As authorities intensify their search for five remaining escapees following a brazen jailbreak in New Orleans, they are simultaneously grappling with deep-seated community mistrust towards law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Nearly a week after ten inmates exploited a faulty cell door and a hole created by removing a toilet to break free from a city jail, the ongoing manhunt involving over 200 law enforcement personnel is complicated by a confluence of factors. These include a documented history of misconduct and racial bias against Black individuals by the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), a state police record marred by excessive force allegations, and a jail system previously found to be in violation of constitutional rights.
Officials have voiced concerns that the fugitives, many charged with or convicted of violent crimes including murder, may be receiving assistance from within the community. This suspicion arose after two individuals were arrested on accessory charges. Authorities have offered a substantial $20,000 reward for tips leading to the capture of the escapees.
Mario Westbrook, a 48-year-old resident, articulated the prevailing sentiment of distrust. He recounted unknowingly speaking with one of the escapees, Dkenan Dennis, outside a local store before Dennis’s arrest. Westbrook contrasted the swift and significant police response to capture Dennis near his home with the frequently delayed law enforcement response times in his predominantly Black neighborhood of New Orleans East, a historically marginalized area of the city. “Our community, the police come back here, they have no respect for us as human beings,” Westbrook stated.
Brandy Peters, a 36-year-old delivery driver, echoed this sentiment while dropping off a package near a police cordon where escapee Corey Boyd was apprehended. She expressed surprise at any arrests being made, commenting that “normally crime here goes unsolved.” Peters suggested a disparity in law enforcement focus, stating, “If you ask me, they lean more toward the French Quarter area, protecting and serving there more, making sure that when people come from out of town, that’s where they are at.”
Police Efforts to Improve Meet Skepticism
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, in a statement to The Associated Press, defended law enforcement’s efforts, describing their work in “building trust and relationships in the communities they serve” as “amazing” as they work to apprehend the “violent and dangerous” escapees.
The NOPD, which publicly claims a transformation, referred inquiries to the Louisiana State Police, the agency leading the search. State police spokesman Lt. Jared Sandifer stated via email that the agency “continues to work diligently on improving our relationship with our communities” and urged “all residents to cooperate with law enforcement” in capturing the fugitives. The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, responsible for the jail, did not respond to requests for comment.
A Troubled History of Racial Bias and Misconduct
While the NOPD has reportedly undergone significant improvements over the past decade, this progress is viewed with skepticism by many residents. The department has been under what the city termed “the nation’s most expansive” federal oversight plan since a U.S. Justice Department investigation uncovered evidence of racial bias, misconduct, and a culture of impunity. The NOPD was among the first major police forces in the U.S. to implement body cameras.
Despite these efforts, a 2024 survey by the New Orleans Crime Coalition revealed that residents were five times more likely to hold a negative view of city police than a positive one. Lingering memories of the early 1990s, a period marked by widespread police corruption and brutality complaints (during which New Orleans led the nation), contribute to this mistrust. Dozens of officers were arrested for serious crimes, and the era culminated in the patrolman-ordered execution of Kim Groves, the grandmother of one of the current escapees.
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina further eroded public trust, with 20 officers charged in civil rights investigations related to incidents including the fatal shooting of two unarmed individuals and the wounding of four others on the Danziger Bridge in 2007, followed by an orchestrated cover-up.
Jail Security Problems and Community Concerns
City Councilmember Freddie King III highlighted the cyclical nature of the criminal justice system during a recent public meeting, noting that several escapees were first incarcerated as teenagers. “Are we doing enough as a society, as a city, to ensure that our young, specifically Black men, don’t end up in jail?” he questioned.
The New Orleans jail system has been under federal monitoring for over a decade due to persistent security problems and violence, even after the opening of the Orleans Justice Center in 2015, which replaced a dilapidated facility with its own history of escapes and deaths. Stella Cziment, the independent police monitor of New Orleans, noted the “bad blood and history of bad blood toward Orleans Parish incarceration systems.”
Cziment also suggested that residents might be “reluctant” to cooperate with the Louisiana State Police, citing their aggressive tactics in the city, including sweeps of homeless encampments. The agency has a documented history of excessive force, detailed in a recent U.S. Justice Department report, although the Justice Department has since retracted the Biden administration’s findings of constitutional violations. Governor Jeff Landry’s recent directive allowing state law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law has further heightened concerns about civil liberties within the current political climate, according to Toni Jones, chair of a local police accountability network.
Resignation and Dark Humor
Tyler Cross, a resident of the St. Roch neighborhood where a SWAT team unsuccessfully searched for a fugitive, views the jailbreak as symptomatic of “significant systemic issues” within the city’s law enforcement and criminal justice system. Amidst crumbling infrastructure and frustration with city leadership, some residents have resorted to dark humor as a coping mechanism. Local clothing store Dirty Coast is capitalizing on this sentiment by selling a T-shirt featuring the inmates’ taunting message, “To Easy LoL,” written above the escape hole. “It’s almost like a joke, which kind of speaks to how people feel about the police in this area,” Cross explained. “The whole situation is just kind of ridiculous.”
While police presence has visibly increased in areas like New Orleans East since the escape, as noted by resident Mario Westbrook, the underlying issues of mistrust and historical grievances continue to impede the efforts to bring the remaining fugitives to justice.
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