New Orleans police union leader rips DA, 'progressive politicians' over crime and law enforcement issues

The New Orleans police union president has laid blame for the city’s record-breaking violent crime and low number of police officers patrolling city streets on "progressive politicians," including the district attorney.

Captain Mike Glasser, president of the Police Association on New Orleans (PANO), penned a letter to the City Council on Tuesday, writing that Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams "has no interest in protecting the community and clearly has no interest in taking the murder of a police officer seriously."

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New Orleans police (NOPD) announced earlier this month that the city saw a record 218 murders in 2021, an 8% increase compared to the 196 homicides during the year prior.

Glasser said that the rise in crime comes as the police force lost 150 officers to attrition in 2021 and is operating at 60% staffing – claiming that number is "quickly falling."

He writes that officers are leaving the city for law enforcement positions elsewhere, often taking a pay cut, due to the "progressive politicians whose only true agenda is their own incumbency."

Williams last year re-sentenced a man who was convicted of an armed robbery in 2002 during which one of his three other accomplices shot and killed NOPD Officer Christopher Russell. Michael Davis, a repeat offender, was sentenced to life in prison by a split jury. 

Williams’ office reviewed the case and in April last year said Davis was re-sentenced to a sentence comparable to that of his two accomplices who were convicted of the same crime.

Glasser wrote that further frustrations include the "significant reduction of cash bails resulting in defendants being released almost immediately after arrest," and the rejection of cases by "a DA unwilling to prosecute."

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Glasser also wrote that other reasons the police force was a "sinking ship" include "relentless discipline for incredibly trivial infractions" investigated by the department’s Public Integrity Unit, and anti-police rhetoric.

Glasser called on the City Council to invite PANO to its new subcommittee tasked with finding a solution to the city’s rising violent crime.

Fox News has reached out to Williams' office for comment on Glasser’s letter but did not immediately hear back.