New Orleans Murder Rate Skyrockets to Highest in the Nation

Criminal Justice System Struggles as the City Continues to Reel from Katrina Devastation

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the murder rate in New Orleans has skyrocketed. In 2006, New Orleans was home to 161 murders; 2007 has already seen 18 suspected homicides come under investigation in the city, which is home to just 200,000 people. Those numbers put New Orleans in the top spot for highest murder rate per capita of any city in the United States.

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.