National Guard Called In to Fight Big Easy Crime

NEW ORLEANS, June 20, 2006 — -- Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has pledged to dispatch the National Guard and state police to the beleaguered city.

The move answers a plea from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and the City Council for help in protecting city streets.

"The situation is urgent, and we will accelerate our plans to deploy law enforcement to the city tomorrow," the governor said Monday afternoon. "Having more law enforcement patrolling the streets is a direct deterrent to the criminal element. Criminals are not welcome in New Orleans or anywhere else in this state."

The utilization of the additional forces comes after a recent spate of violent killings in New Orleans.

Outrage over the deaths of five teenagers in the early hours of Saturday morning was obvious among the city's top politicians.

"If we don't have wind knocking us down, we have people shooting us down and that is unacceptable," said City Council President Oliver Thomas.

Crime in New Orleans has long been a problem. The per capita crime rate before Hurricane Katrina was 10 times that of New York City. There have been 53 homicides this year, including 36 since April and six last weekend.

The police department's Superintendent Warren Riley said that the amplified resources would help protect the city this summer as the population swelled. The city expects an influx of people returning home to New Orleans now that the school year is over and some assistance vouchers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have expired.

The New Orleans Police Department is operating with limited officers and is straining to patrol large swaths of the city's unpopulated areas where homes are still being picked through by looters.

The police force is functioning at about 85 percent of its pre-Katrina strength. Almost 100 officers were terminated for abandoning their posts or other misconduct during and after the storm, and several others received honorable discharges.

The National Guard presence will largely patrol the unpopulated neighborhoods that were the most heavily damaged. The state police will help manage the French Quarter where large crowds still gather on the weekends.