By Kasey Bubnash
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
NEW ORLEANS — Amid a surge in New Orleans killings and a decline in police officers that have left three-quarters of residents feeling unsafe, officials on Friday touted the second annual effort to keep unsupervised youths off the streets and officers on them.
In partnership with Louisiana State Police and federal agencies, the New Orleans Police Department launched Operation Golden Eagle II early this month, the sequel to a 2021 summer crime prevention program that city officials lauded as a triumph.
“We had huge success with that,” New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said. “Crime went down throughout those months. Homicides went down throughout those months. And we know without a doubt we can continue that same success this year.”
Curfew, 12-hour shifts
Operation Golden Eagle II runs through August, extending New Orleans police officers’ shifts to 12 hours, enforcing a curfew for juveniles starting on weekdays at 8 p.m. and on weekends at 9 p.m., deploying state troopers to crime hot spots and enhancing services offered by the Violent Crime Abatement Investigation Team, a group that uses local, state and federal law enforcement agents to improve investigations.
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When the original Golden Eagle program launched last year, police responded to 82 crimes per week. By the end of the effort, it was 53 per week, and the program netted seven federal indictments.
Ferguson said this year’s edition is already generating positive results. But authorities said they would not won’t release data to prove it until the operation is completed. They wouldn’t provide many other program specifics either.
Details withheld
Officials didn’t say how the Violent Crime Abatement Investigation Team is being enhanced, identify the city’s crime hot spots or specify would define success at the operation’s end.
“Well, the safety of our community,” Ferguson said, adding that getting guns off the streets, better communicating with residents, decreasing response times and increasing law enforcement visibility would all be beneficial outcomes.
When asked how many state troopers are working in New Orleans through the program, Col. Lamar Davis, the agency’s superintendent, said officials don’t release those details because “we don’t want any other type of expectations.”
“Just know that we have a certain amount of personnel down here to help, and we’re fulfilling our commitment and we’re doing our very best to keep our community safe,” Davis said.
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