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N.O.P.D. announces
permit fee Increase
Monday, January 17,
2006 New
Orleans, LA ..... The
Undefeated Divas, also called " The Ladies
of the Main line "
experienced the new reality of Main Line life on Sunday,
January 22, 2006, as the New Orleans police department brought
out new methods and more of a presence at their Second Line
parade, transversing the sixth district.
The Divas club was the
first to feel the new level of protection that the N.O.P.D.
intends at the present time to bestow on all second line
parades in the city. This new level of protection looks to
consist of more men in cruisers that will ride parallel to the
parade to better manage traffic, while there are at least 4
horsemen at the processional.
This new level is of
course going to cost the clubs as well, about $3605 instead of
$1100 as did before. The $2505 increase is not meant to make
the clubs disappear from the streets, but rather to keep their
rowdy fans in check. Most clubs can thank the recent shooting
for the changes and also the success of that parade.
The processional grew a
thousand fold more, than any one could had imagined. This planned and
properly permitted parade simply and promptly grew into
a crowd that no one could have foreseen. The club had this parade on the books for the
season long before the hurricane hit. It was highly doubtful
that anything would hit the streets for months to come. Then,
the Sunday of January 16th, 2006 at 12 noon. the Clubs after
getting together, and organizing themselves, came together, in
an All Star Main Line that took the city by total surprise!
Thousands turned out, coming in from regional cities far
away, to welcome the return of a culture and past time
of the city.
As life would have
it, a triple shooting broke out near the parade and of course,
the local media reported, that it was during the Main Line,
that the shooting occurred. Those reports were in error, in
fact the shooting was after the parade was complete and
occurred down a completely different thoroughfare, not
on the parade route and, in fact, had nothing to
do with the parade. However, in all fairness, it was close
enough to the route, that two of the parade organizers who
heard gunshots, saw people down, did move to the area to
render emergency aid.
Main Lines
are usually peaceful, but because of error filled reporting by
the local media, who, more often than not, in their race to be
first with the exclusive, don't take time, or just don't
bother, to double check their facts. The Second
Lines have, as a direct result of these reports, now began to
often be looked upon by the police department, as causes of
the violence, or at the very least, opportunities
for the criminal element to settle old scores, get
drunk, etc. The main line clubs don't drink, on the
routes. All these facts were lost on the new precinct
captains, who know very little about the culture, or their
role in history, as well as the uninformed views that many
people carry.
 It
was felt, by these same captains, that after the last parade,
which simply overwhelmed the on hand resources that the
department was going to change the way they look at the second
lines in the city. More police at such events were needed, and
a new policy put in place. Even though the one police expert
in the security of the Second Line, Sgt Joseph Valiente' was
the lone voice of decent we are told.
At the meeting, which
was called to discuss the shooting, and what, if anything, the
culture needed to do, with the news concerning the new police
policy. Norman Dixon Jr. brought up the increase and explained
to the clubs why the police were not there to informed the
group, personally, of the decision. Fast forward to Sunday,
and the Diva parade of January 22nd. The size of
the crowd at this point sort of showcased for the dept., how
much of a bad decision it was to triple the strength of the
detail. Show time was 12 noon at
the park, with the new contingent of police in place, at
the newly designated strength of at least 20 officers. They
were deployed as follows, 4 on horseback, 6 on motorcycles,
and two in 5 cars. The procession covered two precincts with a
presence from both. The officers were well mannered, and
seemed at ease throughout the entire parade.
When the police dept
looks at the response of this decision, we are sure that they
will make the decision to again downgrade the detail to a
lower strength of around 8 officers for a typical parade. The
fee will then fall back to a more manageable level.
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