Roy Exum: The Big (Un)Easy: Mardi Gras

  • Tuesday, January 27, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

Not since Hurricane Katrina has New Orleans had a bigger problem. When over a million visitors flood the city for the annual Mardi Gras bash over the next three weeks, there will be signs all around town and into the French Quarter that blare, “CAUTION: Walk In Large Groups. We (heart symbol) love NOPD. We Just Need More Of Them.” In other words, it appears things are quite unsettled in the beloved land of the Vieux Carré and the residents will even lend this dire warning: “Walk alone and you become a target.”

Back when New Orleans was founded in 1714, the city itself was developed around the Vieux Carré (which means "Old Square" in English), and, of course, that is today where Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral still deliver the same spellbound awe that it did first when I was five years old. But a lot has changed and, just since November, there have been as many as 70 blatant strong-armed robberies in and around the French Quarter. 

According to one account, victims – mostly tourists – have been “attacked by thugs using guns, fists, sharp objects, pepper spray and even heavy handbags.” Worse is the fact the New Orleans Police Department is about 500 officers shy of what Mayor Mitch Landrieu is asking of his police chief. The mayor has already authorized unlimited overtime for the city’s 1,200 officers and forbidden any vacation time. 

But it may be too late -- nine Carnival parades are scheduled in different parts of the city this weekend. 

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has ordered 150 state troopers to help patrol ‘The Big Easy,’ focusing on the known “hot spots.” That leaves State Patrol Col. Michael Edmondson perplexed. “If I could bring 100 troopers there tomorrow and leave them there permanently, I think that’s the thing to do … but where do I get the troopers from? I’ve got to pull them from other parts of the state,” he moaned and – with Mardi Gras celebrations all across the Louisiana -- other parishes (counties) are suddenly understaffed and local sheriffs have a tougher load. 

The wonderful thing about Mardi Gras is that it is not a one-day event. It’s a 24/7 experience all the way to “Fat Tuesday” (Feb. 17.) And when a college freshman thinks he has never seen such revelry on the first weekend in February, it’s the second weekend that proves him wrong, believe you me. (Factoid: The majority of college freshmen don’t even recall the second weekend.) 

Back in the day, the only pistols that were shot were up in the air in celebration, but that’s over. A recent Associated Press story reported that revelers have been shot in the French Quarter and along parade routes in eight of the last 11 years, injuring a total of 27 people with one dead.   

But today? Shootings are the norm. Two people were shot in New Orleans on Sunday and a teenager was killed in the Algiers part of the city yesterday morning. "I want people to feel safe," Col. Edmonson told a Times Picayune reporter recently, who wrote the top cop’s voice was breaking as he then told of a conversation he had with the mother of a New Orleans murder victim not long ago. "I'm very passionate about it,” he added. 

Capt. Michael Glasser, a spokesman for the police union, called Landrieu’s pleads to the governor a "tacit admission of failure." Glasser also said, “It's unrealistic to expect the state to continually use their resources when the city is responsible for itself. I'm sure every other city would like state police. They are not entitled to it, and neither are we." 

Mayor Landrieu has come under heavy attack after allowing the police force to lose so many officers under his watch and his decree that all applicants come from within the city is unpopular. “The irony is that a lot of state troopers he is asking for were wearing NOPD uniforms this time last year,” said Glasser. 

But there is one thing that isn’t a worry … by the middle of this week “The Big Easy” will begin to fill up, just as Carnival has inspired revelers since the 1730s. Today both in New Orleans and elsewhere the event is called the “Greatest Free Show On Earth” and the Cajun battle-cry will son break out in abundance -- “Laissez les bon temps roulez!” 

Yes indeed, “let the good times roll.” But, just the same, walk in large groups. 

royexum@aol.com

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