NEW ORLEANS — Crime is bedeviling a city trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. There have been 147 people killed in New Orleans this year, police say, down from 204 by this time in 2005. But the city's population is about half what it was before Katrina flooded 80% of the city, forcing an almost-complete evacuation. That means New Orleanians are murdering each other at a rate of 73.5 murders per 100,000 residents. That figure is above that of the nation's most murderous city — Compton, Calif., whose rate was 67 murders per 100,000 people in 2005, according to the latest FBI statistics.
Because many traditionally violent areas flooded and remain nearly empty, crime has moved to upscale, high-traffic areas such as the Marigny, the French Quarter and Uptown, leaving residents with one more reason to question their decision to remain in the city. And while 70% of murders are drug-related, there's an upswing in a new kind of crime: brutal, domestic violence that he attributes to the stress of living in post-Katrina New Orleans.
- JJ Commentary: When will people learn that a sin-ridden city opens the door wide for the devil and all sorts of evil.
No comments:
Post a Comment