125 Troopers To Work N.O. Mardi Gras

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana State Police plans to send 125 troopers to New Orleans starting the week before Mardi Gras.

Superintendent Mike Edmonson says that other troopers will arrive earlier to work on task forces dealing with such crimes as narcotics and prostitution. The officers will stay through Ash Wednesday.

The Times-Picayune reported that some of the troopers will be deployed from Jefferson Parish and others will be sent from Baton Rouge. A few officers from other troops around the state also will be used.

Edmonson says that troopers will work in New Orleans' Central Business District and the French Quarter in both uniformed and undercover assignments. That will free New Orleans police to work parade routes and patrol other parts of the city.