2024 brings higher number of homicides reported in French Quarter
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — While crime trends throughout New Orleans continue to drop, the city is seeing a new hotspot for homicides.
“No longer is the French Quarter the safest from a violent crime perspective citywide,” said Rafael Goyeneche, the president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.
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According to the MCC, from Jan. 1 to Aug. 25, three shooting related homicides were reported in the Eighth District. The year of 2022 was the high watermark for homicides, with seven reported during that same time period. According to the New Orleans Police Department, so far this year, there’s been nine total homicides in the Eighth District.
“The numbers looking at the last three years in the French Quarter, we’re not really seeing a spike in shootings. What we are seeing is a spike in the shootings that result in a death or a homicide,” Goyeneche said.
Data from the MCC shows the number of shootings over the past three years in the Eighth District have stayed fairly consistent. There have been 20 total shootings in 2022, 19 in 2023 and 20 in 2024, which begs the question; if the number of shootings has remained steady, why has the number of homicides gone up?
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“You’re looking at, you know, a matter of aim. And, you know, generally speaking, when you see an increase in homicides, it’s usually a result of drug activity. That’s not the case of what we’re seeing in the French Quarter. What happens in the French Quarter is that there’s a lot of pedestrian foot traffic. The people that want to commit violent crimes, whether it be an armed robbery or a carjacking, they’re looking for opportunities, they’re looking for pedestrians,” Goyeneche said.
Goyenche says the best way to drive down crime is by holding those accountable, adding how the NOPD has made arrests in seven of the nine Eighth District homicides. We reached out to a NOPD Public Information Officer who confirmed those numbers.
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