After an initially-vaguer response referencing crime in general, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman told WWL-TV’s Sheba Turk Thursday that about 40 people had been arrested for looting in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Ida.
The number narrowed down his first response of 55 arrests for various crimes that included domestic violence.
NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson has demurred in recent days when asked specifically about looting arrests in the Crescent City.
Ferguson said he did want to feed into a “false narrative” about how safe or unsafe the city has been in the aftermath of the devastating hurricane that might alarm evacuees.
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For her part, Mayor LaToya Cantrell has stressed the anti-looting measures that she says are in place citywide, though she has also neglected to provide for specifics as to what those measures entail.
She has also downplayed any claim that looting is widespread or significant in any way.