L Follows M

I've been thinking about this for days now, quietly, alone in my house, occasionally finding myself weeping for what would seem to be no reason. Crazy, menopausal bitch. Probably too much or too little estrogen.

Then it hit me.

After Katrina, I wrote emails to friends and family about the state of things here at that time. Using a shared generator for one hour a day as long as the gas held up and using a dialup connection to AOL via a New Mexico number. Those emails got forwarded and forwarded until the email list was completely outrageous with people asking to be added, sending wonderful encouraging letters, telling me to keep sending them. I did this in a vacuum. First the vacuum of no power (the phone line worked), then the vacuum of National Guard roadblocks. Polimom, in Texas, became my liason to others in this area. I knew nothing of blogs.

Finally in March of 2006 I sent out the last email, transferring my communication to the blog format, in great part thanks to Poli's urging. I had no idea what I was doing. So I just started writing whatever came to mind. I also had no idea that there were other New Orleans bloggers, at least not then. I started a second blog, and reposted the emails under the Katrina Refrigerator blog banner (although lately some others have shown up and remain unposted.)

Little by little other New Orleans bloggers found me, sent comments, communicated in email, but they were all just screen names then. I was invited to the first Rising Tide conference. Feeling entirely out of my depth, I ante-ed up the fee and went. I took a steno pad and pen, sat on the floor, surrounded by a sea of laptops and people spouting tech terms. I was a fish out of water, but intrigued.

As I walked in the door, a man who struck me as a human Tasmanian Devil approached me. He introduced himself to me as Loki. He talked rapid fire, told me he'd read what I was writing, told me about himself. We found out we had similar backgrounds in music production. He did six things at once, talking all the while, making me laugh and laughing with me. I told him I wasn't sure I belonged at that conference. His response: "Oh bullshit. You signed up, you paid, you're here. You're kinda stuck with us now." I was stunned and laughing. "I'll catch ya later and buy you a drink or two," he said and kinda shoved me into the sea of laptop room. He whispered, "And we GOTTA talk about the music stuff! We'll share stories!"

There was now a breach in my little vacuum. And it was cool.

I met several other local bloggers that day, tentatively smoking a cigarette outside, finding out which screenname went with each human face, trying not to be too obvious as I stared at their name tags putting the screenname/face and their writing together in my head. Lots of them knew me already from what I'd written. They were so welcoming.

The panels continued, the boats outside the yacht club were still sunk in the water, and there was a threat of another hurricane. There was a beautiful young woman who seemed to have something to do with the organization of all this. She looked very serious, her dark hair to her shoulders, her eyes on her laptop, her fingers flying on the keyboard and she was wearing a really cool skirt. She certainly wasn't a stodgy geeky woman, that was for sure.

I had brought a flask of rum, not realizing there was a fully stocked bar for afterwards. Once the conference officially ended, she looked tired, frazzled. She came over to where all the soft drinks were, and started pouring a coke. I asked her if she would like to add some rum to it. "Oh thank GOD," she said, and we mixed a couple of whoppers. She said her name was Maitri, but I'd figured that out already.

Now some years have passed. These two people, the first two I met, have become friends, colleagues, partners in crime. We've grieved together, partied together, annoyed each other, and sent stupid jokes to each other. We've kept track of each other during subsequent evacuations. I've learned so much from them both.

And I cannot forget their respective spouses. The wonderful patient D, always driving often intoxicated women around looking jaunty in his hat and dimples, laughing at us but never judging. Maitri chose well. Alexis, a beautiful sensitive woman, who along with Maitri, encouraged me to get over my shyness and read OUT LOUD to actual PEOPLE. Loki also chose well.

The loss of the four of them to the Yankees, although for good reasons, will leave a void in our little group. Maitri's counting of days and Loki's tirades will evolve. Their generousity with their time, their cheerleading, will be a loss to the motley group that is the New Orleans blogger community.

But for me, the loss will be greatly and deeply personal. These four people have become friends, took me out of the vacuum. I will miss hearing their laughter for a block before I open the door to the bar, making me smile because I'll find them inside ready to tell me my lipstick needs to be redder or "I totally NEED that Star Wars Christmas Special!"

Maitri and D will leave first, followed by Loki and Alexis. I wish them the best, will await their visits home, and be forever grateful to them for being the first two people to show me that I wasn't alone in my anger, my grief and my frustration during that time. Their gift of themselves was one of the best gifts I've ever received.

Now I'm putting on my tshirt that reads, "Be a New Orleanian Wherever You Are" knowing that they will be, I'm throwing the kleenex away (I'll just get a new one if I need it, and I probably will), and I will await the photostreams that will no doubt show all four of them in bizarre get-ups being stared at by Hoosiers who've never experienced anything like these four people.

I hope those Yankees appreciate what they're gaining.

Absinthe and Cran Please

In response to a fellow blogger, I am posting this here. It started as an email but the comebacks were just too good not to post. Below is the original followed by the comebacks:

Last night my husband and I were going to go to a play. The play was postponed until April 1. So having a night free, actually with each other, we decided to go to Vaughan's. First we went to the Joint for some faboo BBQ, then on to Vaughan's. It was decidedly empty but a couple hours passed and the "let's get seriously dressed up in spike heels" young crowd started to arrive passing in and among the rest of us schlumps. A group of three young women, either tourists or college students, we're still arguing over that, push their way up to the bar with one standing right next to me. She's getting drink orders from her two friends and hollering them to the bartender. "I need an Abita, a screwdriver and an absinthe and cran please."

I spun around like Linda Blair's head, watching as the bartender, clearly as astonished as me repeated it incredulously. Yup, that was the drink order. I kept thinking of Folse. We would have had to get the paddles out if he'd heard it. I thought they were gonna need them for me. I'm still laughing at that combination.

