The New Orleans Police Department is reporting success in its crime-fighting efforts after reviewing crime reports for the first three months of the year.
Year-to-date, homicides are down 46 percent, according to NOPD. Non-fatal shootings are down 17 percent, and armed robberies decreased eight percent.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson is pleased.
"We remain committed to reducing crimes of violence within our city," Chief Ferguson said. "While we know there’s still plenty of work to be done, I truly believe the men and women of the NOPD are making substantial progress in our ongoing efforts to make New Orleans safer."
Police credit some of the success to aggressive efforts to confiscate illegal firearms. Police say they took 568 illegal guns off the street so far this year, an increase of 80 over the same time last year.
"Reducing overall gun-violence is a top priority for myself, our Mayor and this department," said Ferguson. "We must remain aggressive in our approach to finding and removing these illegal firearms to further reduce these types of crimes in our community."
In the first quarter of 2019, there were 27 homicides, compared to 50 a year ago. There were 146 murders for all of 2018, the lowest number in New Orleans since 1971, although the city's population is much lower than it was 48 years ago. The 1970 Census placed New Orleans' population at 593,471. The most recent Census Bureau estimate, for 2017, places the city's population around 393,292.