Crime

Despite fewer murders, N.O. still among Top 5 deadliest U.S. cities

LOUISIANA WEEKLY — Despite closing out 2018 with 145 homicides, the lowest murder total in nearly five decades, New Orleans remains one of the nation’s Top 5 deadliest cities

Published

6 years ago

January 8, 2019

Oakland Post

By The Louisiana Weekly

Despite closing out 2018 with 145 homicides, the lowest murder total in nearly five decades, New Orleans remains one of the nation’s Top 5 deadliest cities.

Late last month, NOPD Supt. Michael Harrison attributed the drop in violent crime to the use of a Real Time Crime Center that utilizes a network of surveillance cameras across the city, the NOPD’s TIGER program which targets repeat violent offenders and improved police-community relations.

LSU criminologist Dr. Peter Sharf told FOX 8 News that crime cameras and stability in police hierarchy deserve credit for a historic low when it came to murders in 2018.

However he says the city still has a long way to go.

The year 2018 was a year that started out on the wrong foot when it came to murders.

“Much of the carnage this year was in the first two months, and it’s gone down consistently,” said LSU Health criminologist, Peter Scharf, PhD.

For example, Mardi Gras day in February, four people were killed in three separate shootings, Uptown, in the CBD and in Treme, and some were predicting a violent year.

That didn’t happen, and the city’s chronic murder problem settled down.

New Orleans finished out 2018 with 145 murders, a 47-year low, with the murder of Marla Belin, one of the last, and the arrest of Tyrone Fountain last night.

Dr. Scharf says the increased use of crime cameras and technology deserves much of the credit for the overall drop in murders.

“My suspicion in the short term is the cameras, and pro active patrol, the public health things will take a longer time to develop,” said Scharf.

Scharf also credits stability in NOPD leadership, and superintendent Michael Harrison.

“Absolutely, Michael like all of us had a mixed reputation, he’s built a good team, and has a sound strategy,” said Scharf.

Scharf says murders are down nationally, and he cautions, though the trends are good in New Orleans, it is still one of the most violent cities in the country.

“When you look at murder in 2018, New York is 3.5 per 100,000, we’re at 36 or 37, so we’re 10 times more dangerous for violent crime than New York,” said Scharf.

Dr. Scharf says the city has all but abandoned its old goal of 1,600 police officers.

He said crime cameras, and more “intelligent” policing are helping to achieve crime reductions at lower troop strength.

Despite the significant drop in homicides, an analyst notes that the murder rate remains among the nation’s highest.

The 145 homicides in the city in 2018 marked the lowest total since 116 in 1971. It also marked the second drop in a row: from 174 in 2016 to 157 in 2017 and 145 last year.

The murder rate is about 37 per 100,000 residents. That’s at best fourth-highest and might be No. 3, crime analyst and City Council consultant Jeff Asher told The New Orleans Advocate. St. Louis and Baltimore have the highest rates, and either Detroit and New Orleans will be next, he said.

It would take a further significant reduction for New Orleans to drop to No. 5, he said.

New Orleans’ murder rate has been flat for four years, Scharf told WVUE-TV.

“I think we need to try some of these new initiatives, public health approaches and see if we can get it so that New Orleans is kind of like other cities in the United States, it’s not now,” Scharf said. “So the question is, you have pockets of extreme at-risk kids who are armed and they’re in the drug culture – how do you intervene effectively with those kids way prior to anybody shooting anybody?”

New Orleans’ 47-year low in murders was accompanied by a drop of about 28 percent in the number of non-deadly shooting incidents from 2017, the newspaper reported. Armed robberies fell for the third year in a row, and the number of carjackings came down as well in 2018, according to statistics kept by the New Orleans City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee.

Asher said police work could be part of the reasons, but other factors are almost certainly at play.

Violent crime is trending downward nationally, and communities frequently see cooler periods in the wake of a spike in violence, which New Orleans endured when there were about two shootings daily for a year beginning in the middle of 2016.

“We don’t necessarily know what the drivers of gun violence (rates) are from day to day, month to month, or year to year,” Asher said. “More than likely, it’s not a single explanation, but it would be logical to say one of those things could be enforcement.”

Asher also noted that while 2018 saw the fewest murders in New Orleans since 1971, the city had a lower murder rate in 1985, when there were 152 slayings and more than 500,000 residents.

Harrison, who always points out that even a single murder is too many, concedes that plenty of work remains to be done.

But he said he’s optimistic. For one thing, he said, his agency is closing in on substantial compliance with a 492-point federally mandated consent decree aimed at bringing the department up to federal standards for constitutional policing that has improved performance, most notably by slashing the rate at which its 1,200 officers resort to force.

Implementation of the NOPD consent decree began in August 2013.

“The whole city needs to know it was the 1,200 officers who executed (the strategies) and willingly transformed” the agency, Harrison said. “They should recognize it’s the officers who made the culture change, and I’m honored it’s under my leadership.”

This article originally appeared in the Louisiana Weekly.

