'The rats are eating our marijuana; they're all high': Infested New Orleans police evidence room becoming rodent cafeteria



New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick put the infestation problem plaguing the department in stark terms — particularly in regard to the evidence room that she said has become a kind of smorgasbord for rodents.

"The rats are eating our marijuana," Kirkpatrick said Monday at a City Council Criminal Justice Committee meeting, NOLA.com reported. "They're all high."

Besides consuming narcotics in the department's evidence room, she also said rodents have been scattering feces across desks, the outlet noted. Cockroaches also are making the rounds, NOLA said.

"It is not just at police headquarters. It is all the districts. The uncleanliness is off the charts," Kirkpatrick also said, according to the outlet. "The janitorial cleaning [team] deserves an award trying to clean what is uncleanable."

Other problems at the aging criminal justice complex near Orleans Avenue and North Broad Street include heavy mold as well as deteriorating HVAC units, elevators, and plumbing systems, NOLA added.

More from the outlet:

Kirkpatrick's assessment came as she lobbied to relocate department headquarters to a downtown high rise. The council is considering a 10-year lease on two upper floors of 1615 Poydras Tower, a temporary move while the department maps out future long-term housing, she said.

Kirkpatrick also said the department's overall condition likely is a "turn-off" to potential out-of-state transfers — not to mention for present employees, NOLA noted: "It's not OK, and it's not OK for people to be treated that way and be called valued."

A motion to authorize the pending lease agreement cleared the committee and goes next to a full council vote, the outlet said.

"I foresee most of the criminal justice agencies will have to be temporarily housed as we address these old decrepit buildings," Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montaño said, according to NOLA. "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."

The outlet reported that the city would pay total base rent of $7.6 million from its general fund over 10 years under the terms of the lease agreement.

"It's a good deal for the city to move here," Montaño also said, according to NOLA, given that repairing the present headquarters would cost three times as much.

'They're all high' | Rats eating marijuana, broken AC, roaches, plague NOPD headquarters youtu.be

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Trick-or-treating canceled due to 'nasty' cockroach infestation in Michigan neighborhood



One metro Detroit neighborhood has canceled trick-or-treating this year, fearing kids who sought treats there might bring six-legged tricks home with them instead.

Local officials in Wyandotte, Michigan, approximately 11 miles south of Detroit, have canceled the annual Halloween custom in one area — along 20th Street between Eureka Road and Grove Street — now that cockroaches have overrun one particular house and property.

Garbage collectors first discovered the infestation issue several weeks ago and immediately reported it to the authorities.

"I think they picked up one or two bags and said, 'Whoa,'" claimed neighborhood resident Becky Wallace.

The city then warned the owners of the home that they had 30 days to take care of the problem or face eviction, but a follow-up inspection determined that they had not complied. The city will soon take possession of the home and begin exterminating the vermin.

Though the house may now be empty of people, it still has plenty of bugs. Despite efforts to contain the cockroaches to the one home, other homes have been affected, prompting concerns that tick-or-treating might further exacerbate the problem by spreading cockroach eggs. Stepping on cockroach eggs can cause them to attach to shoes, costumes, and candy bags, even as higher foot traffic increases the chances that many of the bugs themselves will be squashed to death.

"Remember when the kids were little, and they drag their costumes and they’re dragging their bags?" Wallace added, "Well, from my understanding, you can step on roach eggs and you can take them home. You can spread them. I would not want them to be taken home to mom and dad’s house."

Local officials apparently agreed. They sent a letter to area residents, informing them that trick-or-treating in that section of the city had been canceled this year and that the sidewalks there would also be closed from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday. Signs alerting parents and families who may be unaware of the problem will be posted so that kids can collect treats elsewhere.

"It doesn’t matter whether you’re a tidy person, a hoarder, roaches come in all these houses," Wallace continued.

Wallace also noted that she and her neighbors have felt "nasty" ever since the problem began.

"[W]hen you think about having either one of them in your home, it just gives you that dirty feeling," she said.

Area residents have used rubbing alcohol and bug spray to decontaminate themselves as best they can, but some are still frustrated by the municipal response.

"A lot of contents were put in the back yard, and of course, roach eggs get all over the place and cause the roaches to migrate throughout the neighborhood," said Tom Vargo.

City Councilman Todd Hanna said the insects have infested the neighborhood through "no fault of the city." The city has also offered to spray all yards affected by the bugs for free.