Residents in New Orleans’ Mid-City neighborhood gathered Monday night at a meeting of the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization to discuss ongoing issues of drug use, homelessness, and human trafficking in the area, particularly near Comiskey Park.
“Right there on Norman Francis, I mean, we right there. They come in our apartment building all the time to shoot up, sleep, whatever else they do,” one neighbor said during public comment at Monday’s meeting.
A local business owner, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, described the challenges he faces near the intersection of Tulane Avenue and Norman C. Francis Parkway.
“You have to step over homeless people in the morning, get into your business, or you just got to drive past it and see the lawlessness of people passed out in the middle of the street,” he said.
While residents acknowledged improvements at Comiskey Park following cleanup efforts, prompted in part by WDSU reporting, they noted that some issues have shifted to other parts of the area.
“We see a lot of people folded, which is, you know, fentanyl folded where they’ve used fentanyl and they fold, and they sit there. They passed out,” the business owner said Monday. ” these businesses carry Narcan to revive people. It’s normally a weekly occurrence.”
Not only is he concerned about the impact this activity has on his business, but he also said he is concerned about the exploitation happening on a daily basis.
“There are individuals preying on these people, not only the women who are being led into prostitution through their addiction or through, you know, some other emotional trauma. But, you know, also in the drug trade, they’re preying on these homeless people,” he said.
Another neighbor highlighted the ongoing challenges at Monday night’s community meeting.
“There’s not a lot of overnight sleeping encamping going on; it’s drugs,” the neighbor said.
During the meeting, city and law enforcement officials addressed residents’ concerns.
“Here’s the thing that everybody needs to know about narcotics; it takes a long time to investigate,” New Orleans Criminal Justice Coordinator Daniel Shanks said. “We have to surveil situations. We have to develop intelligence. We have to develop the probable cause for a search warrant. It takes a while.”
New Orleans Police Capt. Kendrick Allen said law enforcement can provide access to resources, but officers cannot force a person into substance abuse treatment.
“If we were to do this wrong, somebody’s in jail just for overnight and back out doing the same thing. So, that’s why it takes a little bit of time, because we have one shot to do it right,” Allen said.
Taylor Diles from the New Orleans Office of Homeless Services and Strategy said staff will be doing nighttime outreach in the neighborhood to see just how many people are sleeping outside there on a regular basis.
“Compared to previous years, we don’t have nearly as many housing resources available today that we did in the past. So, we are entirely dependent on our shelter system, which is flawed in a number of ways,” Diles said.
Allen told residents that officers would continue patrolling the area to deter drug use and other illegal activities.
A spokesperson for Louisiana State Police Troop NOLA confirmed multiple investigations are underway related to the concerns raised by residents but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing nature of the cases.
READ MORE:Mid-City residents demand action on drugs, homelessness and human trafficking
