NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams is hoping to improve court-ordered electronic monitoring to avoid a crime crisis.
When meeting with local law enforcement officials, Williams says one thing is clear—it’s time to get a handle on repeat offenders.
“Far too often, when [law enforcement makes] an arrest, they find that the person that they’ve been pursuing is on electric monitor,” the district attorney said.
Bryan Andry, the man convicted in the death of Portia Pollock, who was stabbed to death in 2021, was supposed to be wearing an ankle monitor.
Pollock’s case is among the reasons Williams presented a plan to New Orleans City Council members Wednesday to make electronic monitoring more effective.
“If someone is out on bond, that means they’ve already been charged with one crime, if they commit a new crime, or if they’re in an area they’re not supposed to be in, they should be revoked, and that should be a technical revocation,” Williams said.
According to Williams, law enforcement agencies used to handle the monitoring, but because of a lack of manpower, it is now done by private companies, which is why the plan calls for one set of guidelines companies must follow.
“We would have these companies, providing these real-time reports to the NOPD and to our office because it can be used as a tool to prevent crimes from occurring,” Williams said.
The lead prosecutor is calling on the full council, NOPD and the courts for their support in getting the new protocol implemented.
“Again, along with Councilman Green, I think that we would be receptive of trying to figure out, maybe we can all sit together to try to figure out how we can implement a force multiplier, as you like to say, with electronic monitoring,” New Orleans City Councilwoman Lesli Harris said.
Williams says it is now full steam ahead, and he is hoping the plan is executed before the summer.