BTW, while we were there (Kermit never showed but of course his band rocked, and we heard one girl tell her friend the name of the band was the BBQ Sauce), Steve Zahn stood next to me at the bar. He was having a great time, ordered some Buds, I asked if he had tried any of our locally beloved beer. His response was, laughing, "I like shitty beer!" We asked if he was working, he said yes on Treme. We got to talking about life here after K and he said there was a lot about that in the show. We told him we were excited to see how Treme turned out and told him we thought the writing would probably be top notch. His response was, "It's the best script I've ever seen." He really gave it high marks and said he is loving working on it. We were delighted to hear it and it was clear that he's loving being here and loving the show. Bodes well I think! The way he spoke about it was interesting. I think he is not only enjoying his work as an actor, but from what he was saying, I got a feeling that he felt he was doing something important, worthwhile, something that mattered to him. It was great to hear that. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Response #1: "Absinthe and cran? She must be shot on the Esplanade neutral ground."
Response #2: "I think the stocks will be sufficient."
Response #3 (by a local writer for whom we all have high regard, known as KA by those on our list): "Oh, great. And the Hipsterpolitan was born."
Response #4: "Girls like that give girls a bad name."

And as we're big on giving credit where credit is due, Response #5: "Perfect, let the record show it was KA who named it! Hipsterpolitan, brilliant!"

Perfect name for a perfectly horrible combination. I've gotten private emails about this, asking how old the girl was (probably about 22), was she a tourist (as I said, we're still arguing about that, although that wouldn't make it any better), and from a long time friend and devoted absinthe drinker, WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?

Well, because she had to drink it and I thought that was punishment enough.

EDIT: As of last night a new name has emerged for this abomination, the Crabsinthe. Just keeping you up to date!

LePetit Theatre-Social Media and Activism

We've all heard talk about the social media revolution. We've probably all noodled around looking for our favorite video to post, or found an article that outraged us and quickly hit the Facebook post button on the bottom. We've wasted time yacking about nothing, posted weird photos, commented on someone's status. No doubt about it, some social media can be a time suck.

I saw something in the last two days, however, that really showed me how fast social media can make a real difference.

Each morning I check Twitter, just to see what my miscreant friends are up to. Day before yesterday, The Gambit tweet was about a breaking story regarding the firing of the Le Petit staff. I quickly checked the Times Picayune, nothing there.

Within in hour on Facebook, a note was written on a friend's page. He outlined what had happened, to whom, why and who would be taking it over. He also layed out some of the ideas that had been floated for the use of the LePetit Theatre building over the years: everything from a new shop to a parking lot. The comments were rolling on that note. People remembering working at the theatre, getting their start there. Others noting the theatre's remarkable historical value.

The original note writer monitored the comments and continued the lively conversation, explaining that the Solomon Group, who has taken over the running of the theatre, isn't the bad guy. In fact they're doing it pro bono (he had put in parentheses "that means FREE"). The conversation continued through the night Tuesday night and into yesterday with many of us offering to volunteer in order to keep the theatre open.

By yesterday afternoon, this group, Volunteers for LePetit Theatre, had been formed by the Solomon Group. As of this morning there were 104 members.

Remember, all this happened in less than 48 hours.

While I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of the finances or all the reasons the incumbent employees were let go, I was nevertheless amazed at the speed with which social media helped get the word out that a local and national treasure could be in real trouble. That speed, that rallying of the troops to save the theatre, was amazing to watch in real time.

For anyone who thinks saving the theatre is frivolous when there are so many really huge problems in this city, I would just point out that they too can rally troops quickly and efficiently the same way. How powerful is that?

LePetit Theatre NOLA Social Media

Slumdog Reality

I've never been lucky enough to visit India. I haven't seen the movie either.

This has been bugging me for days. First I read this article at CNN. It bothered me a lot. Then I saw this picture:



A couple of days passed, and I saw this picture of Azharuddin Ismail the Thursday after the Oscars:




It was accompanied by this article. about his father having just hit him for refusing to talk to reporters. (The same article was published in several other places, both online and in print.) To his father's credit, he apologized. I mean he's not used to this kind of scrutiny either. But the whole thing upset me a lot. He's just a kid. He'd been under a lot of pressure. I was furious at his father for hitting him. I was furious with the reporters for hounding him. He's a little boy, not much older than my grandson. He was tired, he was overwhelmed. It pissed me off. And the sensationalism of the reporting pissed me off. The incredible judgmentalist tone of the piece written, no doubt by someone sitting comfy in a chair in a warm house. Someone not in that reality.

I could only compare his reality with mine, as it's the one I know. It still bothered me. I knew the producers had made sure that these kids' education would be covered and that they were trying to do right by them. Views on parenting might be different there than mine are.

Then I started thinking about all the OTHER kids in those slums and found a reasoned comment on the CNN article. Donations can be sent to Pratham.org to help all the other little ones who were not at the Oscars, who were not in the movie, who are used to living under plastic sheeting.

All that was followed by how many kids a block, four blocks, 20 blocks from my house are in the same situation: living in poverty, getting the back of a hand, maybe going hungry.

The whole thing broke my heart. I can't get Azaruddin's little tear streaked face out of my head. I'm going to keep him there to remind me of all the others in Thailand, in Africa, in India, and yes even here in America, who are hungry and overwhelmed.

It's not just an Indian problem. I compare these impoverished kids reality with an AIG executive's reality and it pisses me off.

Sometimes the whole world seems cockeyed.

Slate's Uptown Adventure

This post will be sans links as it's just a children's story, a cautionary tale, a narrative with a happy ending, suitable bedtime reading. It's also dedicated to those readers who will be belly laughing outside my hearing, behind their screens. I love them all---I think.

