New Orleans' struggle to regain its footing is hampered by high murder rate

[babylonsister]

:-( I wish I could find better news for the Big Easy...

Post-Katrina, crime back in Big Easy
New Orleans' struggle to regain its footing is hampered by high murder rate

By James Oliphant | Tribune national correspondent
December 31, 2007


NEW ORLEANS - A few blocks but a world away from the French Quarter, Rev. Bill Terry, an Episcopal priest at St. Anna's Church, began compiling a very public and very sobering list this year on a board hanging outside his church doors on Esplanade Avenue.

Terry recorded the name of every murder victim in the city, along with the date, in large black letters. Midway through the year, Terry had to buy a second board. "That was a sad day," he said as he updated the list recently.

At least 207 people have been murdered in New Orleans in 2007, according to a police count. "A sign like this holds us accountable," the priest said.

In the third year of its recovery after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has seen a troubling spike in murder and violent crime. The storm has reduced the population of New Orleans to some 288,000 people, from about 455,000, which means that its per capita murder rate now dwarfs every other large city in the United States, even gang-plagued Compton, Calif.

Criminologist Peter Scharf, who left New Orleans after Katrina to teach in Texas, wonders if a city with such a high a murder rate can remain viable. According to one study, there were 96.6 slayings per 100,000 residents in 2006.

The violence has touched every section of a place that has always been densely packed, a condition exacerbated by Katrina, which has rendered huge swaths of the town uninhabitable. And it has had such an impact on the daily affairs of New Orleans that some long-time residents are asking whether it will jeopardize the city's efforts to rebuild, whether those who committed to staying in the city will ultimately surrender to the rampant crime and flee, this time for good.

more...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-nola_crimedec31,0,5242828.story

[SteppingRazor]

1. The murder rate is almost 1 in 1000?!

Wow. That IS terrible.

Slightly off-topic: Poor Compton. That city's constantly getting hammered. I mean, yeah, it's got a high murder rate, but it's like number four or five, nationwide.

[uppityperson]

2. Questions here about drugs and crime and recovery

Decent paying jobs are limited except for those with very needed skills, money is tight, housing is expensive and some services are still not up and going very much (like health care). It has been a struggle for many, trying to juggle where to live, how to survive, while dealing with getting money, time, people, to rebuild. Combined with high interest rates, the mortgage thing encouraging some to just walk away.

Mental health issues have been more prevalent than pre-Katrina, with assistance lacking. So, my question. Are drugs more of an issue also? Meth is an issue many rural places in the USA, is it so there also? Another question. Who are using drugs? What relationship does it have with the murders?

Last questions and jumping to a lot of conclusions in them which may or may not be real. How to balance off drugs/violence with rebuilding? Would more recovery help overall mental health and lead to less drug usage which may lead to less violence?

Does this make sense, what I'm getting at? Thanks.

[pleah]

3. I live in Gulfport, MS. We had several murders in the FEMA parks.

Thefts went WAY up by contractors as well as people with flat bed trailers trolling the area and stealing everything that wasn't tied down or locked up.