Louisiana residents list crime as one of state's most pressing issues even as stats fall

In Louisiana, violent and property crime numbers across the state have dropped from recent years.

Despite this, a survey earlier this year from the Manship School at LSU found that 72% of Louisiana residents say the amount of crime has increased in the past few years, with 41% saying crime is increasing in their local communities.

Although most Louisiana residents were not victims of crime over the past year, most personally know someone who was the victim of property crime, 58%, and many personally know someone who was attacked or threatened with violence, 44%.

The Center Square previously reported that, according to the FBI's uniform crime reporting database, Bossier, Caddo, Ouachita, Orleans and East Baton Rouge parishes are all seeing downward trends in crime.

Additionally, New Orleans, which is commonly referred to as the murder capitol of the world, has seen a 38% decrease in murders, with police logging 180 this year. That number was as high as 265 at the end of the year in 2022, which was historically high even for the Big Easy.

In September, New Orleans had the fewest fatal and non-fatal shootings on record since 2010, thanks to an 18-day murder-free streak.

Murders aren't the only crime subsiding. According to the New Orleans city council crime dashboard auto theft is down 48%, vehicle burglary is down 47%, and carjacking is down 42%, all of which were huge issues in 2023.

Despite crime decreasing in almost every metric across the state, the perception of high levels of crime are still there. That could be because nationally, the Pelican State still has work to do.

According to the Shreveport Times, a WalletHub report listed Louisiana as 50th in murders per capita and 46th in assaults per capita in 2024. According to Safe and Sound Security, Louisiana’s violent crime rate of 6.29 far exceeds the national median, which is 3.80 per 1,000 residents.

Louisiana’s property crime rate of 27.48 per 1,000 residents in 2024 also surpassed the national median at 19.54 per 1,000 residents.

The most dangerous cities to no surprise are New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport, despite all three police departments reporting success in lower incident numbers.

It is noteworthy that the special crime session earlier this year which saw dozens of bills passed to curve the crime issue which Gov. Jeff Landry ran on in 2023 might have had an effect on the recent crime drop.

However, these numbers have shown consistent decreases since 2022, before his election, showing the unexplained correction in the state's errored ways may be due to a return to normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic.