Homicides on the rise in New Orleans
City's murder rate is 30 percent higher than any other U.S. city

NEW ORLEANS - In the last week more Americans have died in New Orleans than in Iraq. Since Dec. 29, there have been eight military deaths. In the Big Easy, there have been 14 murders.

Among the latest victims: Helen Hill, a 36-year-old mother shot in her home in front of her husband and 2-year-old.

"She was just such a wonderful person," says friend Sheri Branch, "the brightest spot of New Orleans to me."
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The killers are growing more brazen, striking in broad daylight and using assault rifles, even with police just 30 yards away. And witnesses refuse to talk.

"We have a culture, a certain population in this city with an intent on committing violent crime," says Assistant Superintendent of Police Steven Nicholas. "They feel no repercussion, they have no fear of police."

New Orleans' murder rate is 30 percent higher than any other city in the country.

"This alarming homicide rate is a function of the failure of these different municipal entities to coordinate in a really productive way," says Peter Scharf, a criminologist at New Orleans University.

Reasons for the violence are many: Drug dealing, retaliation killings, fewer cops and an overwhelmed legal system.

And there are growing fears.

"Now we're at this total extreme crime, where it's everywhere," said a recent caller to local talk radio station WRNO.

"Morale has to be the lowest in the department in years," says WRNO radio host Andre Trevigne.

In retaliation, there've been rumblings by some police of a work slow down. But police officials deny cops would let there anger interfere with their duty.

"They are still going to stand and do their job," says Nicholas. "They understand their responsibility."

That said, the only persons arrested and charged with homicide in New Orleans in a week have been police officers.
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive

[Bush]Blame the minorities![/Bush]

That's silly, of course its Bush's fault.

Of course, what other explanation is there?

Well, this obviously justifies the Iraq War now.

Might be the most compelling argument for the war I've heard in weeks.

I’m just going to say it here and if anyone challenges me so be it but the last time I helped my dad transport firewood before he died he said the current Bush was the worst president he had ever experienced during his life time (he had been through a lot). The way he said it though was as if he was saying please, be smart, use your fucking brain and select someone that knows what the fuck to do.

i ask you this is God pissed of with New Orleans?

I'll send him an email and find out.

Hang about a tick.

Sure, blame it on God. Good philosophy.

i am not blaming god. & believe it or not god does care for this world & their is a dark side to New Orleans & the rest of the world.
God is trying to warn us to REPENT, that hurricane did not just come by accident.
I believe God is trying to get our attention. America is just like Rome before it fell.
The bible says choose blessings or curses, i ask you all we are surely still very blessed but a lot of those blessing are being taken away, look at 9/11, the hurricanes, the 2 wars, look how much in debt the country is. We have never needed God like we do now but were to stubborn.

This is the type of guy everyone needs to talk to while high.

I wonder how many of the people murdered are minorities, and how many people committing the murders are minorities.

[liberals]blame whity[liberals/]

*fixed.


On a hilarious side note, Uber-Mayor Nagin has been waving the city's new building codes for impoverished citizens, you know, the ones that require houses be a certain hieght off of the ground in case of flooding. That's gonna end well.

Well it's a good thing so many people are working so hard to restore the city.

fucking entitlement culture.

[liberals]blame conservatives[liberals/]

He's also the type of guy that needs to post more. If he/she did, the attendance at the N&D board would skyrocket.

Two guys in India recently raped/murdered 19 women/girls and chopped up the bodies then ditched them in the sewer behind their house.

That is all.

That actually happened a couple of years ago. They just found the bodies recently.

Gross.