An announcement came to Slate's inbox: Book signing for Mark Folse's new book, Carry Me Home, at the Maple Leaf Bookstore. Proud of her friend, she ris-vipped, put it on her calendar and there it sat until the day before it was to take place. Slate then, being a good old geek, enters "Maple Leaf Books" in the Google map section of her computer screen and miraculously little icons appear showing the locations of not only Maple Leaf Books, but Octavia and three others. She confidently clicks on the correct icon and voila, a map appears in short order.

"Cool," she thinks. "I can take my bike! It's just down Rampart to Canal, then a right and I'll be there. No problem."

Something strikes her as strange. The location mapped before her would put her directly behind St. Louis Cemetery #2, three blocks from the Iberville Projects.

"Hmmm," she thinks. "Perhaps that isn't right. After all I've been in and around that area a lot and never saw a bookstore there."

Pondering for a moment, she decides to call the above mentioned Mr. Folse who, upon hearing the directions, laughs out loud then says the directions are wrong. He kindly points the seriously downtown impaired woman in the right direction, giving her a street address for the book signing and some suggestions as to how best to get there. No, the bike won't do it. It's gonna have to be the car. It's not that she's NEVER been uptown, but most of the times she's ventured there it was recon after Katrina or some medical lab to find out how many places her husband's bones were broken in. And she doesn't want to take the freeway as the only way she's ever found her way around cities was by using surface streets, once a street was seen she knew where she was when she saw it again.

She'd been to the zoo, the lake, the yacht club. She'd occasionally been to friends' homes but it had almost always been with another friend driving who knew the way. Not a problem. Slate was anything but faint of heart.

Confidently walking out her door, Slate got into her car and headed for Claiborne. There was some activity there blocking her way, maybe an accident, she never did find out, so she cut back down to the go through the Quarter to St. Charles since the map showed that she could surely get there via that broad and beautiful avenue.

Slate, however, had completely forgotten that it was a Mardi Gras parade day. After fighting her way down Dauphine, past all the people in line at Port of Call, she heads down (up?) toward Canal. The tourists are out in force, obviously believing mistakenly that the PT Cruiser is a spaceship made of some sort of malleable plasma to which their bodies will be impervious. It takes her 30 minutes to traverse the short blocks of the Quarter, make the left to Royal, a right on Royal and . . . .

"Oh my god, it's a parade day!" she says to herself noting police barricades already up at the Canal/St. Charles/Royal intersection. Bravely crossing Canal onto St. Charles, she curses WWOZ for betraying her in her time of need by playing a lot of Spanish music that she's not crazy about rather than something that will keep her trucking along into the foreign territory that is Uptown.

All the way up St. Charles people are already camped out for the parade that won't start for a couple more hours. Tents, ladders by the dozen, lawn chairs, coolers full of beer are all she sees on both sides of the street and along the neutral ground. Trucks stop with no warning in front of her, dropping off more furnishings for their outside parlors. Cars in front of her do the same, hailing an old friend off the neutral ground in order to carry on an extended conversation regarding logistics as she waits impatiently but curiously behind them.

Every corner has a vendor of wonderful food, port-o-lets painted as faces with big 3-D noses attached to their doors sit in the bed of a truck as the truck's owner contemplates how many dollars he'll make in the next two weeks. Stacks of bleachers line the stately avenue waiting to be filled up with shouting people, arms in the air. It's already nearly impassable, no parking signs deterring parking but not the never-ending stop and drops.

"Hey, so THAT is Fat Harry's," she remarks to herself seeing the green awning that she's never noticed before. She knows she's been out this far before but never paid attention much. Now she was on a deadline and it was a Mardi Gras weekend. The Spanish music kept up, words that sounded like Spanish, as they certainly weren't English words her mother had taught her poured out of her mouth.

"Cherokee. Turn right then left. I did it!" Slate says, patting herself on the back for finding a parking place just steps from her destination.

Upon her arrival, her friends from the blogosphere hear her tale of woe, and laugh or look amazed that she's never been here before. She has a wonderful time, eats King Cake, enjoys her Uptown friends, ogles books, gets directions to go home.

One of her friends, a Doctor so she can absolutely be trusted, tells her to go to Carrollton then to Broad to Esplanade. Slate has to ask which way Carrollton is.

"Just go straight and make a right. It's the big street," they tell her. She waited but they didn't tell her to look both ways before she crossed. That was kind of them.

Slate dutifully climbs into her car, goes to Carrollton, makes the right as she was told. Then she notices the Bed and Breakfast she stayed at on her first visit to New Orleans more than 15 years ago. She parks her car, gets out and takes a few photos. The house is now a private home, looks wonderful, she guesses the crazy woman who owned it must have passed on.

Back into the car, full of confidence and pride, she goes forth, homeward bound.

"Claiborne! Oh hell, I know where I am now," she says, grinning widely as she makes a right.

Driving down Claiborne she notices how wide it is, not like the part near her home. She's been told that at one time, all of Claiborne was a tree lined boulevard. Here she can believe it. At the Louisiana Street intersection, she notes a demographic difference, almost like a weird invisible line. The color and number of people at the bus stops change. She sees other cross streets she knows and thinks how wonderful it is that she might now have an alternate way of getting to her doctor, and some other places she has to go now and then. She's exhilarated, channelling Marco Polo, discovering spaghetti!

She knows where she is! Could actually point in the right direction if asked where her house is! Her chest swells with pride. Then there it is. Right in front of her. A dreadful, yellow, inescapable DEAD END sign.

"But I can SEE the Superdome," she wails. "Who knew Claiborne ENDED." (Evidently the Doctor she should have trusted did, thus telling her to take Broad.)

Forced to take a right, she finds herself confronted by Magnolia Street or an unnamed left turning rampy kinda thing. She is still confident so chooses the ramp.

"OMG, I'm getting on the Bridge! I don't live on the Westbank anymore and my toll tag is out of money!" Hysterical laughter overtakes the Spanish music on OZ. She contemplates taking the Ferry home but realizes that will take her to the end of Canal, not a good idea.

