New Orleans crime going down: Which offenses are dropping most?

New Orleans crime going down: Which offenses are dropping most?Photo: iStock
Hoodline
Published on August 29, 2019

The number of criminal incident reports made in New Orleans saw an overall decrease last week for the fourth week in a row, according to data from SpotCrime, which collects reports from police agencies and validated sources. The number of reported incidents fell to 3,815 for the week of Aug. 19, down from 3,942 the week before.

The specific offenses that decreased the most were burglary and assault. The number of burglary reports fell to 168 incidents last week, down from 229 the week before. Reports of burglary have continued to fall for the last four weeks. The number of assault reports fell from 352 to 325.

While a somewhat smaller category, there was also a considerable percentage decrease in reports of robbery, down from 28 incidents per week to 15.

Among the few types of offenses that saw an uptick last week, reports of theft went from 410 to 422. The number of reports of vandalism rose from 83 to 87, and reports of shootings went up from 60 to 62.

There were 2,736 reports of "other" crimes, a decrease of 43 from the previous week. SpotCrime's broad "other" category includes a variety of offenses like fraud, trespassing, public disturbance and traffic violations. Of those incidents, 104 involved arrests, such as for drug possession, up from 73 reported arrests the week before.

As far as where crime is concentrated in the city, the French Quarter, the Central Business District and Central City continued to have the most reported incidents last week.

Crime in the Lower Garden District decreased the most. The number of criminal reports in Little Woods also fell, after increasing the week before, and the number of incidents in Holy Cross are down considerably as well.

Regarding when crime most often occurs, Monday, Tuesday and Friday had the most reported crime incidents last week. The largest decrease from the previous week occurred on Sunday, Thursday and Saturday, while incidents on Tuesday and Monday went up. Comparing times of day, late morning, late afternoon and early afternoon saw the most crime last week.

Want a longer-term view of crime in New Orleans? Here's our latest monthly crime report.

To report a crime in progress or life-threatening emergency, call 911. To report a non-urgent crime or complaint, contact your local police department.

Head to SpotCrime to get free local crime alerts in your area.

This story was created automatically using local crime data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about our data sources and local crime methodology. Got thoughts about what we're doing? Go here to share your feedback.