New Orleans authorities made several mistakes that allowed an unhinged maniac to easily infiltrate New Year's revelers early Wednesday. It also may have become too “lazy” after dealing with large crowds in the past, security experts told the Post.
Taken together, these blunders and oversights were enough to allow homegrown terrorist Shamsud Din Jabar to carry out his evil plans that left 14 people dead and dozens more injured after the Bourbon Street massacre. It is highly likely that this gave them some leeway.
Ironically, the New Orleans Police Department may have been a victim of its past successes, says former Navy SEAL Clint Emerson. Owner of security company Escape the Wolf.
“There are a lot of events happening on Bourbon Street outside of Mardi Gras. [and] They’re just using the same old tactics and it’s working,” Emerson told the Post on Thursday.
“It's like, 'We're not having any problems, but what do we need to improve?'” he said. “I think they just got lazy.”
Although the city's decision to remove bollards and other devices installed on Bourbon Street in 2017 to prevent this type of vehicle-based attack is currently controversial, Emerson said law enforcement They say there were other major mistakes in the conservation plan.
In fact, the 42-year-old Jabbar shouldn't have gotten that close to his goal in the first place.
“They needed to push the boundaries further out,” Emerson explained. “You want at least one or two blocks in every direction. That's where the perimeter needs to start.”
By creating this large “gap,” authorities can erect a barrier, such as uniformed police or stationed police cars, between the border and the terrorist's intended target, in this case a party venue crowded with tourists. It will be.
But the police didn't do that.
Instead, they parked their patrol car at the intersection of Canal Street and Bourbon Street, and Jabbar simply drove it away on a nightmarish road trip.
That's one reason why Emerson, who frequently visits New Orleans and uses the city's grid to teach other SEALs how to monitor their feet, isn't sure the bollards would have stopped Jabber in any case. It is one.
“That's the problem — because he took advantage of a gap in the sidewalk,” Emerson said. “if [the bollards] Don't go all the way to the sidewalk, and he wouldn't have been stopped, because he jumped the curb, ran over a bunch of people, and hurtled down Bourbon Street. ”
“People are making a fuss about this car [bollards]But if you look at what this guy did, he could have done it even with the right technology in place. ”
On Wednesday, New Orleans police announced that portable steel bollards installed eight years ago as part of a $40 million public safety plan no longer extend to the sidewalk. According to NOLA.com.
The city introduced them in November as part of a three-month security review aimed at correcting what French Quarter Superintendent Bob Sims called an “inefficient” system. The system was removed.
“The truck is always full of trash, beads, doubloons, and God knows what else. It's not the best idea,” Sims told Nola.com.
“Eventually, everyone realized they needed to be replaced. We're in the process of doing that, but the new one isn't up and running yet.”
At least 14 people were killed and about 35 injured when the Army veteran-turned-terrorist's F-150 Lightning EV truck sped down Bourbon Street and came to a stop after hitting a crane blocking the road just after 3 a.m. .
Police swarmed the truck and killed the apparent maniac in a gunfight.
More than 300 police officers and 60 Louisiana State Troopers gathered downtown ahead of the New Year's celebration, which coincided with the Sugar Bowl game, which was originally scheduled for New Year's Day but was postponed to Thursday.
“We deployed our patrol cars as a strong target,” Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said at a news conference, according to NOLA.com.
“This particular terrorist drove his car onto the sidewalk and evaded the enemy.”
Gov. Jeff Landry acknowledged the need to close security gaps.
“We know there's a problem and we're going to fix it,” Landry said. “We can go on forever with what-ifs. This is evil. That man could have easily walked down the sidewalk on Canal Street.”
But that's why Emerson said the border should have been farther away, and police should have littered the area with immovable barriers to deter potential enemies.
“We could have done a better job by making sure we had heavy vehicles there, definitely on the perimeter,” he said. “It's a typical dump truck full of sand, like they do in New York, with some sort of barricade on the sidewalk.”
But Seals, who is retired, said it would be difficult to secure such a public fluid area no matter who tried to do it.
“It's a 360-degree environment and it's very difficult to prevent everything,” he said. “Unfortunately, the bottom line is that when you're talking about a maverick, martyr trade that you know is going to die in the end, it's hard to stop it.”
“He knew he wasn't going to survive, he was giving it his all,” he said. “And it's hard to beat, because how many guys think, 'Oh, I'm totally committed to dying for the shield on my chest as a police officer!'
“is that so?”
