New Orleans - Crime and Safety

Crime and Safety

Crime has been recognized as an ongoing problem for New Orleans, although the issue is outside the view of most visitors to the city: as in other cities in the United States of comparable size, the incidence of homicide and other violent crimes is highly concentrated in certain impoverished neighborhoods, such as housing projects.

In 2012, Travel+Leisure named New Orleans the #2 "America's Dirtiest City", down from a #1 "Dirtiest" status of the previous year. The magazine surveyed both national readership and local residents, from a list of prominent cities having the most visible illegal littering, dumping and other related environmental crime conditions.

Across New Orleans, homicides peaked in 1994 at 86 murders per 100,000 residents. By 2009, despite a 17% decrease in violent crime in the city, the homicide rate remained among the highest in the United States, at between 55 and 64 per 100,000 residents. In 2010, New Orleans was 49.1 per 100,000. This is the highest rate among cities of 250,000 population or larger. Offenders in New Orleans are almost exclusively black men, with 97% of the offenders being black and 95% being male.

The violent crime rate was also a key issue in the city's 2010 mayoral race. In January 2007, several thousand New Orleans residents marched through city streets and gathered at City Hall for a rally demanding police and city leaders tackle the crime problem. Then-Mayor Ray Nagin said he was "totally and solely focused" on addressing the problem. Later, the city implemented checkpoints during late night hours in problem areas.