NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Mayor LaToya Cantrell claims that New Orleans’ homicide rate and police force declines are “decreasing,” during a nationally televised broadcast on Sunday (January 22). , expressed little concern about efforts to provoke a recall election against her. Interview for “Face the Nation”.
Cantrell appeared on the CBS show hosted by Margaret Brennan and was part of a panel with other mayors of Miami, Atlanta and Mesa, Arizona. Guests were in Washington, DC for last week’s US Mayors Conference, which ended on Friday.
Cantrell became the focus of Brennan’s questions for about three and a half minutes of the 12-minute segment. Here are the questions she faced and the answers she provided.
Q: “President Biden said, ‘It’s not about defunding the police, it’s about detaining the police.’ I doubt you agree with that. New Orleans doesn’t have enough police officers. I know we have a problem with that: less than 1,000 out of 300,000.”
Cantrell: “It’s both retention and adoption. Oh, it’s really been lifeblood, because the second tranche of American Rescue Plan dollars has been directly allocated. We’re putting $80 million overall into public safety.” It’s one of the biggest in terms of incentive packages to retain and retain so you can see it’s slowing down it’s trending down our officers are staying so the cops are responding We must continue to provide them with the tools and resources they need, and with regards to the capacity issue you mentioned, we have to get all 75+ enlisted special operations enlisted men back on the road. So I have to defend my officers as they defend my city, so we’re getting real results in terms of redeployment strategies in the field.”
Q: New Orleans has the highest murder rate per capita of any major city. why?
Cantrell: “The reason is to deal with COVID-19, violence, everyone has a gun, the ability or lack of ability to resolve conflicts without reaching or pulling a gun. Because as it relates to accountability, you know, if they’re not released on bail or detained, we’re just seeing how these crimes escalate. We have to take responsibility and we’re seeing the results, uh uh, we’re on the right track, but I tell you, we’re definitely You have to hold people accountable.You can’t fight crime by just focusing on the police.It’s about the system, it’s about the criminal justice system.It’s about the DA, your judges, accountability. Everybody needs to be held accountable, in the city of New Orleans, we’re focusing on a holistic approach, definitely, uh, we’re seeing a decline in the right direction. It’s progressing.”
Q: This crime problem in your city is causing a lot of political problems. You are the subject of an ongoing recall campaign. There are also many allegations against you regarding financial fraud. To what extent are you personally responsible for criminal matters?
Cantrell: “First and foremost, it is the New Orleans Police Department that is completely under my jurisdiction. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing on the ground: incentive packages, executive retention, hiring, and that’s the focus.”
Q: And do you think you can survive this recall effort?
Cantrell: “From what I have seen, the residents of my city definitely appreciate continuity of leadership, which means that under my leadership, progress will continue and keep alive. I won second place twice, 61% the first time and 65% the second time.Leadership continuity is what I see in my employees.”
Does your story have spelling or grammatical errors? click here report it. Include a heading.
Copyright 2023 WVUE. all rights reserved.