She turns around, digging in her purse for a buck, cursing at the drivers who didn't SEE the gigantic TOLL TAG ONLY signs and suddenly need to move over, finds herself convulsing in laughter at her situation, and pays the lady at the booth.

Breezing along the freeway, she goes to the Claiborne Ave sign that she knows well. Finally she is in home territory: hideous overpass on the left, cemeteries on the right. She realizes suddenly what a horrid disservice to the city that overpass was. It completely cut the city in half. Her Uptown friends knew that. She just saw how awful it was. St. Louis, St. Peter, Dumaine, familiar, unlike Maple, Spruce, Oak. Turning right on Esplanade, she tools home, finding her way easily through the maze of the Marigny.

Upon arrival Slate called a friend. She told him of her adventure. They laughed that she was the only one who could conceivably go from the Maple Street to the Marigny via the Westbank. They discussed maybe taking a trip to Gentilly one day, but he'd drive so they didn't go via Mandeville.

Moral of the story: Either take a cab or listen to the Doctor.

Buffa's Crime Meeting w/Riley et al 1.31.09

Here's what I typed up as fast as I could. Some is surely missing and/or paraphrased. I'll upload the photos as soon as possible. Today is busy for me so it might not be til tomorrow.

Some officer's names are not recorded here, the names went by too fast. I do know that Major E.C. Hosli, Major Bernadine Kelly and Chief Kirk Bouyelas were in attendance as well as the French Quarter Quality of Life Officer whose name is (I think) included in my notes. Supt. Warren Riley also attended, as did Councilmen Fielkow and Carter.

The one line comments at the bottom of these notes were statements made by the attendees as the meeting broke up.

The Lower Quarter folks sent out a great email with phone numbers, other contact information, and more names. Please check that email for those numbers.

Also check the NOLACrimeAlerts.com website to sign up for txt msg based crime alerts. Detailed sign up instructions can be found there.

Below are the notes, such as they are. Typos have not been edited, sorry about that:
____________________________________________________
January 31, 2009

Buffa's Crime Meeting 2
Lower Quarter Citizens

12:05 PM Fielkow arrives
News teams coming in

Roger Jones Local Cop/Quality of Life Officer Vieux Carre
Three NOPD: Hosli

Camille Burgin welcomes the NOPD
“We welcome you. We have had no burglaries or armed robberies in two weeks. We like the foot patrols.”

Google Group:
KW explains listserv and asks for participation, talks about bicycle safety escort program.

Four black faces, two are police.

Camille:
“Quarter is the economic engine that drives this city, we're the shopowners, the bartenders. We're the ones who welcome the tourists and we're also the ones walking home at 2AM after a 14 hour shift. We drive the city. We have to work together. I think we can do that and make it work. We have seen a great improvement.

Streetlights: We've sent a letter to Mr. James Carter. Robinson Industries is the subcontractor. By Feb 24 all Quarter streetlights should be working. If you see one out send info to Fielkow, Carter and Robinson Industries.

If you have lights at your house, TURN THEM ON.

If you have an elderly neighbor, and they can't change their lights, help them.

Aud: I have a ladder.

CB: We're a small town, we have to know each other.

Aud: If you see a shop whose lights are out let them know.

We need neighbors to shop in our neighborhood to keep the Quarter going,.
CB:
We have to help each other to stay open.

Block Monitors: Like hall monitors, we're seeking volunteers (KW speaking) to do citizen patrols on a monthly basis, as well as people to just keep track of their block. I will put together info and send it out as an email blast.

Julie: We originally wanted a big group organized but found that difficult so instead we decided to do it block by block, like crimewatch. Open shutters, watch for lights out. Whatever anyone can do on their own. We're trying to decide if we want weekly meetings, social. Chasing people off the stoops, but sitting on stoops, knowing who's out of town.

Aud: The cops can't stop someone who just looks suspicious but we can call and report someone that looks suspicious. Each local little area. At our house keep our windows open, people know we're there.

HOSLI:
Think back to our neighborhood, where every little old lady knew what was going on. That's the kind of talent you guys have. This is your neighborhood. We can come and police it, but you know who lives here. That's the difference. We will do everything we can on our part, but as the gentleman said you guys watch too.

What I say to you is don't call if there's nothing there or our patrol cars will be out there for nothing. If the hair crawls up your back, don't walk into it, CALL. If you have a problem w/the 911 system, you've got to let us know. Send me an email. Get the operator number and put it in the email. You guys will say, I called and no one came. I'll send that info to the research div and they'll look into it. You gotta help me. To make it right, I gotta know where to start.

Task force units work from 8-4 at night. They work a little differently.

Aud: We tend to get complacent, lights again and how often do we want to meet.

HOSLI:
If you have camera systems, we've asked before to get that information. If I had that info going into it, it helps me out.

Aud: Internet cameras? 10 bucks a piece.

HOSLI:
If the cameras can send info to computers, it doesn't take a lot to make it work and it will help.

Aud: Years ago cops knew the business owners, the bar owners, a more personal relationship. It seems that if I recognize you, and I know your name, I know you and you know me, and I can say I need help. . . . .

Without getting arrested (someone else said)

HOSLI:
We find ourselves going from call to call.

Aud: I can't remember the last time I've seen an officer on foot.

HOSLI:
They walk an hour on foot every shift. It's been for about the last year.
We have designated Bourbon, Chartres, Royal, Decatur, French Market walking beats, with patrol car designated to that assigned area. What's happening now is we're not allowing those cars to come out of their area unless it's an emergency.

Aud: We want to know who the officers are, and be their BFF's. We don't know who they are. But was on the corner of Dauphine, never saw one walking. Saw two cars, but not walking.,

HOSLI:
That officer is required to get out of the car for one hour and walk around and get to know you. There's lots of information there if we say hello.

