Louisiana: National Guard to Remain in New Orleans

An Oregon National Guard patrol from C Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry moves up Paris Avenue in north New Orleans, La., in order to verify that there are no people remaining there in need of help or evacuation and to chart the boundaries of the receding floodwaters on Sept. 15, 2005.

20 June 2008

New Orleans-At least 200 Louisiana National Guard troops will remain in New Orleans through 2008 for law enforcement duties as the police department tries to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said the current contingent of 360 guard members would be phased down through the rest of the year to augment the police department, which lost 500 officers after the storm. The department will continue a national recruiting drive to bolster the police force, which has about 1,470 officers, down from 1,668 before the storm.

Mr. Jindal, a Republican, said the state was paying about $1 million a month to keep the guard in New Orleans. Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau, head of the Louisiana National Guard, said some of the soldiers who had been stationed in the city had expressed an interest in joining the police department.