Louisiana State Police officers have begun making arrests in New Orleans, primarily during traffic stops where guns and drugs were found, as the “Nola Troop” begins to deploy to crime hotspots across the city.
The dedicated force that Gov. Jeff Landry promised this year would fight crime in the Crescent City has put at least a half-dozen felony suspects in jail since last week. Reports in those cases show officers are busy pointing out missing license plates and tinted windows as justification for stopping vehicles on St. Roch, along North Claiborne Avenue and in other areas.
State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Hodges said last month that it may take until the end of the year for Troop Nola to be fully staffed, given the agency’s hiring difficulties statewide. Meanwhile, about 10 officers have begun patrolling the streets of New Orleans, untethered by the New Orleans Police Department or its rules of engagement, including vehicle chases.
“The Nola troop is alive, well and operational. They are already operating and patrolling strategic areas,” said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Commission against Crime, a criminal justice watchdog.
New Orleans state police arrests point to guns, drugs
Police officers began patrolling the city in earnest last week.
Among their most fruitful stops so far occurred on May 28. Officers Vicente Paz and Tomás Quintero saw a rented Toyota Rav 4 with an “excessively dark tint” and stopped it in Treme, court records show.
The driver, Raheem Lewis, 31, and the passenger, Desmonique Reed, 29, would be arrested. Along with the marijuana, officers found a purple backpack and a Glock pistol with an extended and loaded magazine and a bullet in the chamber.
The backpack contained 16 grams of fentanyl, three baggies of crack cocaine and other drugs, according to a police report. Lewis is a convicted felon and is prohibited from carrying a firearm. He now faces a dozen felonies, including a series of weapons and drug charges, as well as resisting an officer.
Commissioner Jay Daniels set bail at $362,500 for Lewis and $180,000 for Reed.
In another recent arrest, Paz and Quintero stopped a white Nissan Maxima on Monday with no “visible license plate” and tinted windows.
“That weapon?” asked Charun Jones, 30, after officers smelled marijuana and found a .40-caliber handgun in the glove compartment, according to a report.
Jones has a prior conviction for aggravated armed robbery in Texas and an active arrest warrant for robbery, records show. He was booked on charges including being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with drugs. A commissioner magistrate set bail at $70,000.
Officers conducting “proactive patrols” in the city also arrested two men Monday after stopping a Lincoln MKZ at North Roman Street and Elysian Fields Avenue. The driver “ran several stop signs in heavy congestion on several neighborhood streets” while he fled, according to a police report.
One of the arrested men had active out-of-state warrants, including for murder, according to LSP, which also arrested his passenger, A’juan Preston, 18, of New Orleans. Inside the glove compartment were two handguns, including a Glock model 9mm that police say was stolen.
soft launch
An LSP spokesperson did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment on Troop Nola’s increased activity, or its current composition.
The new patrols represent something of a soft launch for Troop Nola, following last week’s announcement of its first arrest: the arrest of three men accused of staging street takeovers last year by ATV and dirt bike drivers. cross.
These proactive traffic stops had fallen by the wayside in New Orleans, especially since the pandemic.
“They couldn’t afford to stop traffic while literally running from one call for service to the next,” Goyeneche said of the NOPD.
NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick began stepping up traffic enforcement this year, even as the new State Police troop was formed. The last time LSP sent a troop to the city was in 2020, when the locally funded “Troop N” disbanded. That troop focused on the French Quarter and the surrounding streets.
The arrests accounted for by Troop Nola are being handled by prosecutors working for Attorney General Liz Murrill, under an agreement Landry reached last year with District Attorney Jason Williams. The agreement allows the attorney general to prosecute people arrested by state police in New Orleans.
The arrests by the new troop come as shootings and murders in New Orleans have receded to pre-pandemic levels, near historic lows.
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