News

Crime Statistics Improve Compared to Pre-Katrina Rates

Jefferson Parish officials report a decrease in crime rates as compared to pre-Katrina levels, thanks to drastic measures in addressing street crimes, and “at risk” youth.

Diversion programs for “at risk” youth and multi-tasking street units are a few of the strategies that Jefferson Parish is using to lessen the effects of the identified causes of Parish crime, some of which pre-date the August 2005 storm.

Despite the many logistical and personnel difficulties local authorities have faced since the disaster, statistics show that crime has not increased in Jefferson Parish since August, 2005 and, in fact, has decreased in many aspects.

The media seems to focus more on the bad news. This national spotlight is about to become stronger with the imminent premier of yet another show about New Orleans area crime, one whose advertising focuses on following the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) rookies through “some of the deadliest streets in America”. Such tags on the greater New Orleans area have been pervasive, affect Jefferson unfairly, and have even escalated since Katrina.

According to Jefferson Parish officials, violent crime in the hurricane’s aftermath has been concentrated. Special task forces have been dispatched on a constant and daily basis to the identified crime-prone areas.

The Parish has also created the Jefferson Parish Crime Prevention and Reduction Task Force, which has already been at work in the Parish, with more sweeps planned in the future.

This task force organizes law enforcement, code enforcement, environmental departments and the Department of Health and Hospitals to investigate how it can improve life in the Parish. The task force works with the Environmental Court to address situations and issues associated with blighted areas.

Under-staffing has been an issue with the JPSO, just as with many area businesses. Hence, the JPSO has re-designed the patrol division and the detective bureau to require multi-tasking and more overtime duty for personnel.

Even though there are staffing shortages, the Sheriff’s Office continues to recruit and graduate new officers. Amazingly, despite these shortages, Jefferson Parish crime rates are still lower on the whole than the pre-Katrina rates.

The results of these emergency adjustments and reforms have been positive, allowing re-establishment of the Street Crimes Unit, a 20-officer unit that has been assigned to the Westbank since last January. The use of this Unit has resulted in a significant reduction of street drug activity and a reduction in firearms on the street in general.

In fact, as of March of this year, official Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) statistics recorded 8 murders for the year. From January through March, 2006, there were 16 murders, and in 2005, there were 12 murders.

The JPSO also reported 174 robberies from January through March, 2005, 109 for the same period of 2006 and 148 for the first three months of 2007.

Based strongly upon Jefferson Parish’s effective record of collaborative efforts, it was chosen in 2004 by the private, non-profit Casey Foundation and the McArthur Foundation to lead state and nation-wide juvenile justice reform efforts.

According to the Director of the Community Justice Agency (CJA), Roy Junker, who assists in coordinating all criminal justice-related matters in Jefferson Parish, the population of Jefferson Parish “at risk” youth decreased from 938 cases before Katrina to 621 as of March, 2007.

The CJA is an ‘umbrella system’ for better coordination and efficiency of services for adults and juveniles in Jefferson Parish, and includes such diverse agencies as Courts, the District Attorney, Sheriff, municipal police departments, juvenile probation and detention centers, the Coroner, Clerk of Court, Public Schools and Human Services Authorities. It monitors over $7 million per year in federal and state grants.

“Jefferson Parish has always been on the cutting edge of justice reform and is still searching for ways to improve its efficiency in assisting crime victims and lessening Parish crime”, comments CJA’s Roy Juncker.

For more information regarding crime statistics and area maps of crime incidents, please refer to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office website, www.jpso.org, under “statistics” and “crime tracker”, respectively.