News Roundup

Crime Expert Hired to Help NOPD Fight Weaknesses

By CityBusiness
January 12, 2007

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation today announced it has hired crime prevention expert Dr. Lee Brown, chairman and CEO of Brown Group International, to examine how the New Orleans Police Department addressed crime and interacts with the community.

Brown, known as the “father of community policing,” was a chief public safety and law enforcement official in Houston, Atlanta and New York. He was also a three-term mayor of Houston. Brown also helped create legislation to form the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services in the U.S. Justice Department.

“Dr. Brown is known as one of the country’s foremost authorities on crime prevention through community policing,” said NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley. “We’re truly excited to have him consulting with us on further developing our own community policing program. We expect it will make a big difference in crime prevention.”

Brown pioneered the concept of community policing, which is based upon the philosophy that crime cannot be controlled without a partnership between the police and the people they serve.

NOPJF President Robert Stellingworth said BGI will work to change in the NOPD through a strategic action plan that addresses the problems of crime and disorder; reduces the fear of crime; improves the relationship between the police and the public; and provides accountability and monitoring for desired crime prevention results.

“We have great expectations for the success of this initiative,” Stellingworth said. “And we know we’ve now got the best expertise available to help move us in the right direction.”

Stellingworth said Baptist Community Ministries, the New Orleans Business Council, the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau are funding the project.