Car break-ins and carjackings has become a new threat to the citizens of New Orleans.
There was a 57% increase in car break-ins last year. There have been 550 so far this year, and we are still in the first month. Carjackings are up, and I am not the only citizen of New Orleans who is now concerned about stopping at a red light out of fear that I could be the victim of a carjacking. It seems no one is safe from this threat, and this is no way to live life.
The rapid increase in car break-ins and carjackings was the focus of the New Orleans City Council’s Crime Committee's meeting yesterday. City leaders, including the police chief and judges, were part of the meeting; and there were no real answers to solving this growing threat in the city.
NOPD Chief Shaun Ferguson told the group that NOPD arrested a 14-year-old over the weekend and is now searching for a 12 and 13-year-old in connection with car break-ins. Chief Ferguson explained the frustration of arresting a teen for a car break-in only to have the teen released and back on the street that night or the next morning.
Law enforcement feels helpless because of this. The criminal justice system must change.
Newly-elected Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams announced that he would be transferring all major crimes against juveniles ages 15, 16, and 17 back to Juvenile Court. During the campaign, Williams promised to reform the criminal justice system but said that prosecuting teens to the fullest extent of the law has not impacted juvenile crime in the city.
District B Councilman Jay Banks’ family has been the victim of several car break-ins; and he told WWL-TV, “We’re all subject to this.” Banks suggested that the city needs “all of the pieces working cohesively together and that way we think we can make a difference.” “If John Q citizen has the answer, then, by all means, I’m willing to explore it and try to make it work.”
What is the answer? We should assume there is an answer, or perhaps several answers. We will not surrender our city to mostly young thug-types with no regard for anyone’s property and with no ability to distinguish right from wrong.
Let’s start by being honest and admitting that the current consequences for getting caught breaking into cars or carjackings are not working. Getting arrested seems like it is a rite of passage or just part of life. When getting arrested is not at least shameful, then it is no longer a deterrent to crime.
It is up to city leaders, law enforcement, and judges to figure out what consequences will work to discourage the perceived right to break into cars and steal whatever can be stolen. Guns left in cars are one of the prime motives for break-ins. Anyone who leaves their gun in their vehicle or leaves anything of value in their vehicle to be stolen is literally financing the thug lifestyle.
The problem of car break-ins and carjackings has gotten to be so bad that city leaders must find solutions NOW and not give citizens they are working on the problem by forming task forces to look into the problem.
There must be an immediate solution to establishing effective consequences, and that is the job of city officials. But there is never any meaningful talk about the ultimate long-term solution, which, in my opinion, is breaking the destructive cycle of children having children.
One of the primary common denominators of youth crime is young people having children that they are not financially or emotionally to properly raise. As much as we want to blame teenagers for the daily threat of crime, they do not ask to come into this world and not be raised. And if a young person does get pregnant and have a child, then that should be their last until they have reached a point where they are capable of raising a child. But this is what is never addressed.
Politicians fail to address the issue of reckless human behavior because it is their voters who are guilty of the reckless human behavior. It is much easier and politically safer to blame the problems associated with youth crime on funding, lack of education, lack of jobs, or any tangible excuse that diverts attention from the actual problem. While all of the aforementioned are contributing factors, the bottom line is that the thug mentality is born out of a lack of parenting and a lack of community standards that discourage such behavior.
Car break-ins and carjackings have become such a threat to law-abiding citizens in New Orleans that the failure to address the real issues and the failure of city leaders to work to aggressively solve this problem should make all of them vulnerable to being voted out of office at the earliest opportunity.
Stop talking and DO YOUR JOB!
