We're 30 days into 2023, and already, 761 cars have been reported stolen in the city of New Orleans--an average of 26 per day. In fact, according to WWL's Newell Normand, more cars were stolen in New Orleans this month than were stolen in Jefferson Parish in all of last year.
But the head of the Metropolitan Crime Commission says that's not the full story.
"There's an additional 127 automobile theft calls that were received by the 911 center, but when police responded, the victims were gone on arrival," Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche told Normand on Monday.
Goyeneche said the MCC's crime stat of 761 auto thefts is "conservatively low" because 127 auto theft calls made to 911 weren't included in the tally.
"Sometimes the victims can't wait any longer, and those additional 127 gone-on-arrival complaints will be later investigated and classified as automobile thefts," Goyeneche said, blaming the NOPD's staffing shortage for the discrepancy. "This is an emerging trend that law enforcement has to be able to respond to and deploy resources (to)."
Goyeneche says the people who are stealing cars in New Orleans are not limiting their criminal pursuits to auto theft.
"Many of these cars that are stolen are linked to not only violent crimes committed in the city of New Orleans but also in surrounding parishes, as well," Goyeneche said. "This is an alarming trend we're seeing right now."
