NEW ORLEANS — The Metropolitan Crime Commission found Homicides are up 142%, shootings are up 98%, carjackings are up 203% and armed robberies are up 27% in New Orleans since 2019.
MCC President Rafael Goyeneche said the number of police officers is the big reason crime is out of control.
"We began to see during COVID that crime was going up and we saw the number of officers were going down," Goyeneche said.
He said more people are being shot per incident.
"A total of 343 shooting incidents this year but there were 433 shooting victims this year," Goyeneche said. "Right now the staffing levels of the New Orleans Police Department are at a 70-year low, these numbers are reflective of the fact, that the police department is grossly understaffed."
On Saturday, three people were shot, all within mere miles of each other.
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Monday night, a 30-year-old man was shot and killed on I-10 near the Chef Menteur on-ramp, according to Police.
"You're much more likely to die if you are being shot this year, than you were last year, that's reflective of some of the firing power," Goyeneche said.
The fifth district, which is the 9th Ward, and the 7th district, which is New Orleans East, are considered hot spots by the Metropolitan Crime Commission. The old Naval base is an example in the 9th ward that has seen large amounts of crime.
One 9th Ward resident said he feels safe.
"It doesn't bother me too much to hear that," he said.
"I haven't personally been affected, I feel safe in my neighborhood, even though I know there is a lot of break-ins, carjackings, etc," Tyler Van Dyke said.
Donald Bernard Jr., owner of Floating Island, who works less than two miles away from Monday’s shooting on Chef Menteur, said it's unfair to stereotype parts of the city.
"Focusing on the East is a disservice to everybody in the East, because it's not as bad as people make it out to be," Bernard Jr. said.
He said the community needs to step up.
"It's just not a police problem, it's everybody's problem," Bernard Jr. said.