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At a press conference in front of the New Orleans Police Department's 8th District Command Center in the French Quarter this afternoon, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, flanked by New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Chief Michael Harrison, a dozen local and state lawmakers and members of the business and tourism community, proposed a quarter-cent tax hike within the boundaries of the French Quarter to keep Louisiana State Troopers in the French Quarter to prevent crime.*

Landrieu billed the tax as a sustainable revenue source to pay for a permanent State Police presence in the French Quarter, though it would have to be approved by the New Orleans City Council and voters would decide whether or not to impose the tax in an October 2015 election. With 9 million people visiting the French Quarter each year, Landrieu said a quarter of every cent spent there would total $2 million annually.*

The press conference followed a violent weekend in the city's tourism hot spot, which saw a shooting death at Bourbon and Conti streets and an aggravated rape in the 200 block of Bourbon.? [ Read more ]

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