NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The New Orleans Police Department released its year-end crime statistics for 2023, showing a decrease in violent crime and an increase in car thefts.
The NOPD’s 2023 Annual Crime Comparisons report shows that violent crime like murders, non-fatal shootings and carjackings is down from 2022.
In total, crimes against people dropped 22% in 2023 compared to 2022.
The report states that the number of carjackings reported in 2023 saw a 44% decrease, with 215 carjackings reported in 2023 and 382 reported in 2022.
The number of non-fatal shootings reported in 2023 decreased by 22%, with 365 non-fatal shootings reported in 2023 and 470 in 2022.
While violent crime has gone down in New Orleans in 2023, the report states that the number of reported car thefts has gone up 62%, and the total number of property crimes has gone up 10%.
According to the report, there were 7,111 car thefts reported in 2023, 2716 more than in 2022.
WGNO spoke with the president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, Rafael Goyeneche, about the car thefts.
“What we’ve seen is, the offenders’ strategies have changed, and the police department is struggling to catch up with the automobile theft, automobile burglary,” said Goyeneche.
He also said while the city has improved over the last year, the objective should be to return to a historic low level like the city saw in 2019 rather than a reduction from the historic high level.
“That means we’re going to have to have more police officers, and the police department’s going to have to pivot while they’re rebuilding their numbers to be able to address some of the crime problems. We’re starting to see that pivot right now,” said Goyeneche.
According to Goyeneche, the change is being sped up with the use of technology and partnerships.
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