New Orleans' mayor breaks down keys to crimefighting success

How has New Orleans engineered its crimefighting success? The mayor says it's a team effort.

Compared to 2022, when New Orleans was in the throes of a post-pandemic crime spike, homicides are down by more than 100 in 2026. New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno says good teamwork has a lot to do with it.

"The work of Chief Ann Kirkpatrick, working closely with Capt. (Rodney) Hyatt with Troop NOLA, the level of coordination with our federal partners and how they've all been coming together as law enforcement agencies," Moreno told WWL's Newell Normand, has made a tremendous difference. "They actually really get along. They seem to really get along, they work together well."

The mayor also said the city is heavily invested in prevention. She said the city has been very good at identifying federal grants aimed at stopping crime before it starts.

And she says good detective work has helped NOPD close a lot of cases, putting the perpetrators behind bars.

"The last numbers I got from Chief Kirkpatrick, I think it had whatever the number of homicides was, it was like, whether it was 50 or 48, but the clearance was, like, two right below that, so it was like almost at 100 percent on the murders," she said, "so that is fantastic."