Former JPSO Colonel John Fortunato said he's running for sheriff in Jefferson Parish to reverse what he sees as a troubling trend.
"I started to see a noticeable increase in crime and that's violent crime," Fortunato said.
According to crime statistics, posted to the JPSO website, overall offenses are up, year over year, by 0.4-percent.
But, there have been 22 murders in JP between January and June. That's compared to 11 killings the same period last year.
Rape and theft are also up, compared to 2018.
"It was those numbers that concerned me so greatly, that, that the reason I'm sitting in this chair today to let the people of Jefferson Parish know that Jefferson Parish is not as safe as it once was," Fortunato said.
Current Sheriff Joe Lopinto disagrees.
"The people of Jefferson Parish know who I am," Lopinto said. "If they want me to continue being sheriff, they'll vote for me."
Crime stats show robbery, assault, burglary and auto theft have all decreased year over year.
Lopinto told WWL-TV, to get a better picture of crime in the parish, you have to look at the total number of crimes over the past 20 years.
By that standard, the number of offenses is down dramatically from nearly 24,000 crimes in 1999 to less than 11-thousand last year.
"For the last two years, I've proven who I am as sheriff," Lopinto said. "I work very hard. Our crime stats continue to be down in Jefferson Parish. We have some of the lowest crime rates. We're solving cases at a record pace."
Lopinto narrowly defeated Fortunato in a special election 15 months ago.
The crime rate is already shaping up to a major theme in the sheriff's race this time around.
"I think the citizens in Jefferson Parish should understand, there needs to be some immediate change," Fortunato said.
"Do I have confidence in myself? Do I have confidence in my department to continue leading it for the future? "Yes I do." Lopinto said.
We asked former NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas, now a criminal justice professor at Loyola University to interpret the numbers for us.
"The first six months of 2019 does indicate a significant and concerning increase in murders - up from 11 in 2018 to 22," Serpas said. "According to JPSO data, the total number of Murders in 2018 was 24. Recording 22 Murders through June of this year could indicate that the Parish may experience a significant increase in murders by year end."