AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Could more security have prevented this week's vehicle attack on a busy street in New Orleans? That's a question that's come up in the days since the deadly incident that killed 14 people and left dozens injured. What we do know is that security bollards meant to protect pedestrians from vehicle attacks were not in place on New Year's Eve, and the city was warned years ago that they were vulnerable to incidents like this. Matt Bloom with member station WWNO has been following all of this and joins us now. Hi, Matt.
MATT BLOOM, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so tell us about these warnings that city officials received. Like, what did they know and when, exactly?
BLOOM: Well, we know that a city agency commissioned an assessment of the French Quarter back in 2019 by a security consulting firm, Interfor. We've obtained parts of that report that were not made public at the time, and it warned officials that the risks of vehicle attacks or mass shootings on Bourbon Street were, quote, "highly possible." It also made recommendations to improve security infrastructure immediately, especially the bollards. These are steel barriers designed to block cars from the road, but there have been problems with them.
CHANG: Problems - like, what kind of problems?
BLOOM: Well, this goes back to 2017, so before this report. The city installed bollards all around the French Quarter to prevent this type of attack. The ones on Bourbon Street were designed to be raised and lowered for major events where the street's blocked off. But within a year of being installed, they got clogged with Mardi Gras beads and trash, and residents at the time claimed there weren't enough personnel to deploy them. That's all according to that same security assessment.
CHANG: But 2017, I mean, that's - what? - almost eight years ago now. What do city officials have to say about why it's taken so long to replace the bollards?
BLOOM: Right. Right. Well, maintaining infrastructure across the city has long been a challenge. The mayor said that they only just got state funding in November to replace the bollards as...
CHANG: Wow.
BLOOM: ...A part of a wide range of infrastructure projects underway ahead of next month's Super Bowl. So the city has started that work. But remember, the driver in this week's attack drove around a police car blocking the road and onto the sidewalk, killing pedestrians. Councilwoman Lesli Harris says that there was just no way to prevent this.
LESLI HARRIS: There are intersections that cross Bourbon Street that are not blocked by bollards so that traffic can flow. So to say that this happened just because there weren't bollards in place, I think, is a misinterpretation of what happened. I think this attack was going to happen no matter what.
BLOOM: Security experts like Juliette Kayyem disagree. She advises public-sector entities on crisis planning and response.
JULIETTE KAYYEM: Between barriers, bollards and sanitation trucks and other things, it would have been relatively simple to make Bourbon Street more secure for any mega event. And the question that is a legitimate question to ask is, why wasn't that done?
BLOOM: She also pointed out that a lot of cities have bollards on sidewalks. In Chicago, for example, their Magnificent Mile has concrete flower beds that protect it from cars.
CHANG: Right. Well, New Orleans is going to be hosting some mega events - right? - like the Super Bowl in February and Mardi Gras not too long after that. What are officials planning to keep people safe?
BLOOM: Right. Tens of thousands of people are expected to visit the city in the next few months. We've already installed temporary sidewalk bollards. The governor has declared an emergency declaration that activates the National Guard, so we're expecting that to be a major presence here going forward.
CHANG: That is Matt Bloom from member station WWNO in New Orleans. Thank you, Matt.
BLOOM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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