Aud: We see the police patrols, I've seen your guys and we appreciate that. As long as we're seeing your presence we feel better about opening up our doors and windows.

HOSLI:
There are two things going on, leave lights on. The bad guys will go to another block. Sometimes my officers are out there with their hoodies on blending in, trying to see who's buying drugs, etc. Right now they're working nights. Task force 8PM to 4AM.

Aud: How many actual cops, actual bodies are floating around.

HOSLI: We got new officers, six are still in training. One car min, CBD, Ramp Corridor, Triangle, per shift. We also have paddy wagon. We found we were making arrests every 20 min. We found that that takes officers off the street, so now the prisoner wagon comes to them, they do their paperwork and the wagon takes the guy to lockup. By doing that the officer can stay in that area.
Aud: Some people don't like all the lights, but people will turn around if they see those lights on the patrol cars.

HOSLI:
I think something's happening that might not be happening. The patrol car cannot leave the area without contacting the supervisor.

Aud: Shopkeeper, my entire family is all on one corner all day, I want them to know who the local officer is, so they know you.

RILEY:
People are having problems with officers walking and not saying hello. We have a partnership with Harrah's Casino now. We're putting together a program to train our policemen in customer service. Harrah's (Hiegland?) knows how to deal with everything, our officers need that training. Some of our officers have trouble with customer relations. We hope that that program will address the problems of officers walking the beat and not relating to the people in the neighborhood.

Aud: Do the officers in the 8th Dist—is there a high turnover? Seems like I just get to meet them and they're gone.

HOSLI:
Yeah sometimes. We lose them to other agencies.

Aud: Night of Wendy's murder, the suspects were sitting on our neighbor's stoop. If your officers had seen them could they have asked them move them on or do we have to call and complain before you can act.

Aud: You can ask them to leave it's your property. I walk down the street every night, I”ve never had a patrol car asking me “how ya doing tonight.”

HOSLI:
WE have more officers coming on board, and the scooters work. They operate on Jackson Square, Dauphine, other areas. I like it because they're closer to the street, they're out of their cars, they hear more, they see more. Unfortunately we had one crash this week so he'll be out for a while.

Aud: If you see someone just sitting there, say “hi, how you guys doing” and it just let's them know that someone's watching them, but you don't have to profile to do that.

HOSLI: My task force guys, have been told if you see them sitting on a step, ask them who they are and do they belong there. If it's where I need to be, I won't mind being asked what I”m doing there.

Quality of Life Officer:
Basically I deal w/nuisance complaints, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, broken windows. If you have issues like that I'm the person to call.

HOSLI: Saw them putting up a light on St. Louis and Royal. New pole new light.

Aud: new lights make a difference.

KW: We have a couple more questions, then the officers will address us.

Aud: Do we have a curfew. (Yes)
Do we have truant officers? (Yes)

HOSLI:
We do deal with truants.

Aud: My husb comes in before dawn and go out at that time. It should be brought up to Nagin that I see more SDT than I see NOPD. I see an officer a week, maybe. I'm on Decatur St.

Aud: What's the deal w/city cameras. My house is surrounded. (Black man) St. Claude and St. Bernard, heavy drugs. I put up cameras. I can't call you cuz they're gonna hurt ME.

OFFICER: I'm not sure if those cameras are working but I”ll call that district and find out. What's the name of that club?

Aud: Sidney's Saloon.

CB:
We want to thank NOPD for our added patrols, we are grateful. We want you to know that we're not against each other. We want to work together.

RILEY:
We added 16-17 officers to the Quarter, we continue to add to the Quarter, but we want it to be the safest tourist area in the country. Because any incident in the Quarter goes national and international. I get emails asking me “should I come to New Orleans.” I hate getting those. We strategically put a plan in place, increased visibility on Bourbon, Decatur, Royal. We have cars on Canal and in the Warehouse dist. Not only on St. Ann but walking patrols Bourbon to Rampart. We have two cars St. Ann to Esplanade. Another patrol car from Esplanade to Elysian Fields.

There were some officers who were not doing their jobs. Those two supervisors are no longer part of the 8th district. Two new lieutenants have been brought in. We also know where every car is patrolling. From our end, if we put something in place, we expect it to be carried out. If it's not being carried out, and some weren't, we removed them. Every 40 min an arrest in the Quarter. Paddy wagon helps so the officer no longer leave the Quarter, only the paddy wagon team. So those people who get arrested have to sit a while in the back of a paddy wagon, it's not a good experience. That is working very well for us.

There are other officers who are in plain clothes. Some of those undercover teams are still working in the Quarter. We have increased significantly the number of officers in the Quarter. We have several new officers training now, you'll get some more officers in April. Some National Guard have joined us. They've been working here in NOLA for at least a year. You'll probably bounce to 145, we might get 150. Officers coming from around the state and country to join NOPD so as we get additional people we can get to 150. Once we reach 150, we will be able to up the foot patrols. Some officers have to be in cars for quicker emergency response but once the numbers go up, you'll see more foot patrols.

James Carter is here now.

Aud: Do we own the skytower cameras that we use during Mardi Gras. Why can't we use them the rest of the year?

RILEY: Yes we own them.

It's a good idea, but the people who work those skywatch cameras, we need civilian techs and officers, we don't have the money. But we do bring them out for special events, but we can't afford overtime pay to keep them there all the time.

Aud:
What can we do to help you do your jobs more efficiently.

RILEY:
We've gone to the state and asked for more officers. We can't have volunteers without them going through training.

2 cars, which could be 2-3, sometimes 4 officers. The majority of the time you'll have two officers per car. That does not include our task force people, you have plainclothes, some nights you're going to have 7-8 officers in an area if we notice a trend. We know by 8AM every morning if we know that we need to shift resources to a particular area. It used to be adjusted weekly, now it's done daily.

