By Leila Merrill
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a town hall meeting Thursday night that without enough public safety employees, the city’s next Mardi Gras and carnival season may be canceled.
“If we don’t have adequate police, it could mean that there will be no Mardi Gras — and that’s a fact. If our officers cannot be safe, then there’s no way that our city will be safe,” Cantrell told WGNO.
The New Orleans Police Department currently has the lowest commissioned officers in recent decades. The mayor said that the police department is working on recruitment and retention, but an influx of police retirements, as well as trouble with the recruitment of new officers, has led to the staffing shortage, according to Nola.com.
“Look, you know I don’t want to cancel no Mardi Gras, no not at all,” Cantrell said. “But when it comes to jeopardizing the safety of the men and women who make that ultimate sacrifice and kiss their families when they leave every day and hope to come home at night or in the morning, they are the priority.”
NEXT: Setting the record straight on law enforcement retention