NOPD Brass Will Beef Up Weekend Patrols

Ronal Serpas, brought in to clean up the New Orleans police department and cut the city's soaring murder rate, will be walking the beat from now on.

The police chief has devised a plan to put more officers on the street during weekends. It requires officers normally assigned to desk and other duties to pull a patrol shift once a month.

Serpas will be among those officers pounding the pavements.

Serpas said on Wednesday the plan, called "Mission One," designed to beef up patrols without raising the payroll, will help police be a more cohesive unit and build better relations with the community — and increase their crime-fighting ability.

It begins Jan. 14.