NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Violent crime is slightly down this year despite the city recently surpassing 100 murders.
According to data from the Metropolitan Crime Commission, as of Memorial Day, there were 110 homicides, which is down 10% from this time last year when the city reached 122 homicides.
“Crime is down slightly across the board, but the general public may not perceive it as being down because they can’t turn on a radio or turn on a television or look at social media and not see that there’s been some horrendous event,” Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche said.
Just a day ago, a 24-year-old woman was fatally shot in Algiers, and three people were murdered over the weekend.
Goyeneche believes there is a link between violent crimes and auto thefts. The data shows, currently, 23 vehicles are stolen per day.
“Some of the people who are stealing these cars to go track down their intended targets and commit these shootings and the homicides that are reported on the violent crime leger, so criminals are not specialists,” Goyeneche said. “They’re generalists.”
When it comes to what Goyeneche calls a manpower crisis, he says the city has fewer police officers today compared to this time last year.
“The fact that crime is down slightly is a godsend,” Goyeneche said. “It’s good news. I think the police department is doing more with less, but it’s only down slightly, and there’s only so much the police department can do with less.”
The Metropolitan Crime Commission president says NOPD will soon receive reinforcement to fight the city’s crime.
“There are going to be some initiatives that are coming into play over the summer—Operation Golden Eagle, which is the state police assistance to the NOPD—and I’m told there are some other operations that are being planned for a little bit later on in the summer,” Goyeneche said.
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