Dear Community Members,
These are unprecedented times for communities and police departments across the country. There is understandable outrage over police-involved incidents in many cities sparking protests; some peaceful, some chaotic but always fluid. We haven't had a situation like this in New Orleans in decades. We're fortunate that most of our local demonstrations have been peaceful. Dealing with large crowds is nothing new for the New Orleans Police Department, we do it all the time. However, we've never used tear gas or rubber balls to disperse a crowd, and we hope we never have to again. Unfortunately, an unprecedented situation led to unprecedented action by the NOPD last month.