Jeff/Buffa's: re:Training from Harrah's. I've had incidents where I called and was treated like a criminal.

RILEY: Some of the old time officers are just not gonna get it. Harrah's is trying to get our officers to understand that the citizens of NOLA are our customers and we have to treat them with respect. Some officers do have a police against the citizen mentality. We're trying very hard to change that.

Aud: If we have to argue to get a case number

RILEY: Report that officer, give us the area and time, we'll know which officer was there. If you request an item number, you should get an item number.

Aud: Can your officers please be instructed to give us a report number?

(I took a break to take photos)

RILEY: We have some officers that just won't do what they are supposed to. Hold us accountable. Hold us accountable. We get rid of those people.

In many cases, once we turn them over to lockup, the DA gets our reports. There's no reason you shouldn't get a case number. Call and ask for a supervisor.

Aud: We need to know when we should start calling! We're a laissez faire city. How long before we should start complaining?

RILEY: You do have a responsibility to follow up. We need to sit down with you, get a small committee together to find out what you want to see on our website in order to get that information.

We need to give the citizens some insight as to what they can do.

Thanks all around. Cops and Riley still here. Also Carter and Fielkow.

Denzer: My goal is to provide you with access to crime info within 24-48 hours. What I want to point out is that there is more NOPD can be doing.

Dep Supt (?) should be commended for the email blast system. I don't view that as adequate. I was told that we couldn't have access to crime info until it was approved. We just heard Riley say they get a list of crimes every morning at 8AM. I want to know why we can't get that list too.

I was told we have to wait. If you go to the city's crime mapping website it takes up to two weeks to find out where crime has happened.

I don't want to disparage Riley, I want to work WITH him. I ran the data and the stats, and found that assault category was underreported, as well as other categories. I was told we had to wait 2-4 weeks in the interest of accuracy. I wrote Riley, what they did was eliminate that info from their crime mapping site. It looks like sabotage to keep us from knowing the truth. The icons are still there, but the description of the event.

They're getting information every morning at 8AM. We should have access to that.

Councilmember Fielkow is here as well as Councilman Carter. Two weeks ago they endorsed the NOLA/Stat policy. It's an open stat policy.

I want open records across the boards so we can identify problems and find solutions.

Andrea Garland: Text msgng alerts. NOLA crime alerts message. Every neighborhood has a group, send txt message and it's forwarded. Check website for full instructions. You sign up and are approved, then you can send msgs.

Meeting breaking up into little groups. Carter being interviewed outside.

CB: We have five Guardian Angels, we'll be talking to them for the next meeting.

We need to do regular meetings.

Big applause for Jeff.

No followup if we don't continue to meet. Once a month?

This was the first time I'd ever been heard.
The best crime meeting I've ever been to. If we don't batter Riley we get more info.

Buffa's Crime Meeting Notes and Pics

Below are my notes from the meeting on crime held yesterday at Buffa's. I am a fast typist, but still a lot of it is paraphrased while holding the basic content of the statement together---lots of words, not enough fingers! I have put some of my personal notes in parentheses and I think I fixed all the abbreviations. Thanks to the always wonderful liprap for looking it over. I can't guarantee that all names are spelled correctly, and at some points lots of people were talking all at once. I hope that this gives you the overall picture of what was discussed and what recommendations were made.

I have to say that I was very impressed with the turnout, and with Councilmen Fielkow and Carter's patience in listening. I was also very happy that District Attorney Cannizzaro took such an active part.

As for NOPD, well, nothing to be said there really.

I really have to thank Terry Taravella for grabbing my camera and taking the photos. It was clear that there was no way I could type and take photos at the same time, and she just stepped right in.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

1.23.2009
Buffa's Crime Meeting Notes
Meeting called by Camille Burgin

(nola.com FQ forums – organized through there)

11:55AM approx 30 ppl in back room, WDSU outside covering it, another station, still unidentified coming in the door.



NOON: Lord David outside doing an interview. Someone in Buffa's refused entrance to the news crews. More people arriving every minute.

12:01PM James Carter arrives.

Camille Burgin opens meeting.

“I know everybody's scared. I know I am., Husband works at in Quarter, walks to get his car at St. Louis and Rampart every night 2AM or later. She waits for him with fear every night.

We're all upset. The thing I don't want us to do is let the fear and horror to go away. We need to channel it so that we can prevent it from happening again.

FBI Stats:
Three times the violent crimes of Mobile between January and June of last year.

I don't know the answers. I don't want us all to think alike. I want to get some solutions.”

Our city council man, James Carter, introduced.



Carter:
I'd like to say that it's really shameful what happened to the woman who lost her life.

We have to make sure we have visible patrols in these areas. That is going to happen. The city has dispersed the light people to fix the lights throughout the Quarter. We have to continue to focus on these violent repeat offenders who prey on the citizens of NOLA. DA's representatives are here, I want to thank them for attending. Councilman Fielkow is here. I want to hear what you all have to say.




Lord David:
I never see patrols. Who can we call to get patrols?

James Carter
Major Kelly (? Not sure if that’s the name said)

Brian Denzer did a presentation and Carter doesn't know why he was turned down.

He (Denzer) came and did another presentation.

The above came from Lord David saying go to NOLA website tons of places to pay fines no place to report crime, why wasn't Denzer's proposal accepted.

No answer.

Fielkow: Denzer has been in front of us for two weeks now. DC has something like his proposal. Yesterday council voted have those people meet with Denzer immediately.

Harrison Boyd Tech Director-- Barrage his office, reference council CapStat (I think that’s the name) program, tell him to talk to Brian Denzer to implement it immediately.

Applause

Fielkow: This is ridiculous. Long term needs to be reformed, but for shorter term it's crime cameras that aren't working, lights not working, strategic problems.

