In keeping with his commitment to improve public safety and reform the criminal justice system, Mayor Landrieu is calling all residents of New Orleans to join him for a crime action summit on Saturday, September 17, 2011. The event will be held from 10am to 12 noon at the UNO Lakefront Arena. The summit will officially launch the "S.O.S NOLA: Saving Our Sons" campaign.
"The rate at which our young people are killing each other in this city is unnatural and unacceptable," said Landrieu. "Murder is the most pressing issue facing our city. We must rally as a community to solve this problem. It won't happen with the police alone. It can't just be the criminal justice system in a room. There are a number of things each resident of New Orleans can do to make our city safer and more prosperous. At the end of this summit, each person will have marching orders in our battle for the future of our City."
Mayor Landrieu addressed the murder issue extensively in his 2011 State of the City address in April. The Mayor appointed former City Councilmember James Carter as the City's Criminal Justice Commissioner. Carter has worked hand-in-hand with NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas and City Health Commissioner Dr. Karen DeSalvo to analyze murder trends and demographics in New Orleans. Long-term and short-term strategies are being developed to target both reactive and proactive, preventative approaches to reducing murder and violence.
The Mayor said in his address, "This is the model — prevention, intervention, interdiction, prosecution, rehabilitation, and re-entry — we will initiate a comprehensive and collaborative response to the emergency."
He continued, "Change will not just come from the top down on this one. We need all hands on deck. Cops and judges, teachers and coaches, business people and
clergy, brothers and sisters, parents and families. And now, it involves you. Each and every one of you. Murder in New Orleans is a public health epidemic that threatens our entire city and everyone needs to help find solutions that work. I am calling on everyone — from every neighborhood across this city — to join me this summer at the City's first "Crime Action Network" summit. Show up and speak out. Come to listen to each other and to learn from each other. Come to create an action plan for how to address this problem that touches us all. And most importantly, be prepared to get to work."
Residents interested in registering for the Summit should visit http://www.nola.gov/crime-summit.
Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9QN5nM98r4 to view a message from New Orleans' Mayor Mitch Landrieu making an appeal for citizens to join in this effort.
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