Social Aid & Pleasure clubs at odds with NOPD enforcement

“People come out to participate and celebrate their community. Their club that’s in their community. And if you say, ‘ok you can’t ride on a trolley,’ what are we telling our community? We’re going to tear your culture down a little bit at a time,” said Ed Buckner.

Buckner is the president of the Original Big 7 Social Aid and Pleasure Club. Theirs is one of the 36 parades scheduled on Sundays over the nine-month second-line season.

In an annual meeting recently with the New Orleans Police Department, the clubs walked away feeling as if the culture is “under assault.”

“The continued cultural displacement imposed by the NOPD is where we are like this is enough,” said Social Aid & Pleasure Club Task Force Tamara Jackson.

At issue, the task force says the NOPD has:

• Taken control of schedule and waitlists to parades.
• Forced the rescheduling of a group because they roll during the French Quarter Fest weekend
• Mandating unaffordable insurance on utility trailers carriages and floats
• Created rigid application timelines

All this is in the name of public safety.

“We go through this every season, we have systemic changes. The club people have been really open in trying to work with the police department. But I think at this point in the juncture, a lot of the guidelines and stipulations are outlandish in my opinion,” said Jackson.

This is all happening just weeks before the first second line that is set to roll on Aug. 24. The NOPD released a statement to WGNO:

Our recent focus on utility trailers stems from community concerns and our obligation to ensure that all transportation for hire complies with existing safety regulations. We remain committed to working with all stakeholders to find solutions that protect the public while honoring our cultural traditions.
Officials with the New Orleans Police Department

The second-line clubs have powerful political backings as the top four candidates for mayor of New Orleans spoke in support of their cause at a forum on Monday night, Aug. 4 and the city council is taking up the issue Thursday, Aug. 7 at their weekly meeting.

The good news is there will be a second-line season. What do the clubs hope is there can be some compromise.

“We have to figure out a way as a community to make sure that the culture survives. So that means working together,” said Buckner.