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The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) has found itself battling an unexpected adversary: rats indulging in confiscated marijuana within their deteriorating headquarters.
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick brought attention to the alarming situation during a recent address to the New Orleans City Council.
“The rats eating our marijuana, they’re all high,” Kirkpatrick disclosed to council members, shedding light on the station’s poor conditions.
The offices have housed the NOPD since 1968. Kirkpatrick described officers not only having to work with malfunctioning air-conditioning and broken elevators, but also encountering rat droppings on their desks.
The superintendent made sure to clarify that the workplace conditions were not the fault of the janitorial staff.
“The uncleanliness is off the charts,” she said. “They deserve an award for trying to clean what is uncleanable.”
After her comments went viral, a local company did not fail to take advantage of the nasty situation, designing $30 T-shirts for the occasion that depict a cartoon rat with the caption “NOLA rats: They’re all high!”
Kirkpatrick’s comments came as city officials considered plans to relocate the police department to a new space. A proposal to secure a 10-year lease for temporary accommodations in a downtown high-rise building has been put forth, which can hopefully provide a safer and more conducive work environment for NOPD personnel until a new permanent headquarters can be built.
The proposed lease, amounting to $7.6 million, aims to alleviate the pressing concerns surrounding the current headquarters’ condition. Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montaño advocated for the cost-effectiveness of leasing a new space compared to the exorbitant expenses associated with refurbishing the existing building, estimated at around $30 million.
“I think it’s going to be somewhere between two to $300,000 to actually physically move them and then an additional amount of money to have working desks, chairs, networking and items that would typically go into a move,” he explained. “The big-ticket items like a brand new air conditioner, brand new elevator, things of that nature rack up millions of dollars.”
Kirkpatrick underscored that the current working conditions were dispiriting for the already suffering morale of the depleted workforce.
“When we say we value our employees, you can’t say that and at the same time allow people to work in conditions that are not acceptable,” she said.
The council’s Crime Committee members moved to advance the leasing proposal, slating the move for May 1 pending final approval.
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