MCC Report: Nearly half of all violent crime over the past 5 years happened in the 7th and 5th Districts

By Natasha Robin | WVUE | January 21, 2021

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The majority of the violent crime in New Orleans over the past five years, happened in the two areas of the city. That’s according to the Metropolitan Crime Commission report.

The New Orleans Police Department agrees with the findings of the MCC. The MCC examined major offenses over the past five years and broke down exactly where those crimes were happening. It turns out, half of all the violent crime happened in the 7th District of New Orleans East and the 5th District of the 9th Ward, Bywater and Marigny.

According to the report, there’s been a substantial increase in both carjackings and vehicle burglaries in the Lakeview and Gentilly areas. The 8th District of the French Quarter has the lowest rate of violent crime. Rafael Goyenche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission pointed out the 8th District had extra support from the State Police and that gave the district a greater police presence.

Goyeneche says in 2020, the NOPD experienced a 20 percent decrease in spending compared to 2019. He believes that cut in spending was a direct result of eliminating police overtime. He says the NOPD will need more resources going forward.

“It shows that the number of officers that were in the French Quarter helped to contribute to a much lower crime rate there and the way that the city has been policed since the Landrieu administration was through overtime and the Mayor eliminated overtime in the summer of last year. That needs to be restored to give the police department the resources to go out and address the violent crime,” says Rafael Goyeneche.

“We also need to move from offend, arrest and release. It’s something the New Orleans Police Department has been faced with significantly, particularly during 2020 at the start of March till the end of 2020 where we saw a surge, also relative to juveniles in our city,” says Mayor Latoya Cantrell.

The NOPD says New Orleans reflects a nationwide rise in violent crime, and the exact reason is difficult to pinpoint. The NOPD says the department’s commitment to keeping the city safe remains the same.