New Orleans barricade oversight in 'target area for terrorism' during prime season raises concerns

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill directed Fox News to the New Orleans Police Department for questions about the barricades but said her office "will be evaluating everything over the next few weeks in preparation for the Super Bowl."

"Local law enforcement was the lead agency for preparations in advance of the Sugar Bowl," Murrill said. "Those questions should be directed towards the New Orleans Police Department. We can assure you that we will be evaluating everything over the next few weeks in preparation for the Super Bowl." 

The New Orleans Police Department could not immediately be reached for comment.

Official recommendations for New Orleans security measures in the French Quarter, as part of a $2.3 billion infrastructure project that began in 2017, included the installment of new bollards on Bourbon Street to prevent mass casualty events that the FBI identified as a potential threat in the popular tourist area.

The report recommended that Bourbon Street close to vehicular traffic, "with the exception of emergency vehicles, at designated times to be determined as one of its risk mitigation measures."

Security recommendations for the area included street cameras, a central command center, better lighting and high-quality bollards that are also used by the U.S. government near its official buildings.

"When closed, the bollards will prevent access to Bourbon St by an uncontrolled vehicle, provide refugee areas on Bourbon St for pedestrians from traffic while maintaining access to Bourbon St via the cross streets for emergency responders, and eliminate the need for law enforcement personnel to man barricades, freeing up more resources to prevent crime," the report states.

"Temporary barricades are used extensively. They're used, for instance, by the New York City Police Department in Times Square, to close off all the side streets leading to Times Square," Daly said. "They use cement blocks that they actually put on the sidewalk and in the middle of the street as temporary barricades, and some place vehicles. They use garbage trucks, they use dump trucks, they use all kinds of heavy vehicles, and sometimes just police cars to block the road. But it's also important to block the sidewalk."

Multiple business employees located near the entrance of Bourbon Street told Fox News Digital that authorities installed temporary barriers to block traffic at certain street entrances in the French Quarter around Christmastime as the city planned to repair and upgrade its permanent barriers. 

Fox News has learned since the Jan. 1 attack that New Orleans had more barriers available that could have prevented or limited the scope of a terrorist attack, though New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said in a press conference afterward that she was unaware the barriers existed. 

"Actually, we have them," she said of the barriers. "I didn't know about them, but we have them, and so we have been able now to put them out."

The CEO of Meridian Rapid Defense Group confirmed to Fox News that his company sold 48 Archer barriers to New Orleans in 2017 - the same barriers the city installed on sidewalks around the French Quarter before reopening Bourbon Street on Thursday after federal officials concluded their crime scene evaluation.

Peter Whitford said the 700-pound, L-shaped steel barriers are "the strongest mobile barriers in the world," designed to stop a 5,500-pound truck going 60 mph. 

"Not only did they not know they had them, they didn't even know how to describe them," Whitford said of New Orleans officials describing the barriers. "Even now, in the pictures I've seen, the barriers aren't even set up properly because the wheels are still down." 

The defense company has been trying to get in touch with city officials to explain how to set up the barriers, which remain improperly installed.