NEW ORLEANS — When it comes to trends with juvenile crime in New Orleans, what do the numbers show? On Tuesday, that question was answered.
The hot topic these days seems to be vehicle break-ins. It's happening everywhere in Orleans Parish, and it seems it's happening more often. However, what do the numbers show?
The study released Tuesday at the Criminal Justice Committee meeting came from the council's Crime Analyst, Jeff Asher. He found overall, juveniles made up about 5.3% of people who were arrested last year, a number that's stayed steady since 2015.
However, what about when it comes to vehicle break-ins specifically? Data shows more than 6,000 cars were burglarized in 2019, and that people of all ages are committing the crime. It was also mentioned almost 50% of those incidents resulted in the arrest of a juvenile, who spent about 29 days behind bars.
Something interesting though, were cases of vehicle burglaries with criminal damage (like breaking a car window). The data shows a huge jump last year, rising from 4% to almost 22%.
And if you're curious, the study shows juveniles, not adults, involved in these vehicle burglaries, are more likely to go back out and do it again, that nearly half of juveniles arrested for vehicle burglary are repeat offenders.
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