New Orleans has experienced a rash of gun violence over the past few weeks. A shooting in the St. Roch neighborhood left 2 dead and 11 injured. Then, over the Thanksgiving holiday, 9 shootings left 4 were dead from gun violence, mostly stemming from violent brawls.
NOPD and city officials are busy trying to make sense of the wave of gun violence, which has cast a shadow of fear over many who live here and left citizens wondering if the current level of gun violence is out of the ordinary.
WWL’s Tommy Tucker spoke with New Orleans City Council member JP Morrell to gain his perspective.
“Obviously, we are all tremendously concerned with the shootings,” Morrell stated. “But I think it's important to highlight the fact that as of today, we have a 53% drop in murders in the city over previous years. And I think the trajectory of the city when it comes to violent crime is still down.”
Morrell cited the fact that shootings over Thanksgiving were committed mostly by out-of-towners, saying, “I think that in any large city, you're going to see an influx of the potential for there to be conflict. But I will not discount the fact that New Orleans has a history of kind of having volatile mixes in that whenever there's explosive violence of this level, it is jarring and disconcerting. But I still have absolute faith in Chief Kirkpatrick and what she's been doing with the department.”
Citing crime statistics, however, only goes so far. And although New Orleans has had the fourth-largest drop in crime since 2022 in a ranking of major American cities, it doesn’t always feel that way.
Next, the two discussed the issue of feeling safe in New Orleans. Host Tommy Tucker expressed his personal sentiment that he doubts the accusation that New Orleans is an exceptionally violent place.
Morrell echoed this feeling, saying, “I will never try to say that New Orleans is a safe Mayberry utopia. But from where it was, we're in a much better place than where we've been historically in the last 8 to 10 years. And I would say we're on a great trajectory to be one of the safer, larger cities.”
Morrell added that fear is a perception issue, intensified by a focus on negative stories rather than positive ones. “No one reports the good things that happen in New Orleans. Last year we had a council youth and recreation fund program. We gave money to all these different groups that engage with youth and culture bearers to minimize crime. There was literally not one newspaper or TV reporter in the room. So you only hear the bad stuff, not the good stuff.”
In closing, Morrell encouraged those who have their issues to approach him, especially those who have a stake in the city and the safety of its citizens. “If you're someone who lives downtown and you feel unsafe every single day and you feel like nothing's changed, I want to hear from you. I want to talk to you and see how we can fix that. But if you're someone who's checked out on New Orleans and you point these stories and say, ‘I told you so. It’s Dodge City where you walk outside and catch a bullet.’ Well, if that’s the case I'm not really going to change your mind.”
