August 19, 2005
Murders in New Orleans...
Our murder rate may be ten times the national average, but at least it's down from the dark days of the 1990s.
I've never done a statistical analysis of where murders occur in the city, but I've always held the belief that, if you're not trying to buy drugs, the odds of a visitor to the city getting robbed/shot/murdered are no better here than any other metropolitan area in the country. A quick glance at NOPD's "4 week homicide" map supports my belief.
What's interesting about this WDSU article are the statistics on police protection in New Orleans:
Along with reluctant witnesses, experts say the city has too few police and inexperienced prosecutors. Coming up with more cash has been a chronic problem for money-pinched New Orleans, which typically lurches from budget to budget.
New Oreans now has 3.14 officers per 1,000 residents -- less than half the rate in Washington.
I'd like to see the folks who support the "residency rule," which requires NOPD officers to live in the city, respond to this shortfall.
Comments
Good point...sadly, here in BR, the television news lead-in for this story was...footage of the bouncers at the Bourbon St. dance club smothering the guy last January, followed by the statistic you cite...and that's it. Not that I expect much from local news, but there's bad reporting...then there's truly awful reporting...then there's Channel 9...
Posted by Michael at August 19, 2005 5:53 PM
Well, BR has conflicting interests. Y'all have casinos that don't want people coming down. It's in their best interests for NO to look bad.
Posted by yatpundit at August 19, 2005 8:01 PM
Wow! I Googled "murder rate new orleans 2005" and the first story was an August 18th CBS News report, perhaps the same one you cite. Hey, you know what? I helped develop those crime maps on the NOPD site. I left because after I supported the NOPD comstat process for three years, they wouldn't give me a freakin' raise so I could at least pay the rent and eat. Someone needs to empty out the New Orleans Civil Service and start from scratch. Nagin? I doubt it now. Speaking of Nagin, I'll say it again. Why doesn't he have anything to say about the schools problem or crime? Isn't he the mayor or something? As for those crime maps, it's pretty pathetic that they can't keep them up to date. Four months out of date? A lot of good that does. My own plan is to get a community crime site going. As observed in the (now disputed) 1st District case of the commander cooking the books, the community needs to own the data to do with it what it wants. Finally, the murder rate may not be what it was in the 90's, but the harm to innocent citizens is just as bad, with fewer murders overall. This suggests to me that the tendency of violent criminals to kill innocent victims is much worse than it was then. I do mean "innocent." If it were legal, I'd go out and do some hits on drug dealers myself.
Posted by schroeder915 at August 20, 2005 9:09 AM
This suggests to me that the tendency of violent criminals to kill innocent victims is much worse than it was then. yes, it does suggest that the "collateral damage" in the gang/drug wars in certain neighborhoods is a higher percentage now than before. Unfortunately, nobody cares, so long as it's not tourists that are being killed.
Posted by yatpundit at August 20, 2005 9:48 AM