Major Hosli couldn't get clearance to come here because he was not invited. Make sure police have formal invitation to come to ANY meeting like this.

Crowd has grown. Folks are starting to shout out complaints.

We're being outsmarted by 15 yr old kids with no education (attendee comment)

Carter: Outside of Bourbon St do you ever see patrols.

Entire room says NO.

Woman complaining about the tap dancers, calling them pickpockets and gangsters.

Carter again asked re:foot patrols.




One in audience says she saw one the other day, the cop said he had to do it for a couple weeks.

Woman saying she comes home from gigs at 2AM carries a blade.

The cops are certainly around when a car needs to be towed.

How long can we have MP's here. Safer with them than NOPD.

Guard term has been extended four times, can't be done again.

Lord David: telling story from his post re: Billy Sothern's robbery report of a theft involving a cell phone. (Humid City)Re-read Lord David's Humid City post as reference.

658-6800 number for Internal Affairs.

Fielkow: you need to come up with a laundry list of what you think needs to be done. Schedule a meeting w/Hosli and Riley asap, let council participate with you.

What comes out of this has to be fed and put into action, get some representatives and schedule a meeting. James Carter is the head of the Crime committee.

NEWS CREWS NOW LET IN.


Fielkow: If the DA will also attend the meeting you schedule that would help.

Aud: is there anything the council can do to get Riley to respond.?

A call for his resignation gets applause.

We work mostly in the service industry. If this keeps happening we'll have no revenue brought into the city.



George Kulman “DamnYankees” screenname
Lives on Gov Nicholls betw Bourb and Royal, he's from NYC, raised Lower Eastside.

He says has been actively following things, had lived here part time for years, moved permanently after Katrina. What he's seen is horrendous event happens, everyone gets up in arms, in two weeks everything goes away. We must organize and hold every responsible party's feet to the fire.

I am not for vigilantism, but I will be getting a conceal carry license. I will also assist anyone else who wants one. It'll cost you 350 or so, but if we get a couple hundred people applying for carry permits, even if we don't CARRY the gun, it's the police dept's worst nightmare.

Second, city built on tourism. I don't want to hurt it. The people who can prevent that from happening are our council people, the mayor. We need our group to put banners, get a local news contact committee, national news contact. Tell people from out of town to rethink coming here.

MOST THINK THAT IS A TERRIBLE IDEA. (Basically the whole room disagreed)

George: Local patrols. Formal organization, crimewatch is a defunct organization but maybe we can take it over.

CANNIZZARO IS HERE IN BACK.

Geo: We will not be placated if action isn't taken. I will not be appeased like Chamberlain was appeased by Hitler.

Traceman: Wife and I live in the Marigny a couple blocks from the robbery. Thousands and thousands of banners and armbands so everywhere anyone goes in Quarter or Marigny will see “We're watching YOU.” You can wear them over your Mardi Gras costumes. Print on the armband “Ray Nagin is fill in the blank.” Make it yellow like police tape and a purple lightning bolt.

Aud: Armbands won't stop a bullet.

We need the police to do something.

5 armed robberies and one car jacking within the same area as Wendy's murder in the last month.

I tell my husband's story. Reference my post. (For the record, NOPD finally did call him back, asked him to come down and look at photo arrays. He was doing that as I was at this meeting.)

Terry Taravella says her hubs saw cop tried to get his attention, couldn't get the policeman's attention.

We just want the cops to do their jobs. There are no patrols. We're upset. We don't want to carry guns, we want the cops to do their jobs.

We also want them prosecuted.





DA:
Very sad circumstances that bring us together, but am glad to see the large number of people here who want to do something. It's going to take your involvement. You have to be vigilant, you have to call.. We ARE going to prosecute them to the full extent of the law. I have certain ethical and procedural rules because they are juveniles. We like to think of out 14 yrs olds as children, but if the put a gun in your chest they're not kids anymore. We need to get them off the street. We couldn't even give the names of the juveniles til we got permission from the court. The 14 yr old offender, we can not give the name or the nature of the charge until we file juvenile file court judge to transfer. We will probably be setting transf hearing for Monday. The 15 yr olds will probably be in front of a magistrate asking for bond, improbable that they will get it, that will happen this weekend.

60 day murder: Legislature has changed that to 120 days. We're still investigating that case. Saturday night our (DA’s office) investigators were on the crime scene. Team of three people with every investigative police unit.

I have to thank the council, we wouldn't have been able to get the funding to do the job we need to do. Information has to be gotten immediately, in the past DA's didn't get involved until 30, 60, 90 days after the arrest, now the witness has changed his mind, might not be locatable, or has been intimidated or killed. It's our game plan to get hold of those witnesses immediately to encourage them to stay with us as we prosecute the case.

The arrest does us no good unless or until we can get this person charged. We want to make sure these people are taken out of circulation forever.

I've had the misfortune of sitting with families of victims. I can't bring them back. I pledge to you that we will put them away. Please, I need your help.

I can't make any public statements (re:suspects). Many have been in the system before. It's important that we prevent them from moving up the crime ladder. Education is important, drug rehab is important. It's almost unthinkable that we have 15 yr olds like that in our society, we want to prevent other kids from escalating to these other crimes.

Get involved. Don't NOT prosecute if you're robbed, stay with it.

AUD: Can we call YOUR office?

DA: Lots of people don't want to file charges. I'm hearing that.

AUD: We're accused of being involved!!! (in the crime) Who do we call??? The cops accuse me of being part of an armed robbery and you want me to call THEM. What about police intimidation of someone reporting a crime? It's very common. (Lord David with others chiming in.)

DA: Call our office, but I need a police report.,

Lord David: What if that doesn't work.
AUD: Don't be so cynical. Make the call.

DA: I can't do anything without a complaint filed.

AUD Member to Lord David: I think your attitude is what's causing your problem.

