The New Orleans Police Department arrested 20,000 people needlessly on warrants last year at a cost to taxpayers of almost $2 million, said Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas at a City Council budget hearing this morning.
The City Council held the first of three budget hearings on public safety today, with Councilwoman Susan Guidry leading a charge for more openness and efficiency in the system.
The demolition of the Parc Brittney condo complex came after The Lens reported exposed the poorly performing nonprofit that owns most of it.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu may consider paying Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman a flat fee to keep city inmates in his jail, rather than the current daily-rate arrangement which a consultant said only encourages more incarceration.
Anticipating a draft report this afternoon on the appropriate size of a new city jail, a coalition of smaller-jail advocates have renewed the call for an 850-bed jail in line with national averages.
In an unusual move, Mayor Mitch Landrieu awarded Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman a contract in October for more than Gusman originally bid – and for more than the lowest bidder for the same deal.
Today’s City Council budget hearings focused on providing better city openness and customer service, and on the expansion of Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s “open and effective government” budget.
Monday’s City Council budget hearing opened with a lively presentation by a singing and dancing youth group from Durban, South Africa, that had the mayor and council members literally dancing in the aisle.
