TAKE STEPS TO HIRE MORE POLICE

The Times-Picayune's in-depth series, "Cycle of Death," is bringing to
light horrifying tales of violent crime in our city. Central to the series
is that New Orleans has once again become the nation's murder capital. This
dubious achievement is not surprising, given the substantial shrinkage of
the Police Department over the past three years.

One month ago, the New Orleans Police Foundation published a report that
demonstrated the connection between our high murder rate and our dwindling
police force. The report provided a three-pronged solution in order to
increase the size of the department to the 2,000 officers needed for a safe
city: We must increase pay, reform the promotions system and repeal the
residency requirement.

A majority of police officers agreed on these interrelated solutions.
Although the residency requirement is a hot-button issue, 79 percent of
responding officers believe it should be repealed.

The Times-Picayune has aptly shown that violence in our city has once again
reached a crisis level. We face a clear choice -- - either implement these
solutions and make our city safe, or do nothing and allow the problem to
get worse.

Henri Wolbrette III

New Orleans