe so much in reparations to "black America" that the debt can never be paid. White America is an unredeemable moral wretch. I have no doubt "brown America" will do much better.
The article doesn't elaborate on what exactly is meant that Torres went to the SPCA to "figure out the dogs". Were some of the dogs later euthanized? How many of them if so? If not, were they returned to their owners? I think this is an important matter that should have been more fully explored. Many of those "gutter punks" are musicians and have strong bonds with their dogs.
7
That same thought crossed my mind a split second ago. They must have been euthanized since they were "mangy dogs."
Once again, nobody cares until it starts happening to rich white people.
59
Well, the rich white guy had the capital to do it, who else does? Also, his service protects everyone in the Quarter, regardless of their income. I could see this coming back in the 80's, that eventually the US would have walled compounds and guards, like Mexico.
Jonny, that is a weird comment. Presumably everyone it happens to cares. When it happened to this rich white person, he stepped up and did something about it. He didn't wait for anyone to care. What exactly is your beef here?
1
New Orleans is a sespool and there is no private security force that can change that.
6
"the crimes became increasingly brazen, including a vicious stabbing and a spate of random beatings."
"The boundary between order and chaos, however, remained precariously thin. A few weeks later... a shootout broke out at 2 p.m. just outside the Quarter, in front of a shop that rents small electric cars to tourists. Five days later, a more violent incident occurred on the neighborhood’s periphery, in which a midday gunfight among multiple men left two with nonfatal gunshot wounds. Witnesses reported hearing at least 20 shots and seeing one man running down Canal Street, Downtown’s main commercial thoroughfare, carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. Another suspect crashed his car into a sedan, injuring its driver, a doctor at Tulane University."
"where 52 percent of African-American men are currently out of work and nearly 40 percent of all children are born into poverty."
Yeah, I'll pass on New Orleans, thank you very much.
"The boundary between order and chaos, however, remained precariously thin. A few weeks later... a shootout broke out at 2 p.m. just outside the Quarter, in front of a shop that rents small electric cars to tourists. Five days later, a more violent incident occurred on the neighborhood’s periphery, in which a midday gunfight among multiple men left two with nonfatal gunshot wounds. Witnesses reported hearing at least 20 shots and seeing one man running down Canal Street, Downtown’s main commercial thoroughfare, carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. Another suspect crashed his car into a sedan, injuring its driver, a doctor at Tulane University."
"where 52 percent of African-American men are currently out of work and nearly 40 percent of all children are born into poverty."
Yeah, I'll pass on New Orleans, thank you very much.
15
Hate to say it, but the couple of times I've been there (pre-Katrina), I had the sense that I was OK as long as I stayed within a "green zone" where I would be safe. I'll always remember the gent checking me into the hotel on Canal St. who said "Whatever you do, do not go into Louis Armstrong Park at night!" Great food and music, nice folks, awful hot weather.
1
The app is an effective way for the public to be the "eyes and ears" of the police. Nevertheless, a private police force raises all kinds of questions, not the least of which are the Constituional rights of the public where the private police operate.
It sounds like Governor Piush "Bobby" Jindal thinks he can run the government of Louisiana on a shoestring. If stories like this become common, some of us might decide that vsisiting the French Quarter is not the best way to have a fun vacation. My family has been to Mardi Gras, and to St. Patty's Day in NO, which have been fun, as recently as two years ago. This article makes me think twice about doing that again.
It sounds like Governor Piush "Bobby" Jindal thinks he can run the government of Louisiana on a shoestring. If stories like this become common, some of us might decide that vsisiting the French Quarter is not the best way to have a fun vacation. My family has been to Mardi Gras, and to St. Patty's Day in NO, which have been fun, as recently as two years ago. This article makes me think twice about doing that again.
9
Jindal has only one goal for Louisiana - get re-elected.
1
Too bad the excellent progress on law enforcement in the French Quarter is not available to all New Orleans' citizens. But then again, this is what you get when you have the Tea Party running things: fewer government services, mainly for the affluent. If New Orleans really wants to change that, they should stop electing right wing politicians.
