DA Williams Issues Statement On Public Safety Agreements With Attorney General

New Orleans, LA — We truly believe in a fair, just, and efficient system. The important reforms implemented under former Chiefs Serpas and Harrison were critical to a change in the culture and quality of policing in New Orleans. We all benefit from ethical law enforcement. As prosecutors, we rely on constitutional policing, because unconstitutional arrests jeopardize our ability to hold violent offenders accountable.

The support and assistance we’re receiving from the State is key while the city works to rebuild a depleted police force and our NOPD officers are pushed to the brink with far more cases than they can effectively manage. This arrangement benefits the city and State, and responds to repeated community demands related to response times and speed of solving violent crimes.

Many criminal enterprises operate on a regional, versus parish, level. LSP is equipped to connect those dots across parish lines, and our AG counterparts have the jurisdiction to manage those sprawling, cross-parish cases.

This type of arrangement isn’t at all uncommon, and we expect it to operate no differently than when federal officers make arrests and the US Attorney’s office adopts prosecution. Increased collaboration leads to better outcomes for everyone. This is truly what “progressive” looks like. New partnerships, new tools, better results.