NEW ORLEANS — As authorities search New Orleans for escapees from an audacious jailbreak, they face widespread distrust in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Nearly a week after 10 inmates pulled open a malfunctioning cell door inside a local jail and moved the toilet to squeeze through a hole, five are still at large. The police superintendent stated that the majority of the fugitives were likely still in the city as more than 200 law enforcement personnel searched for them.
Complicating efforts are a history of misconduct and racial hostility against Black individuals by local police, a state police record of excessive force, and a jail system deemed to violate constitutional rights.
Officials expressed concern that the men are receiving assistance from the community after two persons were arrested on accessory charges Wednesday and a third on Thursday. Authorities have offered $20,000 in incentives for information leading to the capture of the fugitives, many of whom have been charged with or convicted of severe crimes, including murder.
“If we felt the police were here to help us, we would help them,” said Mario Westbrook, 48. He only realized after the capture of escapee Dkenan Dennis that he had unintentionally spoken with the fugitive that day outside a convenience store.
Westbrook likened the hurry to apprehend Dennis near his home to the frequently hours-long law police response times in his neighborhood in New Orleans East, a historically disenfranchised area of the majority-Black city.
“Our community, the police come back here, they have no respect for us as human beings,” Westbrook said me.
While dropping off a package near where police had closed off neighborhoods before apprehending escapee Corey Boyd, delivery driver Brandy Peters, 36, expressed astonishment that authorities had caught anyone “because normally crime here goes unsolved.”
“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,” she added regarding the law enforcement community.
Many people, frustrated by what they regard as city government inefficiency, are criticizing the outrageous escape. Local apparel boutique Dirty Coast, a reliable barometer of the city’s mood, is even offering a T-shirt with the inmates’ taunt “To Easy LoL” inscribed above the hole where they fled.
Police claim they are improving.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill hailed law enforcement as doing “an amazing job in building trust and relationships in the communities they serve” while also attempting to apprehend “violent and dangerous” escapees.
The New Orleans Police Department, which claims to have evolved, referred queries to Louisiana State Police, stating that it is leading the hunt.
The department “continues to work diligently on improving our relationship with our communities,” state police spokesman Lt. Jared Sandifer noted in an email. He further stated that “all residents are encouraged to cooperate with law enforcement” to apprehend the fugitives.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which runs the facility, did not return requests for comment. However, Sheriff Susan Hutson stated earlier this week that she is devoted to “protecting our deputies, protecting the public, and restoring trust in a justice system that must work for everyone.”
Because of concerns about how long it took after the New Orleans jailbreak, Louisiana lawmakers are proposing legislation that would require sheriffs to immediately notify state and local law enforcement as well as the public of any escape.
Police have a history of racial bias and wrongdoing
By all accounts, the New Orleans Police Department has greatly improved during the last decade.
Since the U.S. Justice Department discovered evidence of racial bias, misbehavior, and a culture of impunity, the city has been subject to what it calls “the nation’s most expansive” federal oversight plan. It was one of the first big police departments in the United States to adopt body cameras.