52
Landrieu is not a Tea Party person. He is a democrat. You must referring to the Governor BJ. Most people in New Orleans and Metairie are more open minded than the rest of Louisiana.
3
I live in New Orleans, and I cannot think of a single right wing politician elected by the city at large. The rest of the state is a different story, of course, but this idea that the city is reaping what it has sown in that regard is erroneous.
4
New Orleans doesn't elect right-wing politicians. I desperately wish I could say the same for the rest of Louisiana.
1
I don't live in New Orleans but I work in New Orleans and since the patrols with the app started I now can walk to lunch with a safer feeling that I'm not going to get mugged. Seeing the NOPD on the Polaris units driving up and down the streets patrolling has definitely made it safer for tourists and locals to enjoy this beautiful city. The app is very easy to use and has made an impact in the French Quarter. Great job to all that was involved. I know a lot of hard work was put into the endeavor.
24
The wealthy have commanded their politicians to pursue policies that have left municipalities cash-strapped, and then the rich hire police and private security to protect their neighborhoods. When need to take back control of public policy from these greedy narcissists.
37
Way back in the day my summer job for 6 summers was delivering ice through out New Orleans and surrounding parishes to everything from cat houses to fine establishment restaurants.
I quickly learned what neighborhoods/areas required special care and attention but there really wasn't anyplace I was afraid to go. Unarmed...
But something(s) changed and some places simply became too dangerous and fearsome to go to.
Sad & shameful...
I quickly learned what neighborhoods/areas required special care and attention but there really wasn't anyplace I was afraid to go. Unarmed...
But something(s) changed and some places simply became too dangerous and fearsome to go to.
Sad & shameful...
30
'Ice', as in frozen water?
2
How about just getting rid of the guns?
70
How?
"Get rid of the guns" reminds me of the mice who had the great plan of belling the cat, except that they couldn't work out who was going to do it.
"Get rid of the guns" reminds me of the mice who had the great plan of belling the cat, except that they couldn't work out who was going to do it.
Does that apply to the police as well as our Dear Leader's Secret Service goons?
1
Wonderful to see technology, competition, and accountability to customers applied to public safety, and I can't wait for it to revolutionize the way we think about the nature of government. Perhaps everything from municipal trash pickup on up to three-letter federal bureaus was the most efficient structure of governance in the 20th century, but new technologies that solve Hayek's age-old knowledge problem are making all of that obsolete in the 21st.
Kudos to the Times for not getting hung up on ideological public vs private distinctions, which I had expected more of. Why does the discussion about public schools, for example, get so bogged down? I'm very utilitarian in my support of free enterprise and free markets, I don't really care who's providing good services as long as the services are good. My nominally 'private' volunteer fire company provides quality, efficient 'public' services.
Kudos to the Times for not getting hung up on ideological public vs private distinctions, which I had expected more of. Why does the discussion about public schools, for example, get so bogged down? I'm very utilitarian in my support of free enterprise and free markets, I don't really care who's providing good services as long as the services are good. My nominally 'private' volunteer fire company provides quality, efficient 'public' services.
11
Actually, the problem in NOLA is the same problem across Louisiana. Bobby Jindal's mis-handling of his fiduciary responsibility as Governor and his refusal to take ACA expansion dollars has crippled *ALL* services in the state, has decimated education, and has resulted in major trauma centers shutting down for lack of funds.
That the NOLA PD is wanting for funding as well should come at no shock to anyone. Should the lack of adequate policing result in higher crime rates should surprise no one. *This* is the Tea Party Paradise.
That the NOLA PD is wanting for funding as well should come at no shock to anyone. Should the lack of adequate policing result in higher crime rates should surprise no one. *This* is the Tea Party Paradise.
111
How wrong could you get it? New Orleans, a Tea Party Paradise? Obviously someone from California with no clue. New Orleans has been ridden with crime long before Bobby Jindal took office.
4
I don't agree with Jindal, but New Orleans has long had a crime problem.
