The Times-Picayune reports today that New Orleans police officers, acting on a two-year-old ordinance, have issued an increasing number of tickets instead of arresting people for certain minor crimes, notably public intoxication. New Orleans Police Department Deputy Chief Kirk Bouyelas and Vera's Jon Wool agree that "the city should consider setting up some kind of detoxification center that could be used as a place for drunk people to dry out, instead of being arrested. This would cut down on the costly expense of housing inebriated people at the city's jail."

In comparison to summonses and arrests from before the 2008 ordinance, Vera's analysis found that police officers' use of summonses for minor crimes "increased about 5 percent, growing from 24 percent of municipal cases to 29 percent....The increase jumped to 31 percent of municipal cases being resolved by a summons" for a 10-day period in October 2009.