By Ed Anderson, Capital bureau
Times-Picayune
BATON ROUGE- A 360-member contingent of National Guard troops and State Police will remain on duty to help the hurricane-wrecked New Orleans Police Department through June 30, the end of the state’s budget year, a top aide to Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Wednesday.
Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc said he does not know how much it will cost to keep the 60 troopers and a rotating contingent of 300 guardsmen in New Orleans through June to supplement the NOPD’s depleted ranks.
Rodney Braxton, a lobbyist for the city, said Police Superintendent Warren Riley was not aware the state had agreed to keep the security forces in the city for another six months. City officials had asked for the extension weeks ago.
LeBlanc did not rule out the possibility of keeping the forces there beyond June 30. “We are taking it one step at a time,” LeBlanc said. “Right now, they are there through the end of June.”
Blanco said Saturday that the State Police and military troops would remain past the Dec. 31 cutoff imposed weeks ago, but only on a month-to-month basis. She said at that time she wants to see a report from New Orleans officials on when they feel the Police Department will have enough officers to handle a growing number of murders and violent crimes.
Blanco said over the weekend that no decision had been made on keeping the forces in the city through June.
“We can’t do it indefinitely. If we tried to do this indefinitely, it would cost us an arm and a leg,” she said at the time.
Blanco said she will not abandon the city, but stressed: “I want to see a plan (from New Orleans officials). . . . They (the State Police and guard personnel) will be extended beyond December, but we will go month to month until I get a clear plan. . . . We want to see an exit plan.”
A spokeswoman for Blanco did not return telephone calls seeking comment on why the governor changed her position.
LeBlanc said he did not know how much the state will spend for another six months, or where the money will come from. “We haven’t decided how to pay for it,” he said.
The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget recently approved $16 million to pay for the guard forces and State Police who have been in New Orleans since June.
Members of the New Orleans legislative delegation talked to the governor’s office about keeping the extra security forces in place through June while city officials start post-hurricane training academies. The first class started two weeks ago with 41 potential officers.
LeBlanc denied the administration’s commitment came as part of political bartering for votes for some of Blanco’s items in the stalled special session.
“There was no quid pro quo on that issue,” LeBlanc said. “There was never, in any discussions on that issue to vote for something in exchange for the security of New Orleans. . . . It is too important to get caught up” in political wrangling.
LeBlanc said Blanco and the administration do not want to abandon the city but want to see it take over policing on its own as soon as possible.
Troopers who have been helping patrol the Central Business District and the French Quarter since June are needed on the highways for traffic enforcement and crime-fighting in rural areas. The guard has been rotating a command of 300 troops throughout the areas of the city hardest hit by winds and floods, usually areas with the fewest residents.
Administration officials have said the troopers are needed back on state highways for traffic control and to help law enforcement in rural areas.
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company