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Man Found Guilty After Shooting Gun into Parked Car with Sleeping Passengers

Carmen Watts fired his gun into a parked car, where two unarmed men were sleeping, several times. One victim suffered multiple wounds, while the other was uninjured. He now faces 23 years in state prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 in Department 10 at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

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By Post Staff

A jury has returned a guilty verdict against Camren Watts on two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm for an unprovoked shooting near the intersection of 51^st Street and West Street in Oakland back in September of 2020.

Watts fired his gun into a parked car, where two unarmed men were sleeping, several times. One victim suffered multiple wounds, while the other was uninjured. He now faces 23 years in state prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 in Department 10 at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.

“I first want to thank the jury for their service and careful deliberation in this trial,” said Chief Assistant District Attorney Royl Roberts. “I also want to congratulate the Prosecution Team for their hard work securing this conviction and recognize the Inspector on this assignment for their support throughout the case and jury trial. This guilty verdict reaffirms that anyone who uses a gun to harm people in our community will be held to account for their actions in a court of law.”

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New Interim Mayor Nikki Bas Takes Office, Announces Balanced Budget

“The Council made difficult but clear decisions last night,” Mayor Bas said in a statement released Thursday. “With yesterday’s budget adoption, the City of Oakland is on track to maintain our immediate fiscal health and our emergency reserves are at the required level.”

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Nikki Fortunato Bas. Courtesy photo.

‘The Council made difficult but clear decisions,’ said Bas

Kaplan proposed for Interim District 2 Council seat

By Post Staff

Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas was sworn in interim mayor on Wednesday and immediately sat down with City Council members to rebalance the city’s budget, closing a projected deficit and maintaining emergency financial reserves.

“The City now seeks to move forward in strong collaboration with its Labor partners and the community-led Budget Advisory Commission toward long-term fiscal sustainability,” she said. “We all deserve to feel safe and secure, whether we’re taking our kids out to play, running our essential small businesses, parking our car on the street, or walking home at night.”

Bas took over as mayor from Sheng Thao, whose last day in office was Tuesday after losing a recall election in November.

“Thank you for choosing me to serve as your mayor. As the first Hmong American woman to become the mayor of a major American city, it has been the honor of my lifetime. I am deeply proud of the progress we created together,” Thao said.

Bas, in her final remarks as a councilmember, proposed that the City Council appoint Kaplan to replace her until the April election.

“As you know Councilmember Kaplan is retiring, she is willing to serve in this interim capacity. She is a resident of District 2 in Jack London, will not run for the seat in the special election; and I believe that she is uniquely qualified to jump in and immediately help to serve our District 2 residents, as well as key projects moving forward, and of course help lead the city’s biennial budget process,” Bas said.

At its meeting this week, the Council affirmed the City Administrator’s budget balancing actions, utilizing unrestricted and transferred funds to help fill the gap and provided direction and strategies to close the remaining need.

The proposals include finding new revenue from increased events and success at the Oakland Coliseum/Arena and other sources, making any further cuts a last resort.

They also proposed to immediately collect unpaid business taxes by doing an internal audit and strengthen controls on OPD overtime overspending.

Said Councilmember Kaplan, “It is vital to protect core public services, and the long-term fiscal solvency of our city. I am honored that the extra available funds I had previously identified have been confirmed, and are being incorporated into budget strategies, allowing Oakland to reduce cuts and restore reserves. In addition, important public serving and revenue-generating functions are being strengthened, including to reduce blight and provide safer, cleaner streets.”

Councilmember Kevin Jenkins (District 6) said, “The Fire Department, which had been preserved from cuts in July, was able to rapidly stop the Keller Fire from growing out of control, which prevented a repeat of the horrific loss of life and loss of homes that took place during the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire.”

According to a Mayor’s Office press statement, Oakland’s investments in the Oakland Police Department and the Department of Violence Prevention have yielded the fastest and most dramatic reduction in homicides in the city’s history.

The City’s deep investments in public safety over the past year continue to pay off, with homicides down 35% year-to-date and overall crime down by 34% since last year. The Public Safety Leadership team is very strong with OPD Chief Floyd Mitchell, DVP Chief Dr. Holly Joshi, OFD Chief Damon Covington, and their deputy chiefs having over a century of collective experience in Oakland.

The budget proposals preserve Oakland’s Ceasefire violence intervention strategy, prioritize OPD patrol and investigations, and continue services to improve 911 response times, with currently 71% of calls answered within 15 seconds or less — a dramatic improvement over the prior year, the press statement said.

Oakland’s investments in sidewalk repair, street paving, clearing abandoned autos, and safer conditions on our roadways are improving both safety and quality of life. The proposals restore funding for important and needed bicycle and pedestrian safety projects, street paving, and parking enforcement, the statement said.

The Council is considering a sales tax ballot measure for the April 15 special election. The proposed half-cent sales tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually. Ongoing revenue generation and improved efficiencies would help address the City’s structural deficit in the next two-year budget.