Tag Archive

A primer on UCR crime statistics

By Brian Denzer

What’s a UCR?
Find out by reading this informative presentation by retired NOPD Sgt. Jimmy Gallagher… »

Tensions rise between street musicians and the NOPD in the French Quarter

By Brian Denzer

Post revised on 6/18/2010 to include the full statement by Chief Serpas, a statement issued by Mayor Landrieu and Councilmember Kristen Gisleson-Palmer, and a Gambit blog story about a protest in Jackson Square led by musician Glen David Andrews.
Don’t Stop the Music. Let New Orleans Street Musicians Play is a newly-formed advocacy effort to support… »

Victory

By Brian Denzer

More than three years ago, Citizen Crime Watch was created to advocate for improved public access to 911 calls for service crime data. With heightened public concerns about rising crime after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Police Department was doing a poor job of keeping the public informed about shifting patterns of crime. The calls… »

Questions & answers about the NOPD COMSTAT process

By Brian Denzer

What is the New Orleans Police Department’s COMSTAT process? What should we know about it, and how should we evaluate it?
These are questions that remain unanswered by a story printed in today’s Times-Picayune.
One concern is that the process creates internal competitive pressures that can tend toward corruption of statistics.
But COMSTAT also has its share of… »

Cooking the books? Or just sloppy journalism?

By Brian Denzer

I don’t wish to be placed in the position of being an apologist for any public official’s misdeeds. On the other hand, sloppy journalism is equally intolerable.
Consider a Tennessee TV news report that slanted its story to make Ronal Serpas look like he was cooking the books on Nashville crime statistics. Fundamentally lacking from that… »

Serpas sounding like a NolaStat supporter

By Brian Denzer

In an address delivered at his swearing in ceremony on Tuesday, newly-appointed New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas sounded as though he’d practically lifted language off the pages of Citizen Crime Watch and NolaStat.
I was particularly surprised to read that Serpas was going to partner with educational institutions. A key focus of the Citizen… »

Ronal Serpas is an excellent choice for NOPD police chief

By Brian Denzer

As a civilian tech who supported the New Orleans Police Department COMSTAT process during the reform period of Superintendent Richard Pennington, I experienced firsthand the leadership exhibited by Ronal Serpas on a weekly basis for three years. While Pennington was setting the high-overview priorities to reform the NOPD (in partnership with federal authorities and change… »

Case Study: How NolaStat can improve constituent relations in City Hall

By Brian Denzer

A list of the most common complaints submitted to City Council Members:
1) Street lights.
2) Water Leaks—which go to S&WB, a state run and controlled entity.
3) Potholes.
4) Drainage Problems, i.e. drains not working.
5) Billing complaints concerning S&WB, Entergy, and taxes, e.g., overcharging, late charges, etc.
6) Illegal dumping —- e.g. tires, trash.
7) Zoning complaints, i.e., businesses or… »

Whither electronic police reports?

By Brian Denzer

The NOPD said in 2007 that electronic police reports were just months away from being implemented, yet in the MTV Real World drama that recently unfolded is proof positive that the old-fashioned handwritten police reports are still being used.
Currently, handwritten police reports take hours out of each patrol officers shift. Once handwritten police reports… »

The manipulation of statistics denies victims their right to justice

By Brian Denzer

The next New Orleans police chief should allow for independent audits of crime statistics. That will be a recommendation delivered on behalf of NolaStat at this evening’s New Orleans Police Department Task Force forum hosted by Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu at the Superdome.
Accurate crime statistics aren’t just vital to restore credibility to a police department suffering… »


Follow NolaStat on Twitter
 
Follow NolaStat on Facebook

President Obama's Open Government Initiative