Chief Riley: What’s the plan?
June 19th, 2009We have yet to hear anything from Superintendent Riley about his crime-fighting strategic plans other than, “I’m doing something.” Meanwhile, he wants more summer overtime for police patrols.
Granted, everyone wants to make sure that street cops get fair compensation for going above and beyond the call of duty during the hot months of summer to keep New Orleans safe.
On the other hand, maybe patrol officers ought to ask if their commander-in-chief has done his job to make sure they get that deserved compensation.
Council Member Shelley Midura is right to persist in her request that Riley produce a strategic plan for NOPD operations, with target goals:
New Orleans needs a carefully crafted plan to combat violent crime. We can only have that if we have the big discussion that identifies goals, timelines, tactics, deliverables, indicators and measures of success in our fight against crime.
My fear is that we will instead have the small discussion, where we instead argue who is for or against public safety, who supports our hardworking police officers and who does not. We will have a war of red herrings and straw men in which the casualties are the lives of our citizens. If that is the case, we will truly be sacrificing the interests of public safety for political gamesmanship. Small politics cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the real work of smarter crime fighting.
It’s long overdue time for Riley to come up with a game plan, and to stop treating those who ask questions as though they’re the enemy. We’re all in this together, but Riley is rewarded with a giant salary, and commands a significant share of our tax dollars, to show results. If he can’t answer basic questions about how he allocates resources, then it might be time for someone else who’s more willing and capable of assuming the responsibility.
