Newell Normand

2 weeks ago | audacy.com | Newell Normand

Would you rather be told comforting lies or the unpleasant truth? If you're seeking comfort, you're in the wrong place. I found Governor Landry's response to the Orleans Parish jail break to be very appropriate because his indignation toward the District Attorney Jason Williams' performance underscored the larger, but severely neglected, reality of what happened on Friday. Before going further-yes-a jail break is a dreadful, chaotic event that undermines the public's trust in its institutions.

2 weeks ago | audacy.com | Newell Normand

What we've got here is failure to communicate ... And what a dangerous, industrial-sized failure it was. Anyone who's seen Cool Hand Luke knows the line I'm referring to, which, under the circumstances, I use in a quite different light than in the movie. But the words fit for what happened Friday on too many levels. And I wish I didn't have to be so heavy-handed with the cliches in the case of the escaped inmates from the Orleans Justice Center.

4 weeks ago | audacy.com | Newell Normand |Nathan Rizzuti

New Orleans has entered a very risky political climate. According to JP Morrell, "This is when outgoing administrations tie you up with bad contracts that go into other administrations."Can't access the audio in the above player? for the full interview with JP Morrell So...yes, as surely as the sun rises in the east, we're back to talking trash.

4 weeks ago | audacy.com | Newell Normand

When you work in government long enough, certain phrases trigger automatic mental responses. "This will make our city safer" is one of those phrases that trigger skepticism. Of course, a safer city is always preferable to an unsafe city. Lower crime rates are always better than higher crime rates. Peaceful neighborhoods are always more desirable than chaotic neighborhoods. No one's disputing that.

1 month ago | audacy.com | Newell Normand |Nathan Rizzuti

There's nothing that can erode the public's trust in the system more than when the system fails to uphold its own laws or hold itself accountable. Dr. Skip Gallager leads a watchdog group that analyzes public records to monitor misbehavior within the NOPD. Recently, he's brought to attention two instances where officers drove about 2x over the blood-alcohol limit with kids in the vehicle. Driving drunk, they crashed their vehicles.