The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) reportedly declared Monday that it’s time for a new headquarters as rats feast on confiscated weed.
NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told the City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee that the drugged rodents eating from the evidence room are among many problems contributing to the department’s demand for a new home base, according to NOLA.
“The rats are eating our marijuana,” Kirkpatrick reportedly stated. “They’re all high.”
The rats are all high, NOPD chief says of vermin-infested HQ | Crime/Police | https://t.co/hltlMZrDKa https://t.co/yol4IjJIQx
— Steve Maley (@DerekBarge) March 12, 2024
The headquarters is coated in feces from rats occupying the facility, NOLA reported. Among its other issues are mold, dilapidated elevators and an abundance of cockroaches, according to the outlet. Kirkpatrick reportedly said dirty conditions are not isolated to the NOPD headquarters, spanning facilities across the department’s districts.
“It’s not just at police headquarters. It is all the districts. The uncleanliness is off the charts,” Kirkpatrick stated, the outlet reported. “The janitorial cleaning [team] deserves an award trying to clean what is uncleanable.”
Kirkpatrick advocated for moving the department’s headquarters to a downtown high rise, according to the outlet. The council is reportedly considering a temporary relocation with a 10-year lease as it determines its long-term plan. (RELATED: Organized Crime Rings Kill Over 400,000 Birds: REPORT)
“I foresee most of the criminal justice agencies will have to be temporarily housed as we address these old decrepit buildings,” Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montaño said, NOLA reported.
Montaño reportedly said the 1968 headquarters was in “dire straits,” describing the transfer of the NOPD headquarters as a “Herculean lift.” The motion to authorize the relocated headquarters’ pending lease agreement passed the committee and a full council vote will occur next, according to the outlet.
“She seems to have a low tolerance for rats,” Council Member Oliver Thomas reportedly said of Kirkpatrick. “Just like me.”
