New Orleans Murder Rate Skyrockets to Highest in the Nation
Criminal Justice System Struggles as the City Continues to Reel from Katrina Devastation
A large percentage of the victim and suspect populations in these cases are teenagers, and approximately two-thirds of the murders go unsolved.
District Attorney Eddie Jordan points to broken community relations as a leading cause of the high crime rate and lack of convictions. Seven New Orleans police officers were indicted last week on murder and attempted murder charges relating to a shooting that occurred during the turmoil immediately following Hurricane Katrina, and a general mistrust of officers by jurors and witnesses due in part to events surrounding the storm permeates the community. Jordan states that this lack of confidence in law enforcement, combined with slow police response and the fact that witnesses fear retaliation on the street, makes for a situation where "by the time the investigative report is presented. . . a good number of witnesses are no longer available or have gotten afraid to testify."
City officials have recently announced a number of plans to reduce the crime rate in New Orleans, including a campaign to mount more cameras in problem areas, an increase in police foot patrols to rebuild community relations, and higher pay levels for police officers and prosecutors, an effort to attract more and better workers in the fight against crime. The possibility of a curfew has been discussed. Some residents, including those in the neighborhood improvement association in the Broadmoor section of New Orleans, are seeking private funding to implement these ideas.
City Council President Oliver Thomas has also called for the reinstatement of mentoring problems for underprivileged youth, and the creation of neighborhood watch groups to come hand in hand with upgrades to the criminal justice system that will increase law enforcement presence and the speed of trials.
However, according to former prosecutor and public defender Eric E. Malveau, the only lasting solution to the high murder rate is creating more police presence, but creating more socioeconomic opportunities for New Orleans residents in order to combat the strong hold that drug dealing has on the city. Malveau stated "As long as you have a large population that is uneducated and has no job and no hope, what else is there to do but sell drugs? Until you fix that, it's hard to see the problems getting much better."
The city's criminal justice infrastructure has not recovered from the devastation it experienced during Katrina, and may never fully do so. According to New York Times reporters, evidence in hundreds of criminal cases was lost during the flood. This left a number of cases open that there is now little to no hope of closing. Even more devastating was the destruction of the New Orleans Police crime lab, which has yet to be rebuilt. Often, suspects in drug-related arrests have to be released because chemical evidence cannot be tested at other locations before the deadline to bring charges arrives. Last year, over 3,000 suspects, many of them arrested on drug offenses, were released without undergoing full investigation, due to the fact that deadlines expired before adequate evidence and paperwork for the cases was collected and filed by law enforcement.
Federal funds amounting to $5 million for a new crime lab are on the way, along with an additional influx of prosecutors and undercover drug agents in an attempt to curb the city's overall crime rate. However, until funding for the lab is processed, and work on the lab is completed, it is likely that the revolving door on drug arrests will continue to be a problem, continuing to fuel the high murder rate.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/us/05crime.html?ei=5090&en=3fa9f5e76ffadba7&ex=1328331600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070109/NEWS01/701090308/1002/NEWS01
Published by Wanda Leibowitz
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11 Comments
Post a CommentN.O IZ THE MURDER CAPTIL GET OVER IT BITCHEZ ITS A COMPTISION NOW EVERY MURDER IS A POINT FOR OUR TEAM SO YALL KEEP TALKING AND WE GONE KEEP KILLING WATCH YAH BACK PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE EVERY DAY EN CLUDING ME
SEE ME IM REAL IM FROM THE 9THWARD MUST PEOPLE THANK WE DANGEROUS BECOUSE WE KILL PEOPLE FOR STOOPID REASON BUT WHAT YOU PEOPLE DOINT UNDERSTAND TO US IF SOMEONE GETS KILLED FOR 5$ OR MORE MUST PEOPLE IN THE CITY OF N.O ARE POOR OUR LOWER THEN MIDDLE CLASS WE HAVE TO EAT WE NEED MONEY AND WE CANT LET ENEY BODY TAKE IT FROM US THAT MEANS IF I OR ENEYBODY HAS TO PUT SOMEBODY IN THE GRAVE TO STAY ALIVE TRY ME YOU SEE
Katrina was horrible. They wouldn't let us cross over to the eastbank forcing us to drown. Thats probably their way of getting back at the city by all the killings and drug connections. George Bush doesn't give a damn about poor people. If he did actions would have been taken sooner. Now we must suffer by witnessing the killings as they skyrocket
I am amazed at the ignorance of the people who live in New Orleans. As a former resident of the city for 15 years, I have seen a lot of sensless violence there but, nothin nearly as bad as after Katrina. The Uneducated, Ignorant population of the city re elected a man who has no buisness running a McDonalds, let alone a city with as many problems as NOLA. God Bless the city and I pray the rest of the state keeps that Idiot Nagen out of the govenors seat in the next election. He and his staff single handedly ruined a great city that already had its share of problems. KEEP NAGIN OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!!! Its awefully sad that of 162 Murders in 2006 only 2 convictions have been made, something needs to change there and the population needs to open their eyes to who is the root of the problem.
