The mayor who vowed to end city's 'culture of death'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Three days after taking office in May, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced he was replacing the chief of the city's corrupt and widely distrusted police force. His intention, he said, was to "transform the culture of death on the streets of New Orleans into a celebration of life".
Few elected officials in the Crescent City have ever alluded so bluntly to the shadow of fear that has been cast over it by years of violence, some of it perpetrated not by its citizens but by the police who are employed to protect them.
Landrieu, below, does not do candy-coating. He and the new head of the NOPD, Ronal Serpas, who was drafted in from Nashville, have already begun taking steps to dismantle the bureaucracy at the top of the department where captains have been paid big salaries to look after departments consisting sometimes of only one person.
More important, however, was Landrieu's decision upon taking office to ask the US Justice Department to investigate all that ails the NOPD. That step alone was an admission that the city itself could not undo the abuse, violence and corruption that has thrived for years. In the days after Katrina, it was not just Danziger. In June, five current or former officers were charged in the shooting to death of Henry Glover, 31, whose burned body turned up after Katrina.
It has been a head-spinning baptism for Landrieu whose sister, Mary, is Louisiana's senior US Senator, and whose father, Moon, was mayor 32 years ago. And the police department is only the half of it; he took office two weeks after the BP blowout off Louisiana's shores and then he found that the city's finances were in meltdown.
"The oil spill's much worse than we ever thought," Mr Landrieu told the New York Times yesterday. "The budget's much worse, the dysfunction is much worse, the NOPD is much worse. But, you know, that's why I signed up."
For now Mr Landrieu has some margin with voters who remember his predecessor, Ray Nagin, with little affection. There will be relief if justice is done in the Danziger case and no one thinks the NOPD can be allowed to carry on as before. But reinstating New Orleans' "celebration of life" would be a tough test for any politician.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments