When a historic violent crime wave converged with a New Orleans police staffing crisis in 2022, Mayor LaToya Cantrell put $20 million in federal grants toward police bonuses in a bid to shore up the ranks.
Now the outgoing administration says the money is mostly spent, and there isn’t enough to pay $10,000 bonuses for officers who agreed to stick around for three years.
An estimated $8 million to $12 million is due to officers this month, but less than $4 million from the city’s appropriation of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the effort remains, according to a Dec. 23 email from a Cantrell administration official to Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, who takes office on Jan. 12…