At NOPD headquarters this morning, Superintendent Ronal Serpas introduced a 65-point plan to reform the troubled department and allow citizens to track its progress. You can download your own copy of the report here, but here are a few items of interest.

An outreach program to the growing number of Spanish-speaking residents who settled in New Orleans after the storm:

39. The NOPD in the First Quarter of 2011 will establish an El Protector Program to engage its Hispanic/Latino community. The El Protector Program originated in the California Highway Patrol and was initiated in the Washington State Patrol in 2002, and the Nashville Police Department in 2005. Nashville’s El Protector Program, in February 2009, received national recognition from the Vera Institute of Justice as a “best practice” in reaching across the language divide. El Protector-type programs will enhance the NOPD’s ability to serve the ever changing diversity of our community. The NOPD will also analyze the need for this or a similar program in our Vietnamese community, as well as others that may have language differences.

More cops on bikes, in all districts:

41. The NOPD in 2011 will field Bicycle Units and an expanded Mounted Officer program in the eight Districts. It is well established in Community Policing literature that programs such as these serve to put officers closer to the communities they assist, thus creating better relationships, communication and information sharing.

And — as Serpas told his officers at the meeting this morning — “If you lie, you die”:

44. The NOPD on September 1, 2010 will implement a revised Honesty and Truthfulness policy that will call for presumptive termination, without progressive discipline, for any employee who makes a materially false statement with the intent to deceive. IN PLACE

45. The NOPD on September 1, 2010 will implement a revised False or Inaccurate Reports policy that will call for presumptive termination, without progressive discipline, when an employee knowingly makes, allows or causes to be made, a false or inaccurate oral or written report of an official nature. IN PLACE

There’s more (including a prohibition on cops accepting cash payments for paid details). Get your copy here — and chime in with what you think about it below.

On Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s 100th day in office, he held a town hall for City Council District A at Grace Episcopal Church in Mid-City. Landrieu, who is in the midst of conducting these “listening sessions” in every district, was joined on the dais by District A councilperson Susan Guidry and deputy mayors Judy Reese Morse and Andy Kopplin. In the audience were NOPD Chief Ronal Serpas, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman, Council President Arnie Fielkow, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro and dozens of city managers from almost every municipal department, all of whom took notes as members of the crowd stood and spoke about the improvements needed in their neighborhoods.

District A City Councilmember Susan Guidry and Mayor Mitch Landrieu take notes as members of the crowd speak at last night’s town hall in Mid-City.

“I think it’s fair to say we’ve put the pedal to the medal,” Landrieu said, outlining the six “priorities” of his administration, which he said were developed in the many task force meetings held by the new administration. The six, in order of importance, were: public safety; children and families; economic development; sustainable communities; open and effective government; and innovation. He warned that the city’s $67 million deficit would require some “tough decisions and bad choices,” and added that the findings from these community meetings would steer the direction of the final municipal budget.

Audience members had filled out cards with questions and comments as they entered, and moderator Vincent Sylvain handed them to Landrieu one by one. Each person had two minutes to pose a question, during which Landrieu — in loosened tie and rolled-up shirtsleeves — took copious notes on the most tangential of complaints on pages of yellow legal paper.

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The New Orleans Police Department will have a fully-functioning DNA lab in 18 months, according to NOPD Capt. Michael Pfeiffer, who made the commitment at this morning’s COMSTAT meeting. The city could give no timeline for reopening a DNA lab when Gambit asked the question last week.

Pfeiffer is the department’s crime liaison following the resignation of crime lab manager Anna Duggar last month. The lab is now rehiring DNA technical consultant Anne Montgomery as its manager. Montgomery established the city’s first DNA lab in 2001 before Hurricane Katrina.

Montgomery and Duggar, are both quoted in this week’s Gambit story on the subject: Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the department still has no DNA lab, even the the city has dedicated funds to build one.

Pfeiffer said Montgomery now plans to review the city’s request for proposals to ensure that the city is still seeking the most up to date equipment before reissuing the bid. The last bid was rejected by Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration earlier this year on unavoidable technical grounds after a supplier in California unwittingly included the price of shipping — less than $3,000.

In the meantime, investigations and prosecutions of rape and murder cases have been delayed, leaving some of New Orleans’ most dangerous criminals — including possible serial rapists — out on the streets.

This afternoon at City Hall, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced plans to plug the city’s $67 million budget hole for the year — a plan that includes 11 unpaid furlough days for all city workers by the end of the year, and a 10 percent pay cut for Landrieu and members of his staff.

Landrieu was joined by members of the City Council and his administration in announcing the cuts at City Hall this afternoon.

“This is not a proud moment for the city of New Orleans, and I am particularly angry as a citizen and as now the chief executive officer of this city that now we find ourselves in a situation to make very bad choices based on bad options,” said Landrieu, adding that he had “no choice but to make very very difficult decisions today that will be painful.”

“The city of New Orleans has been living beyond her means, and the city has not even made good on delivering the services that it was budgeted to deliver,” the mayor continued.

Landrieu compared the cuts to those being made by other mayors around the country — the city of Oakland had to lay off 60 police officers this week, and Mayor Cory Booker in Newark, N.J. has closed swimming pools, stopped buying toilet paper, and stopped putting gas in city cars, said Landrieu. “Those are fairly significant austerity measures, so we are not living in isolation,” Landrieu added. “We are living in tough times, and we are living in tough times because other folks made bad decisions and we have to correct all of those things.”

The city is currently overspending its existing budget by $32 million and will cut back on overtime, and rely on reductions in the police department’s command structure announced earlier this month to fill that gap. The 11 days of furlough will save the city an estimated $6.7 million, while reductions in other contracts will save $5.6 million over the next 12 months.

The city is also using $23 million from an insurance settlement, which was due to be paid before Landrieu arrived as mayor, and which has since been paid. That money will go against the city’s structural obligations and one-time losses for 2010. The mayor’s office said the insurance settlement was related to Hurricane Katrina, but did not go into specifics this afternoon.

By the end of the year, the $67.5 million gap will be filled with $67.5 million in cost savings, if the mayor’s plan is fulfilled.

At federal court this afternoon, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder bristled when asked about allegations made by defense attorneys in the Danziger Bridge case that federal agents may have fabricated evidence to secure six more indictments of New Orleans Police Department Officers — indictments that were announced at this afternoon’s news conference.

Holder (center) with U.S. Attorney Jim Letten at the Federal Courthouse on Poydras Street this afternoon

Holder was joined by U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in announcing the indictments. Today’s charges follow six other guilty pleas in the Danziger case — the six more accused officers were all arrested this morning, and Letten intends to seek their incarceration until trial. Read the full story, with video, after the jump.

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