Rats infesting the old and decaying building that houses the headquarters of the New Orleans Police Department have been getting high off eating seized psychoactive drugs in the evidence room, the city’s police chief said earlier this week.
“The rats eating our marijuana, they’re all high,” Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told New Orleans City Council members, noting police employees often find rat droppings on their desks.
And the baked rodents are hardly the only issue with the building, according to Kirkpatrick.
Staff also has to routinely deal with mold, out-of-order restrooms and cockroaches, she said.
When the building opened in 1968, police bragged about its “ultramodern equipment” and “the largest and most up-to-date crime lab in the state,” The Times-Picayune reported. But that’s no longer the case, and city officials are now taking steps to move the headquarters to a new space.
A proposal to spend $7.6 million on a 10-year lease on a building downtown would buy the department some time to find a permanent solution, said Kirkpatrick, who explained to city councilmembers why the relocation is necessary.
“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 state of decay is also a “turnoff” for out-of-state hires, Kirkpatrick told councilmembers.
“The uncleanliness is off the charts,” she said, noting the issue has nothing to do with the work done by the cleaning staff.
“They deserve an award for trying to clean what is uncleanable,” she added.
Members of the council’s Criminal Justice Committee voted to advance a proposal to temporarily move the police HQ downtown. The proposal now goes to the full City Council for a vote.
With News Wire Services
