Fewer and fewer New Orleans Police officers means fewer and fewer arrests despite surging violent crime.
The New Orleans Metro Crime Commission has been tracking felony arrests in the first three-and-a-half months of each year since 2019, and the trend is hard to miss.
"The arrests have declined in each of the years since 2019," said MCC President Rafael Goyeneche. "When you compare '19 to 2023, there's 42 percent fewer felony arrests over that span of time."
The huge drop in arrests comes as crime skyrockets. The MCC says the number of murders this year is up 126% compared to 2019. Shootings are up 108%, and carjackings are up 86%.
Goyeneche told WWL's Newell Normand this should not be taken as a criticism of the NOPD's police work -- he said it's inevitable that as NOPD loses officers, fewer arrests will be made.
"A lot of that is because of the decline in the numbers of police officers," said Goyeneche. "It's not because officers don't care, it is because we just don't have enough officers."
