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GDSD Neighbors:
We hope this season finds you well and encourage you to review this year- end report from the GDSD.
The Patrol
The current patrol provider continues to receive positive comments from many of you who use the service on a regular basis. Since 1998, the Garden District Security patrol officers have provided around-the-clock enhanced security patrols for the neighborhood. This includes several private patrol officers on simultaneous duty plus NOPD detail officers on duty for random shifts. Every day, GDSD officers are available in the District to assist in emergency situations, check homes when you are out of town, provide and escort from your car to your door, or check out suspicious persons in the area. They work closely with the NOPD officers of the Sixth District to deter crime in the area. All residents and businesses within the boundaries of Louisiana Avenue, Carondelet Street, Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street (both sides of all streets) are eligible to receive GDSD patrol service any time, day or night. The positive results of this coverage can be noted in our crime reports which are consistently lower than many other areas across the city that do not have enhanced security.
Actions by The Board of Commissioners
This year, several meetings of the GDSD Board of Commissioners were held. All GDSD meetings are open the public. This year, as suggested by residents, GDSD engaged former NOPD Supt. Michelle Woodfork to analyze the current allocation of patrol and other resources and advise us on changes to improve the service to all residents. Her report noted the many positive procedures already in place in the GDSD but added suggestions for the coming year.
Cameras
Our residential camera program is well underway and today over 50? cameras have been added to the new system. If you recall the program rolled out earlier this year is a higher quality program than the previous one is based on technically superior equipment and the cost of the program to all residents interested in signing up is lower. The biggest program improvement allows residents to use their existing cameras as part of this integrated system. The existing cameras must be able to capture the street and or sidewalk footage to be eligible to enroll. In this current program, these cameras will immediately alert the dispatcher and officers on duty when a certain activity is captured on video, potential crimes can be deterred, rather than just investigated after the fact. Thus, the more cameras that are installed as part of the GDSD program, the safer the neighborhood can be. With your help, we can make our neighborhood a safer place for all of us. Please consider signing up for a free assessment and estimate. If you are interested, please send an email to: gdsdpatrol@bellsouth.net.
A Few Safety Reminders
Lights: The benefits lighting cannot be emphasized enough. Lights can go a long way in deterring crime! Many streets within our neighborhood are dark due to broken streetlights. While the patrol and the GDA both take steps to report these issues and request that the city make these repairs, the delays are long, and sometime simply do not happen. All residents are asked to help light up the District by keeping porch lights on at night and adding additional security lights to their property. Entergy offers low-cost security lighting that anyone can add to their block. There is no charge for the light or the installation. A low fee is added to your monthly bill. Visit Entergy’s website under Residential >Products>Security Lighting.
Safe walks: Call 504-899-4373 (GDSD). Escorts can help prevent a would-be criminal from taking advantage of a situation. Please play it safe and call the patrol to monitor you to and from your home. Remember to give this number to your visitors and family members to use whenever possible for escort service or to report unusual activity or criminal behavior.
Email Blast List? If you are not already receiving our periodic email blasts, we invite you to join our email list to receive alert notices and activity reports regarding the patrol, the NOPD and general neighborhood concerns. If you received this newsletter by email, you are all set. To sign up, simply send a request to join along with your email address and physical home address to gdsdpatrol@bellsouth.net.
GDSD Decals: Telephone and car decals are available for your use. The phone stickers can be placed anywhere to facilitate easy access to the number for the patrol. GDSD car decals should be placed on your rear windshield to allow the patrol to easily identify your car as belonging to a resident. Simply send an email request with your address to gdsdpatrol@bellsouth.net to receive either or both decals.
Your Alarm System. If you have a house alarm, it is recommended that you add the GDSD number as one of the first responder numbers in case of emergency. The GDSD patrol officers can usually respond faster than the NOPD to help control the situation.
Crime Statistics
This year, as always across the city, car burglaries top the list of reported crimes. These violations are a big nuisance, and the cost of replacing shattered windows can be expensive. In addition, the risk of having criminals in the neighborhood elevates the potential for more serious crimes to occur. The NOPD and the GDSD officers cannot solve this alone. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we remind you to remove all items from your car, report each incident, report all suspicious activity immediately and, if possible, add camera surveillance to your home to help in the identification and apprehension of these perpetrators.
This year our GDSD patrol officers have answered ______of calls for service including hundreds of resident escorts, home checks for traveling residents, and business checks for area merchants. They have responded to medical/mental emergency responses, car thefts and burglaries, auto thefts, auto accidents, suspicious person calls, and shoplifting, and assisted NOPD on serious crimes such as residential burglaries and carjackings. These are only a few of the activities they have encountered throughout the year trying to keep our neighborhood safe. We believe that their visibility continues to be a deterrent to potential crime in this area for our 2500+ residents and our hundreds of thousands of visitors. Our GDSD patrol statistics are posted on our website (gdsdpatrol.com>activity) regularly. The city-wide information can be found on the NOPD’s website https://nola.gov/nopd/data/.
2025 Budget
At a public hearing and budget meeting earlier this year, the GDSD Board of Commissioners voted to request the City Council to levy 7.13 mils against each parcel in 2025. This measure was approved by the City Council as part of their budget process. This tax included on the city’s property tax bills that are mailed to all homeowners or to their mortgage company. The 2025 budget below shows the projected income and expenses for the coming year. The longstanding board policy aims to retain a healthy fund balance to be prepared for continued coverage in case of a disaster or evacuation.
Fund Balance, Forwarded from 2024 $ 907,254
Income:
Revenue from taxes * (net 99% collectible) $ 929,443
Prior years taxes 15,000
Less @ 4% City collection fee (37,778)
Interest income 20,000
Total Revenue $ 926,665
Expenses:
Private Patrol daily/ 24 hour coverage $ 575,000
NOPD Patrol 450,000
Insurance 35,000
Enhanced Security Program 2,000
Neighborhood Camera Program 244,000
Audit/ Accounting 10,000
Administration/Office: 72,000
Telephone/ IPads/ GPS /CompUpgrades, Website
Legal Fees 20,000
Contingency 5,000
Total expenses $ 1,413,000
Balance Forward $ 420,919
*Based on estimate from Assessor’s Preliminary Net Taxable Property Assessments for 2025 and a 99% collection rate and the current average costs of patrols and NOPD.
GDSD was formed in 1998 through legislative action taken by its sponsoring organization, The Garden District Association. By significant margins, it was approved by the voters of the District several times since then. It is a subdivision of the state of Louisiana and an approved taxing district. The GDSD Board of Commissioners is made up of 11 residents of the Garden District. Five of the GDSD Commissioners are appointed by the GDA, one member is appointed by the State Representative, the State Senator, the Mayor, the Magazine Street Merchants and the St. Charles Avenue Association. The President of the GDA also serves on this Board. The annual fee assessed to each homeowner is based on a millage determined by the Board of Commissioners each year. All meetings are open to the public.
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