NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick says rats are getting in the evidence room and eating drugs at NOPD headquarters.
The superintendent says the department's headquarters is deteriorating, but officers could be in a new building this summer.
The NOPD Headquarters building on Broad Street is decaying due to rats, roaches, no AC, and broken elevators. The city is looking for a new space where evidence is safe from rats.
Chief Kirkpatrick said, "The rats eating our marijuana, they're all high."
That is correct. Rats are eating marijuana from the evidence room. Kirkpatrick also says that sometimes staff come in to work and find rat droppings on their desks.
"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.
For a depleted police department, where morale is already low, this work environment does nothing to boost that morale.
"Where you work, where you live is not appropriate. It's going to impact morale, so that has been a big factor."
At Monday's Crime Committee meeting, council members voted to approve the lease for a new building. Gilbert Montano, the City's Chief Administrative Officer, says it’s a 10-year lease, and the rent will be more than $670,000 annually.
Montano said, "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 says fixing the current HQ will cost roughly $30 million, so renting a new place is a cheaper option. He said, "The big-ticket items like a brand new air conditioner, brand new elevator, things of that nature rack up millions of dollars."
The new building is on Poydras Street across from the Caesars Superdome. Staff will be based on the upper floors. The plan is to get the keys on May 1st.
Now, the lease has to go before the full council for final approval.
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