New Orleans Residents Want National Guard Troops to Stay | News | New Orleans' CW38

New Orleans Residents Want National Guard Troops to Stay

Laila Morcos,

May 9, 2008

The more than 300 National Guard troops deployed to keep New Orleans safe will soon head out. But, not if some New Orleanians have any say. On the crime tracking front, Laila Morcos tell us how they're appealing to the Governor.

The Holy Cross Neighborhood Association is joining with other anti-crime organizations like Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans and Silence is Violence to petition Governor Bobby Jindal to keep the National Guard as is.

Jeffery Chambliss spends most of his time working at his Tchoupitoulas Street business. "We've been very fortunate in New Oorleans. Business has always been very progressive," he says. But he lives in the Holy Cross Historic District in the Ninth Ward -- an area that is slowly rebuilding. "These are people who are homeowners, who work here in New Orleans, have lived here in New Orleans, have been born and raised in the lower Ninth Ward," he says.

However, Jeffery is one of many residents with an ever-growing concern... that National Guard troops will leave by the end of September. "They actually look after us and they answer our calls. They are the ones we kind of expect when we make a call," says Jeffery.

The Ninth Ward is slowly rebuilding. But Chambliss says that rebuilding and growth may stop if the National Guard troops are taken out. Crime may come back. He says, "Theft, burglary, some assaults and a number of murders have happened."

That's why Jeffery and others with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, and Silence is Vviolence are petitioning Ggovernor Bobby Jindal to keep the troops here. "Since they're working, why take them away? Why not just add to what they have and then take them away?"

An NOPD spokesperson says there won't be a mass troop exodus. He says Superintendent Warren Riley plans on extending officer shifts to 12 hours to offset the manpower shortage .. and many of the newly graduated recruits will be moved to the Ninth Ward. And if necessary, Riley may ask for an extension. Still though, residents aren't ready to see even one troop leave just yet. "This is a very serious. We see that removing the Guard at this point is just not a good thing."

If you want to sign the petition to Governor Jindal, go to citizensfor1greater new orleans.com. Also, tomorrow the neighborhood association is planning an anti-crime walk at six o'clock. It starts at six at the St. Zion Baptist Church on Charters Street.