ProjectNOLA and Bryan Lagarde vs NOPD and City of NO

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. Last night, I again listened to officers struggling to respond to an overwhelming and ever-growing backlog of priority calls. In the 8th District, there were only three patrol units working (including foot patrol), no LSP or outside assistance, and a large backlog of code 2 (priority calls) including multiple instances of aggravated battery holding in the backlog with no units available to respond for an extended period of time. At 4am, I listened as a 8th District ranking officer ran from the station to the 900 block of Bourbon (which was still crowded at the time), not having a vehicle with a cage, to single-handedly respond to an aggravated battery that was called in to 911 perhaps 15 minutes earlier.

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This is the manpower breakdown on Saturday night (2/21/15) during the shift you’re referencing:
C-Platoon
5 Officers
1 recruit
2 Supervisors
Bourbon Promenade
3 Officers
2 Supervisors
Mounted
1 Officer
There is no record of any calls for service regarding a Signal 34—Aggravated Battery in the 900 block of Bourbon Street."

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volunteers logged there being rank units 820 and 830, patrol units 803, 831 and 891, and DESK OFFICER unit 849.
At 3:43am, the dispatcher advised 8th district rank that they were holding 4 code 1 calls (non-priority) and 4 code 2 calls (priority), with no units available to respond. At 3:49am, the dispatcher advised 8th district rank that they were now holding 5 code 2 calls for service, with no units available to respond. At 3:59am, the dispatcher advised the rank that the code 2 backlog had continued to grow and now included (2) incidents of aggravated battery, a simple battery, a fight, plus others, and that all THREE (street) units were still busy handling other incidents and unavailable to respond to the holding code 2s. The dispatcher advised that one of the incidents was at 931 Bourbon St and involved a perpetrator who was maced and being held for the police to arrive.
At 4:02am, 8th District rank unit 830 advised the dispatcher that he did not have a car with a cage and that he was proceeding on foot from the 8th District station to the 900 block of Bourbon. Arriving at 931 Bourbon St. at 4:10am, u830 advised that he could not find the complainant and that the business appeared to be closed. Shortly afterwards, u830 again radioed the dispatcher, advising that he was able to successfully locate the complainant, who had relocated nearby.
Once meeting with the complainant, u830 advised the dispatcher that the perp was never being held and asked why he was advised such. The dispatcher responded, advising u830 that the notes assigned to the incident did not say anything about a perp being held. To that, rank advised that the only reason why he ran from the station to the 900 block of Bourbon was because he was advised via radio that the perp was maced and being held for the police. After additional research, the dispatcher found that the notes concerning a person being held were actually made on a separate item number that listed an address just off of Bourbon St.
Our logs reflected multiple errors that were made in regards to this incident: 1) That it was one of multiple code 2 calls were holding in the backlog, 2) that the officer had to respond to a code 2 call some blocks away without the aid of a vehicle, 3) that the officer responded to the situation without the benefit of backup, 4) that the responding officer was advised of two conflicting stories, by two separate dispatchers, concerning the incident that he was responding to. "

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Lagarde says manpower was weak Saturday night, but NOPD spokesman Tyler Gamble says they had 14 supervisors and officers on duty.

Lagarde has offered to help the NOPD set up real-time camera monitoring, but so far, that offer has gone nowhere as the NOPD pushes its Safecam camera program.

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