Housing Authority of New Orleans

The Housing Authority of New Orleans is a housing authority in New Orleans, Louisiana, tasked with providing housing to low-income residents.

The public housing in New Orleans has been subject to federal control for a number of years before Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, many of the public housing units were destroyed by decision of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These housing projects in New Orleans have also been home to important cultural contributions, such as the birth of Bounce music.

In June 2011, Senate Bill 78 of the Regular Louisiana Legislative Session, introduced by Senator Edwin R. Murray of New Orleans and then HANO Chief Mitchel S. J. Dussett created the Housing Authority of New Orleans Police Department. The statute gave the officers the same authority as that of the Louisiana State Police. Currently the department employs full-time commissioned police officers who are primarily responsible for providing protective services within and around the public housing developments. In addition, these officers provide assistance to the New Orleans Police Department on a daily basis by answering calls for service in and around the developments. The officers employed by HANO have the authority to effect arrests, issue traffic citations, issue municipal summons and enforce municipal, state and federal laws.

On June 27, 2006, a class action lawsuit was filed by displaced residents of New Orleans public housing to challenge the plan of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reduce the number of public housing units in the city from 5,100 before Hurricane Katrina to only 2,000 units.

The New Orleans city council voted unanimously on December 20, 2007 to allow HUD to destroy 4,500 units of low-income housing. HUD plans to replace the units with mixed-income housing.

The city council voted despite the arguments at the council meeting by residents who said that HUD's plan would not provide enough housing for the 3,000 families (mostly African American) who lived in the projects before Hurricane Katrina. Many more protestors clashed violently with police both inside and outside the council chambers.

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