So much crime welcomed in the New Year of 2023 that believing New Orleans is a civilized city is a stretch.
The growing fear that at any time of day, at any location in the Greater New Orleans area, you could be shot, carjacked, or have your car broken into defies the concept of what a civilized city is.
At about 2:00 am Wednesday morning in a suburb of New Orleans, about 60 cars were broken into - smashed windows and broken glass covered much of the parking lot at The Creeks at River Ridge Apts. In River Ridge, LA.
The fact that a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old were arrested in connection with the break-ins made the reality even worse. One suspect fled and escaped police. In addition to the two juveniles from New Orleans, their mother was arrested after she became irate when she was told that her children were in jail and that she could not bring them home with her.
Jefferson Parish deputies discovered that mother had outstanding warrants and she was arrested and put in jail. The juveniles cannot be named, but the mother can be: Tiffany Broomfield.
This one incident is a microcosm for the extensive crime wave rolling through the New Orleans area. The fact that two teenagers were out at 2:00 am smashing car windows and their mother showed up at the police station demanding to take her children home shows where we are as a society.
It’s impossible to believe that the mother of the thug-punk teens really cares about her children since she apparently did not know they were out at 2:00 am breaking into cars. By becoming irate and resisting arrest, Tiffany Broomfield exposed herself as part of the problem.
During the Sugar Bowl over the New Year’s Weekend, cars were broken into. Last night fans left the Pelicans game to discover their cars had been broken into by thugs.
Smashed car windows have become too common in the New Orleans area, and the actions of that mother supports the idea that too often parents are to blame for the renegade punks roaming out streets.
The culture of the thug mentality has festered, and children are coming into the world as the result of parents who have zero regard for the possibility that a baby may result from their behavior. Making matters worse is that we have a government that rewards parents bringing children into the world with no interest in raising them.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told the media yesterday that the crime wave “impacts us all: our families, even our pets for the most part.” Cantrell echoed something that I constantly bring up on my talk show, “There seems to be this lack of consequences for the actions that we are seeing on the street not only from young people but from adults as well." The mayor added that crime will not be tolerated.
It seems we are well beyond the point of saying crime will not be tolerated.
Decades of an extremely progressive attitude toward criminals has created the unacceptable atmosphere in which we now live. The empathy toward the young criminals, the excuses for their behavior, and the fear of leaders addressing the real issue have turned living in New Orleans into an uncivilized city.
The ability to terrorize communities by instilling fear through random carjackings and car break-ins could be a motivating factor. In addition to monetary gain or the possession of a weapon from breaking into cars, there is the idea that these young thug-punks have the power to create fear that could be fueling their efforts.
The fact that a disproportionate of the thug-punks are Black DOES NOT make this about race. It is solely about behavior. The reluctance of leaders, like Mayor Cantrell, to address the issue out of fear of alienating their voting base or the likelihood that condemning this behavior would lead to being called racist have led to the wholesale ignoring of reality.
Ironically, the people who are being protected by refusing to address the real issue are the very people most likely to be killed by the thug-punks that live in their neighborhoods.
Who is speaking up for the countless people in Black neighborhoods who are frustrated and deal with the daily fear that their family may be the next victim? Somebody needs to speak for these good, honest Americans, many of whom do not have the means to move to another neighborhood and have instituted protocols for when - not if - but when gunshots are heard. Our leaders are ignoring these people.
A 12-year-old and a 14-year-old are arrested for breaking into over 60 cars in a suburb of New Orleans and their mother, who had outstanding warrants, becomes irate when told her kids are in jail and she can’t take them home clearly defines New Orleans today.
