By Nicholas Chrastil | The Lens | October 29, 2021 As a city councilmember in 2017, Jason Williams was one of the most outspoken critics of then-District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s treatment of victims and witnesses who were reluctant to testify. That year, The Lens revealed that Cannizzarro’s prosecutors were using fake subpoenas to pressure witnesses to talk…
By Marlisa Harding | American Press | October 28, 2021 A report released on Wednesday by the Metropolitan Crime Commission outlined the state of Calcasieu Parish’s criminal justice system. The report looked at over 9,000 cases that went through the 14th Judicial Court over 2015, 2016 and 2017 and identified the system’s strengths and weaknesses.…
By Theresa Schmidt | KPLC | October 28, 2021 CLICK FOR VIDEO Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) – How efficiently do law enforcement, prosecutors and judges work together in the judicial system? President of the Metropolitan Crime Commission Rafael Goyeneche says there are positives. “You don’t hold people accountable if you stop at probable cause,” Goyeneche said. “You…
By Natasha Robin | WVUE | October 25, 2021 CLICK FOR VIDEO NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – When not enough New Orleans Police officers volunteered to work detail for the Krewe of Boo parade, organizers cut out about a dozen blocks of the route. While so many spectators enjoyed seeing a parade once again in New Orleans,…
Project by Michael Isaac Stein, Caroline Sinders, and Winnie Yoe | The Lens | October 21, 2021 “WHAT’S UP WITH THESE CAMERAS?” That’s what Dee Dee Green remembers thinking the first time she saw one of New Orleans’ police surveillance cameras in 2018, flashing red and blue lights over a community garden she manages in…
By Missy Wilkinson | NOLA.com | October 16, 2021 The first time the guy in the hooded sweatshirt and face covering passed my car, I ignored the needle prick of fear that ran through me. It was 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2. I was parked and Googling directions to a costume party, dressed as a…
By William Patrick | The Center Square Louisiana | October 15, 2021 (The Center Square) – New Orleans has one of the highest homicide rate increases of any major city in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a recent crime analysis. Researchers for the personal finance website WalletHub compared homicide rates of…
By Danae Columbus | Uptown Messenger | October 14, 2021 Times are tough since Hurricane Ida decimated New Orleans, and they don’t seem to be getting better quickly enough. Blue tarps dot the horizon as homeowners wait for their insurance settlements. Storm debris is disappearing slowly, and trash pickup is down to one day a…
By Travers Mackel | WDSU | October 13, 2021 CLICK FOR INTERVIEW NEW ORLEANS — A recent report by the nonprofit watchdog agency Metropolitan Crime Commission says the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office has refused or dismissed 937 violent felony cases since January of 2021. That’s when District Attorney Jason Williams took office as the…
By Matt Sledge | NOLA.com | October 13, 2021 Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams is rejecting more battery, assault and robbery charges than his predecessor, leading to a sharp decline in the share of violent felony arrests that are prosecuted, a watchdog group said Wednesday. The business-aligned Metropolitan Crime Commission claims in a report that Williams,…