4
Funny to see all the "thumbs up/recommends" being given the totally clueless comment by "notfamous" from Mendocino County.
I am no fan of Jindal or the Tea Party, but New Orleans's crime has been copious and notorious way before the Tea Party or Jindal. Isn't it New Orleans nickmaned the "Big Easy"?
I am no fan of Jindal or the Tea Party, but New Orleans's crime has been copious and notorious way before the Tea Party or Jindal. Isn't it New Orleans nickmaned the "Big Easy"?
2
NO has been plagued by crime and violent crime for many years. Decades. I would install thousands of security web-cams on the streets and feed the video to facial recognition software.
17
Hello Tom, my name is Bryan Lagarde and that's pretty much what we did. In 2011, I created the ProjectNOLA non-profit crime camera system, which now features over 1500 HD crime cameras networked to our Incident Monitoring Center, here where I work. We listen to the police dispatches and can live-monitor groups of cameras where officers are responding. We've helped officers respond to over 1000 emergency situations, detectives investigate over 500 felony crimes, NOPD Homicide investigate over 50 murders, and have helped close countless felony cases via arrest and warrant. All of our cameras are mounted on private property. Residents and businesses who host a camera may also see their crime camera's video via smart phone, tablet/pad, or PC. Our program has been a huge success. Feel free to check us out at ProjectNOLA.org!!!
3
This is an admission that our society is in its death throes. Soon only the most affluent neighborhoods will have privately funded police and relative safety. If I lived in NOLA, I would support this as the lesser of two evils - the greater evil being living in fear because the real cops are worthless. The center will not hold and few notice because they are so glued to their cell phones and tablets, scanning Facebook.
63
Unless you refer to the public housing, N.O. doesn't really have neighborhoods. You will find mute-million dollar houses set a block away from very meager homes -- back in the day, these were the quarters of the servants who worked in the big house.
8
I was referring to affluent neighborhoods anywhere, not just the Quarter or the Garden District. This is the face of things to come. Eventually the affluent will have private police and the non-affluent will have to rely on the same cops who are shooting them now. But if I lived in NO, I would not want to rely on NOPD.
1
I'm guessing you never lived in New Orleans, which has distinct neighborhoods.
I have work with Mr. Torres more than two years. He is very focus and hard working person I have ever met. I learned to become real entrepreneur under his leadership & support. He can achieved and make successful basically anything he put mind to, like the The Cove Eleuthera, Bahamas Resort that he build.
9
Congratulations to my boss on all of his success and to everyone that made this app possible.
Thank You.
Thank You.
9
My wife and I spent a night in the French Quarter on our way to New Mexico last December. We drove out of our hotel at sunrise and at the first intersection two of New Orleans' finest (read thugs) shined a flashlight in our windshield as we came to a stop at a stop sign. Nothing like a little blinding light to help you see better. No explanation. We drove on. No need to go there again. If I want to look at a toilet I can go into my bathroom.
30
French Quarter reputation has been established for over a century. You shouldn't have been surprised by the scary seediness juxtaposed with glamour, that's what it is.
And part of the charm of New Orleans (which is bigger than the French Quarter) is that it has arguably the most authentic culture of any place in America. Its scary, dirty side personifies so much of the American character. You really need more than a night to appreciate it, it grows on you, in spite of being a poverty-striken third world country.
It's not Disneyland.
And part of the charm of New Orleans (which is bigger than the French Quarter) is that it has arguably the most authentic culture of any place in America. Its scary, dirty side personifies so much of the American character. You really need more than a night to appreciate it, it grows on you, in spite of being a poverty-striken third world country.
It's not Disneyland.
5
visit New Orleans and nine million people plus locals walk the French Quarter.
New York avenue to avenue blocks are 3 times longer than French quarter blocks.
Which means 78 French Quarter blocks are about equal to 25 Manhatten blocks.
There are no 25 blocks in Manhatten - except around Times Square - with nine million
people walking around. Yes there are incidences - there are nine million targets.
Per block walked per capita the incidences are low. It's village size makes each incidence stand out.