Several cars have been caught driving down the Lafitte Greenway this month, endangering pedestrians and cyclists.

Darby Shields, Friends of Lafitte Greenway board member, asked for some safety precautions along the Greenway to keep people from driving down the paved walkway. Shields told the Mid-City Security District about three separate occasions where people were caught driving down the greenspace, though no one was injured.

“They’re not hitting people, but they’re screaming at them and just being jerks,” Shields said.

One incident, which occurred the night of Sept. 16, involved a black SUV that pulled onto the Greenway near Carrollton Avenue. Several people tried to flag down the car when the driver got out, yelled obscenities at the pedestrians and drove away, Shields said.

It’s an incident that’s caught the attention of New Orleans Police First District Commander Hans Ganthier. After learning about the rogue drivers, Ganthier told his supervisors to pay close attention to calls about cars on the Greenway. If another vehicle is caught driving along the paved pathway, free officers will be placed along the “exits” to catch the suspect, he added.

“There’s choke points – there’s only a few roads to get in and out,” Ganthier said.

Shields asked Ganthier to place several barricades along the Greenway’s entrance and exits. Ganthier said he’s not opposed to barricades, though he thinks security cameras might be a better solution, especially given all the new and future developments along the Greenway.

He’s also added overtime mounted horse patrols three to four days a week along the Greenway, which mostly serves as crime-prevention, he said. When First District is granted more bike patrols, those will be placed along the greenspace too, Ganthier said.

“I’ve committed a significant amount of overtime to the Greenway,” Ganthier said.