IT ALL STARTS FROM BEING A CHILD GROWING UP IN THE GHETTO. HOUSEHOLD IS DYSFUNCTIAL AND NOT TO ADD, MINIMAL EDUCATION. SO WHEN U CAN'T GET THAT GOOD JOB, AND THAT MINIMUM WAGE IS KICKING THAT ASS, THE DRUG GAME IS THE ONLY THING THAT SHOWS YOU PROMISE. U ALREADY UPSET BCUZ U DON'T HAVE WHAT U WANT SO THE LITTLIEST THINGS MAKE U FLIP. I'M NOT SAYING IT'S RIGHT, BUT IT'S REAL. LAST WEEK IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD A MAN WUZ KILLED OVER 5 DOLLARS-THAT WAS OWED TO HIM!!!!!! THE STREETS ARE VICIOUS BUT NEW ORLEANS CRIME IS EVEN MORE SENSELESS AS IF THE THOUGHT PROCESS IS IM NOT GOING TO JAIL- GOD BLESS THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE STREETS AND SHAME ON THOSE WHO COULD CHANGE THEM AND DON'T. I ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO THE N.O. BCUZ I FELT IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL CITY WITH GREAT TRADITION- I JUST WISH THE WORLD WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THE MAJOR ISSUES IN N.O. INSTEAD OF TRYING TO BRING TOURIST TO BOURBON STREET.
IT ALL STARTS FROM BEING A CHILD GROWING UP IN THE GHETTO. HOUSEHOLD IS DYSFUNCTIAL AND NOT TO ADD, MINIMAL EDUCATION. SO WHEN U CAN'T GET THAT GOOD JOB, AND THAT MINIMUM WAGE IS KICKING THAT ASS, THE DRUG GAME IS THE ONLY THING THAT SHOWS YOU PROMISE. U ALREADY UPSET BCUZ U DON'T HAVE WHAT U WANT SO THE LITTLIEST THINGS MAKE U FLIP. I'M NOT SAYING IT'S RIGHT, BUT IT'S REAL. LAST WEEK IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD A MAN WUZ KILLED OVER 5 DOLLARS-THAT WAS OWED TO HIM!!!!!! THE STREETS ARE VICIOUS BUT NEW ORLEANS CRIME IS EVEN MORE SENSELESS AS IF THE THOUGHT PROCESS IS IM NOT GOING TO JAIL- GOD BLESS THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE STREETS AND SHAME ON THOSE WHO COULD CHANGE THEM AND DON'T. I ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO THE N.O. BCUZ I FELT IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL CITY WITH GREAT TRADITION- I JUST WISH THE WORLD WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THE MAJOR ISSUES IN N.O. INSTEAD OF TRYING TO BRING TOURIST TO BOURBON STREET.
i have been to alot of different cites in my life and i can honnestlry say that new orleans is a bad city it is infested with drugs in crime education sucks the police are coruppt the city as awhole is just a big slum almost like athird world country.
i have been to alot of different cites in my life and i can honnestlry say that new orleans is a bad city it is infested with drugs in crime education sucks the police are coruppt the city as awhole is just a big slum almost like athird world country.
this just in 163 murders as of 10/17. congrats, we have just passed last years mark.... we have to do something about this.
New Orleans, what is there to say about a place where thugs, gangbangers, drugs, murders, and corrupted cops flood the place. Katrina was gods way of washing out the evil and the bad, Naygan should have left those doors closed, hell the bad part was washed out anyway. Hell, Bush paying for a war in Iraq....doesn't he realize we got a war right there in New Orleans. The murders are senseless, the innocent are getting killed in the process, the cops are just as dirty as the people on the street. I know you would like to get cops that grew up and were raised in N O but sometimes the streets are more powerful than a badge... Get right ya'll....stop the killings.