Jason Williams Talks Crime, Punishment and Progressivism | Opinions and editorials

WILLIAMS: Just like with my wife, whom I love very much, we disagree on many points, but we always find common ground. It is the same approach I used in my conversation with the Governor and the General Assembly in our initial meetings. We talked about my priorities in New Orleans. We talked about his priorities in the state and his thoughts and priorities in New Orleans. There were a number of things that we could have disagreed about or argued about for hours. We figured out the things we had agreed on and then elaborated on them.

GRACE: What are these things?

WILLIAMS: We needed more resources in the city of New Orleans and we needed more law enforcement. There are people who look at everything through a political lens. They said, “We don’t want the state police in the city of New Orleans. We don’t want you to have conversations with this Republican governor. “These are people who supported me and who felt like I turned their back on them just by talking to the governor-elect.

We were dealing with a weakened police force that we could reinforce with more people who could respond to calls for help. That was the first thing I asked the governor to do. He thought about what the numbers were and what he thought he could deliver. Over the course of a few more conversations, a solid group emerged.

All communities – wealthy, poor, black, white, Hispanic – have consistently responded very well to the faster response time to service requests. When they’re the victim of a crime, no one says, “Are you a Republican or a Democrat?” No one says, “Which agency are you with?”

SUTTON: What do you think about the possible end of the New Orleans Police Department’s consent decree?

WILLIAMS: The consent order was necessary. Every time the federal government has gone into a city and said that people who are paid and sworn to protect and serve are doing so much harm that the federal government needs to step in and put some protocols and some management and some monitors and Having to introduce a judge is a very big deal. We are on the verge of widespread compliance.

It would be really interesting if the same evaluations that are now being done in federal court with the monitors could be carried over to the City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee. Same robust level. Same public space. The monitors might still be involved, but you could reduce them over time. Let the judge participate anyway if she’s willing.

SUTTON: Would this be part of this “sustainability period” (for the next step of the NOPD consent decree) or would it be a parallel process?

WILLIAMS: It could be both. … I’d be interested to know what (U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan) and City Council and City Manager (Anne) Kirkpatrick think about this. I don’t think there is one way that is right.

GRACE: Your predecessor did multiple settling – essentially a harsher sentence based on a repeat offender’s history – and you said in your campaign that you wouldn’t do that. You also said you would not file adult charges against juveniles. Yet you did both. When you ran, you probably realized that there would be situations in which these things could either be demanded by the public – in the case of some particularly horrific juvenile crimes – or in other ways could be very useful to your office. Why did you make these promises? And why have you changed?

WILLIAMS: I made the promises because I believed in them. As legal scholar Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan, then you get punched in the face.” (With) COVID-19 (we have an) unprecedented rise in violent crime, coupled with chronic absenteeism and truancy. We had a large group of young people who were cut off from school and their families and were committing serious violent crimes that were far more egregious than before. So we had to adapt. This adjustment meant a change to these guidelines.

When I went to my first meeting at the (Louisiana District Attorneys Association), I met a colleague who I rely on and respect very much: (East Baton Rouge Parish DA) Hillar Moore. His district is the largest judicial district similar to New Orleans. I said to him, “Hillar, how many times have you used a multiple offender statute this year?” He knew exactly how many times. He could count them on one hand. He knew people by name. He used it for the worst of the worst. In Orleans Parish, however, under the last administration it was invoked in every case that could be invoked, be it a drug crime, a property crime or a violent crime. So we used it as the default throughout.

My DAs must explain why this person is dangerous to the community if we use him. I have to personally approve it, and the first assistant has to personally approve it. We have received extensive training on how to use it. What the purpose of this law was when it was introduced was not the way it evolved over time. Once we felt our testing team understood it, we reinstated it.

As for transferring young people from juvenile court to adult court, if you told me that in the middle of the school day there would be a group of kids who, without a gun or a knife, would take the life of a senior citizen by dragging her into a car, I would have Told them that there was no way crime could happen. The way the law is structured, a juvenile charged with such a crime in juvenile court could serve a three-year sentence and be released on his or her 21st birthday. This does not mean any responsibility towards the next of kin, family members or survivors. Nor is there enough time to capture a young person’s attention and persuade them to engage in intervention services to correct their behavior, thinking, and decision-making so that they can return and be a purposeful member of the community . That’s why I felt it was necessary to do this.

SUTTON: We seem to have a problem with ankle monitoring. What is a solution that can cause the public to say, “Looks like they fixed the problem.”

WILLIAMS: No matter what the technology is, they work very, very well. The people responsible for tracking the devices are not following national best practices. And there is no continuity between judges and courts. We need a system-wide protocol that defines what is expected of each court department that wants to use this particular technology.

SUTTON: So you want judges to be flexible?

WILLIAMS: I want every citizen assigned an ankle monitor to be held to the same standards, regardless of who the judge is. Judicial discretion is important, but when we talk about the use of ankle monitoring technology, it needs to work in all areas of the court just as it does with probation and parole. If you’ve cut it off, we may need a set of protocols saying you can’t have it anymore. And all companies offering these electronic monitors should also have to adhere to the same standards.

We have been meeting with Council President Helena Moreno for a few weeks for a system-wide protocol. I think we’re really close to getting something off the ground.

GRACE: This is more of a personal question. It’s about you and your mother’s car theft last year, which I’m sure was frightening. Has the experience changed anything about your approach to this job? Is this your first time being a victim of a crime?

WILLIAMS: For the first time I was a victim of a crime. After having a weapon in front of you, every day is a blessing.

Did it change my approach? That is not the case. The truth is that immediately after becoming a victim of a crime, you are shocked and stunned in a way that you cannot tell up from down or right from left. It gave me a little more insight into how much extra effort and attention it takes just to reach crime survivors so they understand what’s coming next and how it’s going to turn out. But it hasn’t really changed my approach to law enforcement.

SUTTON: Is there another term in your future?

WILLIAMS: Yes, yes. We still have a lot to do.

Our goal is not to just tinker around the edges. We can be a city of change when it comes to crime. The Attorney General is a good partner in this. It’s important to her. We develop strategies. I think the strategies will prove to some other politicians in the state that (the goal of) a full term is not to fight a Democrat, but to help the people of this community.

And I hope that some of these people who just want to fight don’t do anything to destroy the collaboration that we’ve built, because it can lead to very real results for the city and the state.