The ranks of the New Orleans Police Department have been bolstered for the past month by 50 state troopers deployed to the city following the Bourbon Street shooting.
But the troopers are scheduled to depart after Labor Day leaving some French Quarter business owners scrambling to fill the gap.
The French Quarter Management District has proposed that residents and businesses pay a voluntary fee every week to hire off-duty police officers to patrol the Vieux Carre until a more permanent solution can be reached.
The proposal will be put to the test Tuesday (Aug. 5) as the French Quarter Business League, an association of 58 businesses on and around Bourbon Street, will vote whether to support the plan.
Bob Simms, chairman of FQMD's security task force, said he is hopeful it will be approved but knows that many people are uncomfortable paying extra for public safety when that is a primary responsibility of city government.
"They have valid concerns. Why should I pay for something when I'm already paying taxes?" Simms said. "My only answer is that rebuilding the NOPD is a longer term problem and I can't do anything about that. All I can do is try to mitigate the problem in the short term."
The 50 state police are concentrated in the NOPD's 8th District, where the number of officers has dropped to 100, from 150 four years ago.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said he supports the efforts of residents to improve security in the French Quarter as long as it doesn't require moving officers out of other areas of the city.
He also said that people shouldn't be too focused on the number of officers working in the 8th District; the NOPD routinely increases its numbers using overtime shifts and reserve officers.
During the most active nights in the French Quarter there are typically up to seven officers answering calls for service, up to six on foot patrol around Bourbon Street, up to seven mounted officers and one or two detectives, Serpas said.
Simms' proposal divides the French Quarter into four areas with the first two being Bourbon Street, and the commercial corridor bordered by Royal, Decatur, St. Peter and Iberville streets.
Simms said the group needs to raise $9,400 a week to hire three officers to work details on Bourbon Street during the busiest hours. That would require an estimated 45 businesses on Bourbon Street volunteering to pay $200 per week.
The commercial area would need to raise $6,000 at an estimated cost of $100 per week to hire two officers.
The last two areas include one that is a mix of business and residential interests bordered by Bourbon, Decatur and St. Ann streets and Esplanade Avenue; the second includes the residential area between North Rampart, Dauphine and Iberville streets and Esplanade Avenue.
The area that is largely residential would hire a single officer for vehicle patrols while the other would hire two officers.
The money would be collected and dispersed by the French Quarter Management District to pay for details over a six-month period.
Simms, who is lobbying business owners and residents in each of the four areas, said he hopes to have off-duty officers patrolling Bourbon Street by Sept. 2 at the latest.
Many Bourbon Street businesses are not pleased that they have to step in and perform the city's job by paying for public safety, but understand that it might be necessary on a temporary basis, said Chris Young with the French Quarter Business League.
"Everyone is very concerned that the state police are leaving on Labor Day," Young said. "They've been unbelievable and we are very concerned about what's going to happen especially as we're approaching convention season, which is the busiest time of year."
Simms emphasized that this proposal is a short-term solution and that the organization is working on a longer-term plan that could include raising money for off-duty patrols by increasing the sales tax in the French Quarter or imposing a fee on property owners.
Voters defeated a 2010 proposal to assess an annual fee of $185 on French Quarter property owners to hire a private security patrol but people might be more willing to contribute after the Bourbon Street shooting that left 10 people wounded and killed a 21-year-old nursing student, Young said.
Robert Watters, FQMD's chairman, said the decreased number of police patrolling the streets has emboldened criminals and that it is imperative business owners step up to protect their interests.
"There is a widely spoken idea that people feel they pay enough in taxes but the problem with that attitude is you have to sit back and wait for government to act," Watters said. "I feel we're at a point where the French Quarter could be irretrievably damaged if we don't get a handle on this."
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