New Orleans, La. -- City Council members want to know why violent crime is so rampant in the city. So, they called on NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas to appear before the council Thursday to answer some tough questions.
In New Orleans East Thursday afternoon, a man was shot dead inside a car near Crowder Boulevard. Earlier in the day, sitting before the Council, Chief Serpas said overall, murder is actually down this year.
"Crime is down 2.6 [percent] in the City of New Orleans. Murder is down 9 percent in the City of New Orleans," Serpas said.
But Councilwoman Stacy Head didn't agree, saying, "The research that our office did is from the Comstat meetings we've started monitoring. The 7th District is up 21 percent in murder, 100 percent in rape."
Despite questions from the Council, Serpas stands by his numbers and says his department is making strides.
To help reduce violent crime even further, the chief and his officers will implement some new strategies. One is the group violence reduction strategy, which identifies groups of kids who associate together and, more than likely, commit crimes together.
"I think New Orleans will do a better job than anybody in the country has done in adapting this practice," Serpas told the Council. He says intervention is key with the kids, talking to them before they go down a road of violent crime.
Many council members say they want to see a change happen now.
Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell says she's received dozens of complaints from her constituents about a rash of shootings and murders in her district. She attributes this to low manpower saying, "Between the 3rd, 5th, 7th District, I don't know how they cover it, the vast distances that they have to cover. And it seems to me we're seeing a spill back in violent crime because of it."
Serpas didn't say how many officers actually patrol the streets. But one thing most of the council people agree on, there simply aren't enough.
