Advertisement Banners go up in French Quarter pleading for more police protection Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Following a recent string of violent armed robberies and other crimes in the French Quarter, residents and business owners have teamed up in a new campaign, calling for additional police protection.The banners which read, "Caution: walk in large groups, we love NOPD, we just need more," are being placed on homes and businesses across the city's most famous neighborhood."It seems like we're becoming, the French Quarter, the number one destination for the bad guys," said Jon Kemp.Kemp, one of dozens of people now hanging up the signs, that in a sense support the manpower challenged NOPD."This is positive, we love the NOPD, we like that they protect us, we just need more of them," Kemp said.Around 100 of the banners have been distributed over the past couple of days. The campaign is in response to a growing number of crimes, mostly armed robberies, to plague the 8th District in recent weeks that have turned violent."I think it's the violence for no reason, yeah, robberies ok, but then beating someone up, stabbing someone, why?" Kemp said.Mayor Mitch Landrieu addressed the spike in crime during his end-of-the-year press conference Monday morning."When violent crime is ticking up it makes everyone feel unsafe," the Mayor said. "So our mission collectively is to make the city of New orleans safer."Landrieu said he understands the frustration, but went on to say, crime is not just a concern in the city's most visited and famous neighborhood."Crime in any neighborhood is unacceptable, when you actually look at crime patterns in the city, as dangerous as some people think that the French Quarter is, it's actually one of the lowest crime areas in the city," Landrieu said.Police Chief Michael Harrison also addressed the concerns."As we get more resources, as officers ask to come back and I have officers who want to come back, we look at how we're deploying our people around the city, making sure every neighborhood has adequate protection, but especially in the French Quarter," said Harrison.Harrison said in recent weeks they've deployed almost a dozen additional officers to patrol the Quarter. Under his leadership he said, reducing violent crime in 2015 and beyond will remain the departments top priority.Currently the NOPD has roughly 1,100 officers. The department's goal in the coming years is to boost that number by 500, through an aggressive recruitment campaign.This as the mayor and police chief addressed crime in the city and highlighted their efforts to curb it during the mayor's end-of-the-year address earlier today.