NOPD chief Riley targets blighted homes
Riley wants empty houses gone
He says criminals using sites as bases
Friday, May 02, 2008
By Laura Maggi
The Times-Picayune
The New Orleans Police Department has identified 60 blighted houses across the city that officers say are being used as bases for criminal activity and that should be targeted for demolition, Superintendent Warren Riley said Thursday.
Speaking at the first of a planned series of monthly meetings with the City Council, Riley said his department is working with Recovery Director Ed Blakely and the New Orleans Recovery Authority to target abandoned houses that have been taken over by criminals.
“It is a list of 60 that we believe should be torn down as quickly as possible,” said Riley, adding that the properties are located in every area of the city except the NOPD’s 8th District, which covers the Central Business District and the French Quarter. A department spokesman declined to provide a list of the targeted buildings, saying those details have not been distributed to the police districts yet. …
Council President Arnie Fielkow said he has asked Riley to brief the council once a month about the department’s community policing initiatives and tactical measures. …
Riley said he wants to see a “double-digit” reduction in killings and a similar drop in other major crimes reported annually to the FBI, which includes armed robberies, assaults and burglaries. …
Riley said his staff members have implemented many of the recommendations from a report issued last year by private consultant and former Houston police chief Lee Brown. Among other things, the report urged the NOPD to revive a “community policing” philosophy that encourages a better relationship between street officers and residents. …
Fielkow asked Riley to post the Brown report’s recommendations on the NOPD’s Web site, along with an update on measures taken by the department.
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