one 2017 report Bourbon Street identified as a potential terrorism target by the City of New Orleans FBI warning And announced the installation of bollards to protect pedestrians from possible vehicle collision attacks.
The report released in January that year highlighted the dense crowd of pedestrians on Bourbon Street as a vulnerability. “This presents a risk and target for terrorism and the FBI has identified it as a concern that the city should address,” the report said.
After eight years, US Army veteran Shamsuddin JabbarAfter authorities say he pledged allegiance to ISIS, he drove a truck about three blocks down Bourbon Street, murder of 14 peopleThe bollards, installed in 2017 to help prevent such attacks, were being replaced ahead of the Super Bowl, which New Orleans will host on Feb. 9.
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A confidential report reviewed by CBS News revealed that city officials were warned in 2019 that the bollards needed to be fixed and improved “immediately.” Reports say some removable barriers have become inoperable due to the debris Construction Work was going on to install additional bollards on the same road.
The report was written by New York-based security consultancy Interfor International and submitted in November 2019 to the French Quarter Management District, a state group that manages the area.
“The threat of terrorism – particularly mass shootings and vehicle attacks – is highly probable while moderately probable,” the report said.
“Interfor strongly recommends immediate fixes/improvements to bollard mobilization,” the report later said, adding that the New Orleans Police Department was in the best position to oversee improvements.
Don Aviv, CEO of Interfor International, told CBS News that he did not hear back from the management district after publishing a summary of the confidential report in August 2020.
“This was unusual,” Aviv said, adding that they typically offer strategies and methods to follow through on recommendations.
an update Mayor LaToya Cantrell's office said the same month that the city had begun assessing and repairing the bollard. After four years, minutes The April 2024 meeting revealed that the Department of Public Works was still “looking for a replacement” for the bollard on Bourbon Street.
Construction work to replace bollard not started By November 2024, five years after the report that recommended they be fixed immediately. One online bulletin On December 19, it was revealed that Jabbar had climbed onto the sidewalk to enter Bourbon Street, with bollards being placed near him.
After the attack, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick Said Police had taken action to “harden up targeted areas where bollards previously were” by installing patrol cars and other measures. “We had a car there, we had barricades there, we had officers there, and they still got there.”
Authorities have also said that the bollards alone would not have stopped an attack, and would not have prevented the attacker from climbing onto the sidewalk. Temporary, moveable steel barriers that the city previously used to block sidewalks were not deployed on Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve.
However, on June 1 2017 report Published by the city's Public Works Department, prepared by infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, the bollards were cited as a way to save lives during such an attack.
The report compared vehicle collision attacks in Nice, France, and New York's Times Square, where fixed bollards were credited with saving lives. It proposed operable bollards for Bourbon Street to prevent unauthorized vehicle access while maintaining flexibility.
Unlike the fixed bollards in New York City, the report said the proposed bollards would be removable, accommodating delivery vehicles and emergency access. Permanent establishments faced concerns that they could restrict access to businesses.
“The City has developed cost-effective alternatives to using operable bollards to control access to Bourbon Street,” the report states. “When closed, these bollards will provide adequate security to prevent any unauthorized vehicles from accessing the road.”
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced at an FBI news conference on Sunday that the city is reviewing the newly installed bollards. concerns They can only withstand vehicle impacts at speeds up to 10 mph.
“The thorough evaluation I'm calling for will determine whether they are strong enough,” Cantrell said. “I can't say with certainty that this is the case, but an expert will be able to do so, and we will respond accordingly.”
In a statement to CBS News, the district said: “The French Quarter Management District had no involvement with the selection or contracting process for the Bourbon Street Bollard; that decision was made by the Mayor's Office/City Department of Public Works. New Of Orleans.”