The mayor’s office has created a new proposal to combat safety concerns in the French Quarter.

NOLA Patrols is meant to alleviate pressures on 8th District officers by handling quality of life issues that affect Quarter residents.

NOLA Patrol officers will also have different uniforms than sworn officers and will receive training to handle certain situations from the New Orleans Police Department.

Tyler Gamble, communications director for the NOPD, said civilian officers will report minor problems like illegal parking and traffic concerns, allowing NOPD officers to respond to larger issues such as shootings and robberies.

“There are real benefits to the NOLA Patrol proposal that impact public safety and quality of life enforcement,” Gamble said. “We expect that the additional support to the NOPD 8th District will free up officers to focus on more serious crimes and emergency needs in the French Quarter.”

The French Quarter area is two-fold to the city of New Orleans. It is a significant tourist attraction, as well as a residential area.

According to the University of New Orleans Area Visitor Profile, 9.28 million people visited the city in 2013. 95.1 percent of those people visited the French Quarter. The Quarter was also home to almost 4,000 people, according to the 2010 census.

Glenn Vesh, a resident of the Quarter for over 20 years, said the proposal is a sign that the city cares about the residents as well as the tourists who populate the area.

“I think the mayor is making a great movement to increase the fact that people that live in the Quarter need to have their safety taken care of and their life quality taken care of,” Vesh said.

College students often frequent the French Quarter, but students like music industries freshman Ymarii Gatson avoid it because of safety concerns.

“I haven’t been down there yet,” Gatson said. “I would think about my safety if I went down there, just because of what I’ve heard.”

Even students who have been to the Quarter said the recent proposal for increased police presence doesn’t help settle their minds.

“I don’t necessarily feel safe with the police around,” Megan Chambers, English writing senior, said. “If something happened on the next street and I needed help, I don’t think they could get there fast enough.”

Financial support for the proposal would come from the tourist industry.

In a press release from the mayor’s office, NOPD Interim Superintendent Michael Harrison said that a voluntary tax would generate revenue to provide the funding.

A voluntary hotel and motel tax would be added to guests’ bills. This tax increase would translate to $200,000 a month to fund city services, according to the press release.

Right now the program is only a proposal and will have to be brought before the City Council in order for it to be put into effect.

If implemented, the program will be used as a pipeline to determine possible recruits for the police department.

“The program is still in the design phase,” Gamble said. “We expect to have a proposal for the City Council to review and approve later this year.”