Project NOLA resumes live footage access for NOPD

By Aliana Mediratta
Contributing Writer

(Veritenews.org) — Project NOLA, a nonprofit organization that operates thousands of crime cameras across New Orleans, will once again grant the New Orleans Police Department remote access to its footage, according to Project NOLA founder Bryan LaGarde.

The non-profit is also in talks to grant the NOPD access to a “vehicle intrusion detection system” that aims to provide live alerts to officers when cars are driving on closed sections of Bourbon Street at night.

Both of these developments follow a Nov. 4 meeting with NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick at the Project NOLA office, according to LaGarde.

Project NOLA has had a longstanding relationship with law enforcement since it was founded in 2009, allowing NOPD officers to access footage in an effort to reduce crime through higher camera visibility.

But that partnership has grown complicated over the past year – in May, news broke that the NOPD had been quietly receiving live facial recognition alerts from Project NOLA, which have since been suspended. And in September, Project NOLA accused the city of improperly releasing homicide footage obtained from one of their crime cameras to a production company who used it in a reality television show.

Now, officers once again have access to Project NOLA cameras, as City Council continues to work towards policies that regulate both its relationship with Project NOLA and with systems of facial recognition at large.

Footage shared, access revoked
Though Project NOLA may be best known for its controversial use of live facial recognition alerts, the non-profit has been sharing footage with the NOPD for fifteen years.

Even after the alert system was suspended in April, Project NOLA continued to allow officers to watch live footage and playback in cameras within their district, or other video related to specific investigations upon request.

That changed this fall, when Project NOLA revoked their access after the city released footage of a homicide to a production company for use in the television show “Homicide Squad: New Orleans.”

In a Facebook post on Sept. 29, LaGarde explained why he temporarily suspended the NOPD’s access to the cameras pending an investigation into how the footage was shared, a public explanation, and an ordinance addressing crime footage.

“This unprecedented action was taken to protect the privacy of citizens, the dignity of murder victims, and prevent re-traumatization of victims’ families,”

But then, in October, the City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting graphic or sensitive imagery from being publicly shared without being redacted or otherwise approved.

According to LaGarde, he discussed the footage release with Kirkpatrick at his office at their Nov. 4 meeting.

“As a result of the new ordinance and as a result of Anne Kirkpatrick coming to our office and saying that they wouldn’t be providing anymore footage, we made it where NOPD officers can again see live and playback footage,” LaGarde said, noting that their access does not include facial recognition.

Though the live facial recognition alerts that were once shared with NOPD are currently suspended, Project NOLA continues to send information generated from facial recognition technology manually, causing debate among local attorneys and activists who are concerned about whether that violates a 2022 ordinance.

New monitoring system on Bourbon
The main focus of the meeting, according to LaGarde, was to discuss a new “vehicle intrusion system,” which aims to prevent pedestrian death in the French Quarter by providing live updates when a car is driving on a closed section of Bourbon Street at night.

Vehicle security on Bourbon Street has been top of mind for the NOPD since the Jan. 1 terror attack when an assailant drove his car into a crowd and killed 14 people and injured dozens more. Despite previous safety reports that indicated the need for stronger barricades on the popular pedestrian street, barriers were in the process of being replaced when the attack occurred.

Emails obtained by Verite News show LaGarde reaching out to Kirkpatrick in mid-October to tell her about the system, and in a response on Oct. 15, Kirkpatrick told LaGarde that she would like to see the system and asked him to set up a time to talk.

The system, LaGarde explained, aims to use Project NOLA’s existing network of crime cameras to send notifications to the NOPD Eighth District’s camera monitoring station. Officers have not yet begun to receive alerts from the system, according to LaGarde, as it is pending approval from Kirkpatrick.

“Project NOLA will be able to automatically push Bourbon Street vehicle intrusion tips directly to officers’ cell phones via its mobile app in real-time,” LaGarde wrote, clarifying that the cameras will not feature live facial recognition analysis.

Sergeant Reese Harper, NOPD’s Director of Communications, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Kirkpatrick meeting with LaGarde, the resumption of NOPD access to live camera footage, or Project NOLA’s vehicle intrusion system.

Much like the resumed footage access, LaGarde added, any vehicle intrusion tips are contingent on the NOPD agreeing to no longer provide Project NOLA’s footage to any entertainment outlets.

The vehicle intrusion detection system, he wrote, covers “about 70% of Bourbon Street, between, Canal and St. Ann.” The non-profit is also working with local businesses to add more artificial intelligence cameras along Bourbon Street.

This article originally published in the December 8, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.