State, local officials call for audit of Orleans Parish jail financials, security

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The search continues for the Orleans Parish jail escapees who remain on the run.

“The jig is up. Don’t think you can hide. They’re not going to be on the lam for long,” said Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley.

Even with several inmates captured being transported out of New Orleans by the Louisiana State Police, Conley’s department has been deployed as part of this joint operation.

“I have extra patrols out on the street just in case they’re monitoring all our modern technology. Anything out of the ordinary? They’re going to jump on and fully investigate,” said Conley.

With law enforcement searching for the escapees, New Orleans Councilwoman Helena Moreno still feels everyone should have been alerted immediately when it was made aware the inmates had escaped.

“Totally unacceptable. It’s also incredibly irresponsible because it is a public safety danger to have these individuals now out in the community, and the fact that no one knew about it,” said Moreno.

With the escape caught on surveillance cameras, Moreno questioned why no one was monitoring the cameras.

“You would think that this would be, like, a huge. Somehow, the system would flag this like, hey, you know, there’s a bunch of people now running out of the building,” said Moreno.

Moreno, along with State Representative Jason Hughes, is requesting that the Louisiana legislative auditor do a full financial and security audit of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office.

“The sheriff has refused to come into our Brass system so that we can understand how every dollar is being spent,” said Moreno.

Though she appreciates the sheriff doing an investigation, she believes a third-party outside investigation should be done as well.

“Whether that’s, you know, the district attorney, the attorney general. Look into what happened, particularly if we’re talking about criminal charges within the department, because they helped individuals get out,” said Moreno.

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