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Category
Criminal Justice

NOPD: Drones just ‘body-worn cameras in the sky’

At a meeting, community members raise questions about the police department's newest surveillance technology.
by Nick Chrastil December 3, 2023 Updated May 7, 2024

The DA’s office wants to use predictive analytics software to direct city resources to ‘places that drive crime.’ Will it work?

Some advocates worry it could lead to increased police presence in already under-resourced areas. But the DA’s office says that the data is only a first step.
by Nick Chrastil November 15, 2023 Updated November 17, 2023

Judge Reese gives green light to Phase III construction, says city did what it had to do, by bypassing City Council approval to move capital funds

A federal judge overseeing the jail's consent decree has ordered the facility be built to provide constitutional medical and mental healthcare for people incarcerated.
by Nick Chrastil November 9, 2023 Updated November 9, 2023

Judge temporarily blocks construction of Phase III jail facility

A hearing on Wednesday will look into whether the Cantrell administration violated the city’s charter by allocating capital money to jail without City Council approval
by Nick Chrastil November 6, 2023 Updated November 8, 2023

After America Street, let’s work toward solutions.

by Trashanda Grayes and Arthur Hunter November 6, 2023 Updated November 5, 2023

Jackson Parish holding pre-trial youth in unlicensed juvenile jail

Despite lacking a required DCFS license, Jackson’s detention center is housing kids awaiting adjudication — and collecting roughly $200 a day per kid from surrounding parishes
by Nick Chrastil November 2, 2023 Updated November 2, 2023

‘Another step backwards’: $9.5 million private security contract for Louisiana youth prisons raises eyebrows

OJJ pays $75 per hour to staffing company for guards. Critics say that contractor seems to be “enriching themselves on the backs of Louisiana's teenagers and taxpayers’
by Nick Chrastil October 25, 2023 Updated November 2, 2023

‘No Phase III’ still a battlecry

Even as construction begins, the fight continues. Within the jail, monitors find, conditions are worse, due to the same old chronic issues: short staffing, violence, and shoddy mental-healthcare.
by Nick Chrastil October 11, 2023 Updated October 11, 2023

Sheriff Hutson moves several pre-trial detainees from New Orleans jail to Angola

While the move was largely made to bring down the jail’s population, placing pre-trial defendants in a state prison is “really problematic on a human-being level,” said public defender Alexis Chernow. The move also worries victims, who fear cases could stall if defendants not prepped for court and transported.
by Nick Chrastil and Katy Reckdahl October 6, 2023 Updated October 6, 2023

Calvin Cains’ mother withdraws one lawsuit, but will keep fighting for body-cam

She now plans to file a “civil-rights and wrongful death lawsuit” against JPSO; body-camera footage would likely be turned over in the course of those proceedings.
by Nick Chrastil October 2, 2023 Updated October 3, 2023

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