Following the shooting death of a 63-year-old woman during a car burglary in Mid City, and the arrest of a 17-year-old suspect, New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro today offered an eight-point plan aimed at reducing juvenile crime.
"That an armed teenager took this woman's life during a botched auto burglary is inexcusable," Cannizzaro said, "and the tragedy must be felt beyond her grieving husband and their relatives and friends. She should be considered family to us all. Because what happened to her could have happened to any one of us this year, in any part of New Orleans. Our juvenile crime problem is that out of control."
For Cannizzaro's plan to take effect, it would need the participation of city leaders, juvenile court judges, New Orleans Police, Louisiana State Police, and several others. The plan includes:
1) Stepping up NOPD enforcement of the curfew and truancy ordinances already on the books; 2) Encouraging and allowing juvenile court judges to impose tougher restrictions, including electronic monitoring and detention, upon violent and repeat offenders; 3) Demanding better supervision by parents and guardians, including possible arrest for violating the existing state law against Improper Supervision of a Minor; 4) Pushing for a conclusion to the NOPD's federal consent decree, which could free up $11 million per year to reinvest into juvenile crime solutions; 5) Expanding the capacity of the Youth Study Center and city-proposed rehabilitation programs to meet juvenile offender population demands; 6) Putting the public safety needs of New Orleans' citizens and visitors ahead of the demands of outside donors and justice reform groups; 7) Investing equally in the needed expansion of the DA's Juvenile Division staff as the city has in funding juvenile public defenders and the Youth Empowerment Project; 8) Requesting additional manpower from the Louisiana State Police to help quell juvenile crime until school resumes
Cannizzaro says he has sounded warnings for months about rising juvenile crime, saying it would be the city's biggest crime problem this year. Cannizzaro said the city's Juvenile Court has failed to give violent and repeat offenders meaningful consequences.
