Irish Channel block parties struggled to find officers amid transition to new paid-detail system

The off-duty police officers who have worked the Irish Channel block parties on St. Patrick’s Day for years declined to sign up this year through the city’s new, federally-mandated paid-detail system, leaving organizers scrambling to find replacements until the last minute, reports John Simerman of The New Orleans Advocate. Only about 15 percent of the department’s officers have signed up for jobs through the new city’s office, and as a result of the St. Patrick’s Day issue and others like it, the city is considering offering police higher rates for the off-duty work, Simerman reports.