Sean in New Orleans wrote:sunny wrote:Let's be honest, Sean. Crime is WAY up in and around New Orleans. And it is not just crack. Carjackings, innocent store clerks being murdered in cold blood. And now it is moving to my side of the river. It is a dangerous place right now. You can't deny that. Something needs to be done and needs to be done now.
Oh, I'm not in denial. But the insinuation that New Orleans is any worse to live than anywhere else in this country is flat out wrong. I have a great, happy, rewarding life and I live right in the City. Crime is terrible, and maybe one day I will be a victim, but, I've been walking these streets for all of my 37years and nobody has messed with me. I couldn't sleep last night and walked my dog at 2:00AM in my neighborhood around the block and I felt just fine. Crime is everywhere and it is truly centralized in various spots in New Orleans. We do have the rogue terrible killing that hits the media, every now and then and it's horrible, but, every city has that occur...
Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. The Westbank is pretty big, and people here are extremely concerned with the way things are going. Harry Lee is doing what he can, but until New Orleans cleans up their act, we will continue to be victims. And I can promise you there is no way I would walk my dog by myself at 2am. I do not doubt there are other city just as dangerous, but I live here.
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N.O. murder rate is 10 times national average
03:41 PM CDT on Thursday, August 18, 2005
Associated Press
Last year, university researchers conducted an experiment in which police fired 700 blank rounds in a New Orleans neighborhood in a single afternoon. No one called to report the gunfire.
New Orleans residents are reluctant to come forward as witnesses, fearing retaliation. And experts say that is one of several reasons homicides are on the rise in the Big Easy at a time when other cities are seeing their murder rates plummet to levels not seen in decades.
The city's murder rate is still far lower than a decade ago, when New Orleans was the country's murder capital. But in recent years, the city's homicide rate has climbed again to nearly 10 times the national average.
Many of the killings are related to drugs and gangs -- but police say more are simply disputes that get out of hand.
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 D.C.
Rafael Goyeneche, a former state prosecutor who now heads the private Metropolitan Crime Commission, said both the district attorney and the police are trying to seriously tackle violent crime -- but under current budgets, that will be tough.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)