The CityBusiness Blog

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

When the University of New Orleans released a quality of life study this week focusing on Jefferson and Orleans parishes, residents said crime is the biggest problem.

Residents count on police to stamp out crime, especially murders and other violent crime.

But is the NOPD spending its time and resources wisely these days?

A CityBusiness investigation by reporter Richard Webster found that NOPD is planting Kool cigarettes, Budweiser and Boston Baked Beans candy in unlocked cars with the windows rolled down in order to catch someone snatching the items.

The police seem to be after a certain group: the homeless. Why else would they park a car just one block from a homeless encampment under the Claiborne Overpass?

NOPD made its first arrests June 10. For stealing less than $6 in items, police charged two homeless men with simple burglary, a felony that can carry up to 12 years in prison. Neither suspect had any prior arrests in Orleans Parish.

It’s been more than a month since their arrests and the men are still sitting in Orleans Parish Prison, waiting on court dates, according to the story.

NOPD’s technique is garnering criticism.

“I don’t know what the policing justification is for such an action,” said Pamela Metzger, associate professor of law at Tulane University Law School. “But on a fundamental human level, it smacks of a meanness, a pettiness, a spitefulness that has no place in a city as broken as this one. It’s a way of manufacturing offenses that may not have otherwise existed.”

The NOPD did not respond to our reporter’s requests for comment. But, according to the story, Police Superintendent Warren Riley has previously defended the practice of arresting people for minor crimes as a useful way of catching habitual offenders.

Is this a good use of police resources, or do you think the police should be paying more attention to violent crime?

To read the full story, click here.

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

I came across a column today suggesting that post-Katrina New Orleans could become what Harlem was in the 1970s “if the government moves any slower.” And, like Harlem did in those days, New Orleans could produce an American gangster, the column says.

To read the column, click here.

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Today marks the anniversary of a march on City Hall that drew protestors from all walks of life angry over violence in a city struggling to rebuild from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

The march was huge. It brought together multiple races. I’ve heard estimates of 3,000 attendees. It even attracted the likes of CNN.

At the time, Mayor Nagin pledged to make curbing crime his top priority.

A year later, has the march made any difference? Has Nagin kept his promise?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

New Orleans’ murder rate is all over the national news, which, I’m sure, will create a challenge for tourism officials trying to lure people to the recovering city.

Based on varying population estimates, the rate is 67 to 71 murders per 100,000, making the Crescent City one of the deadliest in the nation.

What do you think?

Here’s how other news media are covering the story:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319416,00.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/01/national/main3665137.shtml

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

In retail, stores sometimes have “limited time” offers to sell products.

A donor borrowed that technique when they offered $4,000 as a reward for information leading to the arrest and indictments of those responsible for the recent killing of two LSU students. The offer, which was added to a $1,000 Crime Stoppers reward, expired after Christmas Eve.

It’s the first time I’ve seen someone put a time limit on reward money.

But the technique produced no results, and the reward, as scheduled, is no longer on the table.

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Alexandria, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles are more dangerous than New Orleans.

That’s according to a new report that ranks U.S. cities in “dangerous” and “safe” categories.

But the report is very controversial. Elected officials across the country, as well as the FBI, have criticized it.

Is the report accurate? Are Alexandria, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles more dangerous than the Big Easy?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor 

Would getting rid of Louisiana’s corporate income tax and its corporate franchise tax stimulate business and create jobs? 

The head of a tax research group thinks so. 

But what about low-quality public schools and high crime? Aren’t those factors keeping business and investors away, too?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor 

Did anybody see the “48 Hours Mystery” feature Saturday night on crime in New Orleans? 

It focused on the post-Katrina murders of drummer Dinerral Shavers of the Hot 8 Brass Band and artist Helen Hill. To read the episode’s transcript, click here. 

“Helen Hill’s killer could be anyone, anywhere,” 48 Hours said. “Now police say a new breed of criminal roams the city: young cold-blooded killers who have no fear they’ll ever pay for their crimes. 

“As confident as police say they are, the truth is convictions for murder in New Orleans are rare. Just how rare? Dinerral Shavers was one of 162 people murdered in New Orleans in 2006. Police have made arrests in a third of those cases and as of today, there has been one conviction. One conviction. 

“The numbers don’t lie: in New Orleans, a lot of people are getting away with murder.” 

I wonder if any tourists planning to visit the city are considering changing their travel plans after seeing this scary presentation from “48 Hours.”

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor 

A coalition has unveiled a new plan to improve public safety in New Orleans. 

The Criminal Justice Leadership Alliance, a coalition of political and criminal justice leaders in New Orleans, today released a four-point plan to combat violence and improve the criminal justice system in Orleans Parish. 

What does the public think of this plan?