We have seen big decreases in New Orleans crime rate, but will the historic pattern bring that to an end?
One expert fears the same old cycle will rear its ugly head again.
Former NOPD Chief, now Loyola Professor, Ronal Serpas says he's seen this before where many violent criminals are locked up or become murder victims themselves, and homicide rates come down... only to rebound again with a new infusion of killers.
"You just look at New Orleans murders over the past 40 years I'm familiar with, and that's a pretty familiar pattern," he told WWL's Tommy Tucker. "The main combatants have been removed from the battlefield."
Serpas says without action new to prevent the next wave of criminals, history will repeat itself.
"Hopefully these ebbs and flows get longer in distance if the social wrap around services to help people not make those choices can be successful in the lull period."
Murder year-to-date is down 40% over last year and down 46% compared to 2022, but still 40% higher than in 2019.
