For six years the Supplemental Police Patrol Program (“SPPP”) proactively patrols French Quarter streets to help the New Orleans Police Department deter crime. It uses a mobile application that allows businesses, residents, visitors, and employees to easily report crimes in progress. The SPPP patrols the French Quarter 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The initiative has been credited by the N.O.P.D. as having a positive impact on violent crime, including the removal of guns, drugs, and criminals from the French Quarter.
The French Quarter Task Force App is also used to provide accountability and oversight along with electronic trip sheets and time sheets. End of shift reports can easily be run to assess if the officers are proactively patrolling their assigned area of the Quarter.
2020 Supplemental Police Patrol Program Stats
- Responded to 2,817 App and Dispatch Calls for Service
- 5,050 Citizen contacts
- 2,543 business checks
- Made 129 Arrests & Apprehensions
- Wrote 346 Summons’ & Traffic Citations
- And maintained 5 Vehicles that patrolled 59,441 miles
The 5 most common complaints were Disturbances, Assaults & Fights (29%) following by Suspicious Person reports (22%), then Obstruction of Public Passageway (16%), Aggressive Solicitation (13%) and Drug Dealing (12%).
The initial pilot program and mobile application development was funded by Sidney Torres IV and began on March 25, 2015.