Louisiana AG to launch full review of New Orleans security plan after Bourbon Street attack: report
Louisiana’s top attorney plans to open a full review into the security planning that went into the Sugar Bowl and New Year’s Eve as concerns continue to mount about whether New Orleans officials could have done more to prevent the deadly attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people and injured dozens more, according to a report.
NOLA.com reported that Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she plans to make a formal announcement on Monday about the full review, noting that New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick has pledged to provide her complete support and cooperation.
New Orleans locals and visitors have been questioning why a temporary barrier intended to prevent cars from entering Bourbon Street, where Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a truck through a New Year's crowd in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, was set down instead of up, allowing vehicles to pass.
The temporary metal barriers were installed on Bourbon Street and other areas of the French Quarter in mid-November as the city was in the process of removing old bollards and replacing them with stainless steel bollards. That work was expected to continue through January.
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Official recommendations for New Orleans' security measures in the French Quarter, as part of a $2.3 billion infrastructure project that began in 2017, included the installation of new bollards on Bourbon Street to prevent mass casualty events that the FBI identified as a potential threat in the popular tourist area.
Security recommendations for the area included street cameras, a central command center, better lighting and high-quality bollards that are also used by the U.S. government near its official buildings.
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Former FBI official Bill Daly, a security and risk management adviser, told Fox News Digital that the "Achilles' heel" in the Jan. 1 tragedy was that the temporary measures used on New Year’s Eve did not provide the same level of protection as was previously intended, designed and envisioned in the 2017 report.
"Temporary barricades are used extensively. They're used, for instance, by the New York City Police Department in Times Square, to close off all the side streets leading to Times Square," Daly said.
He explained that in New York City, authorities place cement blocks on the sidewalk and in the middle of the street as temporary barricades, and also use some vehicles like garbage trucks and dump trucks to block the road.
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Along with the investigation from Murrill, some city council members said they plan to conduct their own investigations into the security measures that were in place on the morning of the attack.
Murrill told NOLA.com she has spoken with City Council member Helena Moreno as well as District Attorney Jason Williams and other officials, adding that she intends to speak with others about her plans for a full review into security.
"Everyone is committed to getting a complete picture of what was done or not done and, importantly, what needs to change so we can prevent this from ever happening again," she said.
Murrill's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the matter.
Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin, Garrett Tenney and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.