Of the escapees, eight individuals, some of whom are facing murder charges, are still at large after the breakout on Friday, a situation that the local sheriff believes may have involved assistance from individuals within the department.
During a press conference, surveillance footage was revealed, showing the escapees running out of the facility, with some dressed in orange attire and others in white.
Hutson said the police department is actively working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to search for the fugitives.
Bryan LaGarde, the executive director of Project NOLA, a nonprofit organization managing over 5000 cameras in New Orleans, mentioned that law enforcement used facial recognition technology to apprehend one of the fugitives.
His organisation, which partners with Louisiana authorities, entered the escapees’ images into the system and quickly found two in the French Quarter.
“They were walking openly in the street. They were keeping their heads down and checking over their shoulder.”
LaGarde said, adding that the other fugitive walked out of sight of the cameras.
State and local officials blast jail authorities
“This represents a complete failure of the most basic responsibilities entrusted to a sheriff or jail administrator,” said Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams.
He blasted the sheriff’s office for a multi-hour delay in notifying authorities and the public of the escape.
“These inexcusable failures have put lives in danger.”
Williams said that some of the escaped men “have a history of witness intimidation of citizens who were brave enough to speak up”.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the escape “beyond unacceptable” and said local authorities waited too long to inform the public.
She said she reached out to surrounding states to alert them about the escape, saying they have had plenty of time to get to “frankly anywhere across the country.”
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said her agency has put “a full court effort” to respond to the escape and is working with the FBI and US marshals.
Officers were focused on identifying and providing protection for people who may have testified in their cases or may be in danger. One family has been “removed” from their home, Kirkpatrick said.
“If there is anyone helping or harbouring these escapees, you will be charged,” Kirkpatrick added.
Turmoil at New Orleans’ jail
New Orleans’ jail has for more than a decade been subject to federal monitoring and a consent decree intended to improve conditions.
Security problems and violence persisted even after the city opened the Orleans Justice Centre in 2015, replacing the decaying Orleans Parish Prison, which had seen its own string of escapes and dozens of in-custody deaths.
A federal judge declared in 2013 that the lockup had festered into an unconstitutional setting for people incarcerated there.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said staff is “stretched thin” at the facility, which is around 60 per cent staffed.
Bianka Brown, chief financial officer of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, said they can’t afford a maintenance and service contract to fix problems such as broken doors, lock replacements and other ailing infrastructure.
The jail contained numerous “high security” people convicted of violent offenses who required a “restrictive housing environment that did not exist,” Jay Mallett, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office chief of Corrections, said.
The sheriff’s office was in the process of transferring dozens to more secure locations.
