The Orleans Parish District Attorney presented outcomes and a warning: the office said it has partnered with the police department and community groups on place-based programs (NoDICE) and specialty prosecution units that yielded measurable crime reductions in targeted neighborhoods. "Public safety is a foundation of the city's overall success," the DA said, and asked the council to weigh cuts carefully.

The DA said a proposed 30% reduction to the office's 2026 allocation would be an outlier among city departments and would immediately reduce screening, prosecution capacity and victim services. He argued that delays or understaffing in prosecutions "will equal losses in front of juries" and that pausing criminal work for lack of funds is unconstitutional and harmful to victims and defendants.

Initiatives highlighted: the DA cited domestic-violence training, human trafficking coordination, expanded screening and a digital-forensics team that supported complex violent-crime prosecutions. The office said it is pursuing grants and federal training to sustain domestic-violence prosecution and will explore efficiencies where possible.

Bottom line: The DA asked the council to consider the downstream consequences of deep cuts to prosecution staff and to weigh surgical reductions rather than large across-the-board cuts that could erode public-safety gains.