New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell this morning rejected the notion that the city is leading the U.S. in homicides.
"I don't embrace it because one, that is the data even used for that is more of a governmental term for that, it's not based on what's actually happening on the ground, in our community," she said after a ribbon-cutting event in the Ninth Ward.
The mayor did not elaborate on how she thinks the numbers are incorrect. The Wall Street Journal reports New Orleans is currently leading the nation in 2022 the number of homicides per person. As of September 19, the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission reported 208 homicides so far, a 44 percent increase over 2021.
The mayor said the city is focused on reducing violence.
"I do not accept the title of this city being the murder capital of the world," she said. "I do not embrace that at all."