The emails show that the NOPD and Louisiana State Police have had a formal relationship since at least 2018 that provides the NOPD access facial recognition software.
Author Archives: Michael Isaac Stein
Michael Isaac Stein covers New Orleans' cultural economy and local government for The Lens. Before joining the staff, he freelanced for The Lens as well as The Intercept, CityLab, The New Republic, and Pacific Standard. He was recently awarded a fellowship from the Heinrich Boll Foundation, which he used to report on water scarcity, division, and colonialism in Cyprus.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City Council saves $1.2 million by expanding in-house Entergy regulation, cutting consultants
The council has long relied on pricey — often politically connected — private firms to do its regulatory work.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Voters shoot down all three Cantrell-backed tax proposals
The French Quarter sales tax renewal, which was used to pay for Louisiana State Police patrols, was also rejected.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Library director says there is no written plan to adjust to 40% cut backed by Cantrell
Officials on Wednesday repeated several of the false and misleading statements that the Cantrell administration has used to sell the proposal to the public.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City accused of misleading the public in campaign for property tax proposal
The Cantrell administration and library officials have come out strong in favor of a package of ballot initiatives that would cut the library budget by 40 percent in favor of housing and economic development. And they have repeatedly made false and misleading statements about the proposal.
Posted inCoronavirus
New Orleans City Council approves ‘somber budget’ for 2021
City Council makes few changes to Cantrell’s lean budget proposal.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Report: Bureau of Governmental Research opposes Cantrell-backed tax proposals on Dec. 5 ballot
“Voters are asked to approve a nearly 40% revenue cut for public libraries without a strategic plan or a clear roadmap,” the report said.
Posted inCriminal Justice
New Orleans Police Department using facial recognition despite years of denial
Explaining its previous denials, the department said that it doesn’t employ its own facial recognition software. Instead, it accesses the technology through state and federal partners. An ACLU lawyer said that was a ‘distinction without a difference.’
Posted inGovernment & Politics
‘I hope the voters kill it:’ Library board member comes out against Cantrell-backed tax proposal on December ballot
Board member Andrea Neighbours also criticized a proposed policy from the Cantrell administration to change employee discipline and grievance policies.
Posted inCoronavirus
‘An entirely different ball game’: City Council begins 2021 budget hearings under fog of uncertainty
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a new president and Mayor Cantrell’s property tax proposal make it tough to predict how much money the city will have to work with next year.