New Orleans mayor says violent crime trending down, ‘encouraging’

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said she’s encouraged by violent crime trends in the city.

In a press conference on Wednesday (Feb. 1), Mayor Cantrell pointed to armed robberies, carjackings, and homicides, which she says are all trending down compared to January of last year. She says it’s a sign that things are moving in the right direction.

According to the Metropolitan Crime Commission, there have been 25 homicides, 20 carjackings, and 45 robberies since the beginning of the new year.

Still, car thefts are happening at an alarming rate.

Data provided by the New Orleans Police Department shows that in the last week, 162 cars were stolen, compared to 64 during the same time period last year.

“The superintendent does have a vehicle strategy and that’s one of the reasons we’re starting to see that pivot in the right direction. You will hear more from Superintendent Woodfork on tomorrow as she puts forward her strategic plan and initiatives to fight violent crime, but it also speaks to car thefts in the city of New Orleans,” says Mayor Latoya Cantrell.

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Mayor Cantrell says the city is dealing with a serious drug problem, specifically fentanyl.

Two NOPD officers making an arrest were exposed to the drug during testing and had to be administered Narcan.

“Two of our officers were responding to a call, and actually it was a bag. They picked up something and fentanyl was all over it, and it required our officers to be administered Narcan. Of course we watched to make sure they had a full recovery and that has happened, but I have to say it’s given me a laser focus on where this is throughout our community, throughout our city and how it impacts our people,” says Mayor Cantrell.

The mayor says the city is now educating all public-facing departments, like code enforcement, on how to administer Narcan in case of an emergency.

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