DA: There MUST be a record. When something happens we can't say we didn't KNOW but we won't know if you don't report it. There's not good in every profession.

Being a cop is a difficult job, but we expect them to do it right. We make the decision in the DA's office whether or not to accept the charge. They take the complaint, present it to us, then we determine if there is a case.

(Personal note: I see only three people of color at this meeting with the exception of one of the camera man and one of the DA's assistants. I’m bothered by that as once again it is a white woman’s killing causing this outpouring. I’m wishing the group was more racially balanced.)

AUD: Wendy's murder is a totally predictable consequence. Go to the crime commission website and look at the numbers. Violent arrests here are less than 10 percent. (Metropolitan crime commission website) What are you gonna do to MAKE NOPD do their jobs. They are not making arrests for violent crimes.

DA: We will be on crime scenes to assist. Murders and rapes. Second: we've sat down with the superintendent and many of the deputies, we're trying to get them to improve their report writing and get people to testify. We're trying to improve the quality of police work. Everyone has to be treated with dignity and respect. We're working and trying to get the violent off the street. This is the first time the DA's office has brought people to the scenes of crimes in the history of NO. We have roughly 200 murders/1000 armed robberies (Personal Note: I believe those numbers were per year). We can't be at every crime scene, not enough money.

AUD Lord David: HOW DO WE MAKE THE COPS DO THEIR JOB?


Fielkow:
To have a good criminal justice system we have to have police/DA/public defenders/judges. From a money standpoint we have given. Fielkow believes we have the right DA and judges. The mayor hires the police chief. The council can fire the executive branch, rarely used. Frustration in the council re:crime problems. Cops weren't invited, but it's BS that they didn't attend.

(At this point Camille Burgin says, they WERE invited. Fielkow says, “That’s even worse then.” He was visibly upset that they weren’t there.)

Here's what we can do for accountability:

We have a committed city council, who would like not to have to go to that extreme measure. Start at the top. Have your list, let Carter, Clarkson and I help you get your suggestions get to Riley. If that doesn't work, you'll see us move to the next level.

I do want to make a point. Please do not do anything that will hurt the economy. If we start to go on a national campaign to keep dollars out of here, then we can't get the money we need. So let's not do that.

AUD: So we get the list together and do what you recommend what timeline are we looking at?

Fielkow: Get your three reps, meet with us, then we'll get hold of the DA, and get Riley to meet with you. If he doesn't appear at the meeting, we can issue a subpoena for his appearance at that meeting.

AUD: We don't want to make this a racist thing, but there is a profile. (There was talk of profiling and black men being just as frightened by the cops—fear of being pulled over for no reason.)

Kaye: I've lived here since 1974 I can't live anywhere else. I opened another biz in the Quarter. It's been hard since K. Brother robbed at gunpoint at one point. From a biz person's standpoint any banner will HURT, do irreparable damage to the businesses. Visible patrols, lighting, these things must be done. I will not become a prisoner in our own home. We need to know our neighbors. We need to meet once a month.

AUD: the people in this room need to become leaders for the rest of the city. Crime is killing our city.


AUD: Police need to do their job.

AUD: Question for DA: Can we know when hearings are so we can be a force.

DA: Courtrooms are open. I would encourage that. We are waiting now for the police reports, they will turn them over to us, then we will do our investigation, we will then have 120 days to issue an indictment. You can find out which section of court they're allotted to, if you get a representative to get hold of an ADA. You have a right to follow it from arraignment to sentencing. We want you to be in there supporting us. Often the defendants have a lot of people in the courtrooms, we very much encourage you to get involved and come to the hearings. Sometimes we have to ask citizens to leave while we are choosing jurors, but once that's done you have a right to be in there.

Fielkow: That applies to council meetings also. The silent majority doesn't come. You have to come en masse so when we're talking budget or DA or whatever we can hear what you have to say. We the legislators need to hear from the majority of the city. Come to our meetings and make your voice heard.

Lord David: Texting as crime watch. Activate yourself as individuals. Exchange contact info. I can be contacted at Skull-Club@cox.net. I am collecting stories of NOPD neglect. I've received many in just 72 hours. Please take advantage of our collective.

(sp)Jimmy Delery: I was one who with Harry Anderson put together town hall meetings after K. This is groundhog day for me. We've done this before. Some so full of people that they couldn't get in the place. Let's not walk out of here and forget. If we don't change the management of this police department we can't change anything. We have a great new council and DA. Last night at Aunt Tiki's, 12 police cruisers outside to arrest 2 street musicians. Frenchman St. we can't get one regular policeman down there.

Audience alternately groaned and laughed at the 12 cruisers vs 2 street musicians.

AUD: What can you councilmen do to get us better lighting in the lower end of the Quarter. We gotta get more light below St. Philip St. What can you guys do to get public works to get us better lighting. Warehouse district is well lit.

Carter/Fielkow talking to each other.

Meeting deteriorating into a bitch session.

Back to lighting:
Carter: two different issues, one is the ones that are out, the company that the city commissioned to deal w/lights are in the Quarter every night. Second issue is prioritization, we as a council can prioritize, and it's also a question of money.

Fielkow: if it's a question of resources there's nothing we won't put resources to if it will keep people safe. Stacy Head chair of Public Works. Come to the meeting, come out w/50 people to the Public Works meeting. Alert media that you're doing it. You all have power. Use it.

If it's a money issue we'll allocate what we can, let's get public/private groups to fund, more teamwork, talk to Steve Parry.

AUD: In the last two days I saw lots of cops with their windows down, I said hi and thanked them. The ideal situation would be if they knew who we are and we knew theirs. Make the cops a part of the community.

1:25 Meeting attendance is dwindling.

AUD: Mr. Fielkow we don't feel very powerful. We need to attend meetings to get street lights replaced?

Councilmen and DA have left. News crews have left.

New Orleans Crime Meeting Buffa's