This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

NEW ORLEANS – NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison and Seventh District Commander Laurence Dupree held a press conference in New Orleans East this morning to outline a number of recent arrests they say are the result of community-driven, proactive policing.

“Over the duration of the first and second quarter, with the hard work of the men and women of the Seventh District, we were able to make 89 cases for narcotics investigations, we were able to affect arrest on 33 weapons violations, we were able to seize or confiscate 66 firearms related to multiple investigations, and actually made 189 arrests for state felony cases,” Dupree said.

The district’s success rate is due to each officer’s dedication to proactive police work, Dupree said, and the work continues to be successful.

“More recently, on June 3 at about 5 p.m. in the 6000 block of South Laverne, where we are now standing, four people were the targets of gunfire. Gratefully, none of those injuries sustained life-threatening gunshot wounds,” he said. “Through the hard work of our investigations team, along with the members of our general assignment unit, we were quickly able to arrest 17-year-old Deshawn Harris in that incident.”

Dupree attributed that arrest to the hard work of Seventh District officers and the community’s involvement.

“Also, just yesterday, there was a double shooting in the Wind Run Apartments in the 12000 block of the I-10 Service Road,” Dupre said. “What started off as an argument among neighbors escalated into a fight, and ultimately, gunfire was exchanged…yet again, we were able to make a speedy arrest, and arrested 27-year-old Glen Morgan for that particular incident.”

Harrison said it’s all about being proactive.

“We want to reassure the citizens, not only of East New Orleans, but of the entire city, that we are being very, very proactive and we’re getting after violent crime in a very aggressive way,” Harrison said.

The Second District in the Uptown neighborhood has arrested another juvenile in connection to the recent string of armed robberies and carjackings, Harrison said.

“Members of this department are working diligently to make sure we’re proactive, we identify, apprehend, and build good, solid, quality cases against these individuals, whether they’re juveniles or adults,” Harrison said. “That’s amazing work, and we’re not giving up. We’re not going to stop. We’re going to take the fight to the criminals.”

The city has a “big pretty jail” for anyone who wants to break the law, Harrison said.