How are things in NOLA? The police headquarters is full of rats. And they’re all high

Deteriorating HVAC units, elevators and plumbing systems and heavy mold are a few of the issues at New Orleans Police Department headquarters.

But those aren’t the only problems at the aging criminal justice complex near Orleans Avenue and North Broad Street.

“The rats are eating our marijuana,” NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told members of the City Council on Monday at a Criminal Justice Committee meeting. “They’re all high.”

Vermin infest police headquarters, Kirkpatrick said, scattering feces across desks, and also feast on narcotics in the department’s cockroach-infested evidence room.

“It is not just at police headquarters. It is all the districts. The uncleanliness is off the charts,” Kirkpatrick said. “The janitorial cleaning (team) deserves an award trying to clean what is uncleanable.”

She said the crumbling, dirty conditions at police headquarters and district stations create both morale and health issues in the force.

Kirkpatrick’s assessment came as she pitched a new home downtown for NOPD headquarters. The council is considering a 10-year lease on two upper floors of 1615 Poydras Tower, for an NOPD relocation viewed as temporary while the department maps out future long-term housing.

A motion to authorize council President Helena Moreno to sign the pending lease agreement cleared the committee. It awaits a full council vote. Many of the financial specifics remain up in the air, Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montaño said Monday morning.

That’s because a pending move of City Hall may affect the new police headquarters’ placement. So will the potential move of other aging buildings in the criminal justice complex in Mid-City.

“I foresee most of the criminal justice agencies will have to be temporarily housed as we address these old decrepit buildings,” Montaño said. “The Herculean lift of being able to move police headquarters was a challenge. There’s a contemplation for the overall finalization of the campus, but right now we are addressing police headquarters because it is in dire straits.”

Under the terms of the staggered lease agreement, the city would pay total base rent of $7.6 million from its general fund over the 10 years.

“It’s a good deal for the city to move here,” said Montaño. He said putting money into repairs to the existing headquarters would cost three times as much.

Kirkpatrick described the condition of today’s NOPD headquarters as a “turn-off” to any potential out-of-state lateral transfers, nevermind those who work there.

“It’s not OK, and it’s not OK for people to be treated that way and be called valued,” she said.