The List: Murder Capitals of the World

Knowing that you live in a city with an ever increasing murder rate is one thing. Accepting and processing the fact that you live in the MURDER CAPITAL of America is quit another.
We are THIRD in the WORLD!
New Orleans, United States Third Place. Behind Cape Town, South Africa and Caracas, Venezuela.
"New Orleans, United States

Population: 220,614 to 312,000 (2007); estimates vary due to displacement of people after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Murder rate: Estimates range from 67 (New Orleans Police Department) to 95 (Federal Bureau of Investigation) per 100,000

What’s happening: With its grinding poverty, an inadequate school system, a prevalence of public housing, and a high incarceration rate, the Big Easy has long been plagued with a high rate of violent crime. Katrina didn’t help. Since the hurricane struck in 2005, drug dealers have been fighting over a smaller group of users, leading to many killings. On just one four-block stretch of Josephine Street, in the city center, four people were murdered in 2007 and 15 people shot, including a double homicide on Christmas day. A precise murder rate is hard to pinpoint because the population is swelling quickly, approaching its pre-Katrina numbers. Whether you use New Orleans’s own figures or the FBI’s, however, the city remains the most deadly in the United States, easily surpassing Detroit and Baltimore with 46 and 45 murders per 100,000 people, respectively."
Read Full article here


A friend of mine who used to work as an engineer on large cargo freighters once told me of how he survived in Cape Town, South Africa. He said that as long as the local pirate boys who patrolled the dock with AK-47's were provided with Heineken, they wouldn't shoot you. In New Orleans, however, bargaining tools most often do not apply. You could be shot for far less than a Heineken. You can be murdered in your house while you sleep. You can be a child who is shot in a drive-by gang shooting which is the result of teenage jealousy. At 5 months old you can end up being murdered by your baby sitter who placed you into the dryer and turned it on to shut you up. You can be shot while riding your bicycle home from work. You can end up one of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of unsolved murder cases.

I can't imagine what my mother would say to me if she had read this recent study. I don't even know how to begin to justify my attachment to a city full murderers to her or to anyone else for that matter.

I hope this study will prompt an FBI training office in New Orleans or something similar. I mean, if we are number one, I would think they would want to "study" and research here.

A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction. *Rita Mae Brown

The Big Easy does NOT exist!
Being the Murder Capital of the United States is NOT an honor.
It is up to us, as citizens of this great cultural mecca, to change our reality. From our roots to our elected officials, murder can no longer continue to break our souls with each victim if we are to continue to rebuild and create the greatest American city.
SilenceIsViolence! And the breeder of more crimes and break down of communities. New Orleans nursed a weak and powerless generation through neglect and a corrupt and ineffective welfare system, yes. But, the poor are not the only ones committing murder in this town.
My example I will site is personal. My friend, Jessica, was not murder by thugs looking for cash or drugs. We don't know who murdered her, but the person who committed this senseless act of violence is still roaming the streets of New Orleans, sitting next to you as you eat diner, shopping with you at the market, and otherwise living their life out while this crime goes unsolved and unpunished! The Gustav scare put the investigation back several weeks and it took us several weeks to line-up the Memorial and Anti-Crime March. Now more than ever it is time to shout out against murder in our beloved city!


Jessica Hawk was 32-years-old when she was murdered in her Bywater home early in August. She came to New Orleans in 2003 to be with her fiancee and to pursue her education and career in Botany, biology and entomology. In 2007 she and her fiancee separated, and Jessica moved into her house on Chartres St., where she was stabbed and beaten to death.
Jessica was an author and a scholar, having published botany articles in top scientific journals. A deep lover of nature, Jessica made a tremendous contribution to the city she came to love. She volunteered at the Tulane herbarium, attended the masters program in Biology at UNO, where she was awarded the first post-Katrina graduate fellowship and was a highly regarded teacher, worked as an entomologist at the Audubon Insectarium, which she helped to open, and was scheduled to begin work at the New Orleans Botanical Garden the week after her murder. She was a mainstay at Harold's Plants and beautified many yards, courtyards and balconies around town. She also loved literature, especially Virginia Woolf, and philosophy. A prized possession was a facsimile of T.S. Elliot's "Wasteland" with annotations by Ezra Pound.
Everywhere she studied, worked or lived, Jessica was a star. Born and raised poor, fiercely independent and without a snobbish bone in her body. Jessica was liked and loved by so many and had become a bright light n the Bywater, greeting happy neighbors and friends as she biked or walked through the neighborhood.
Her loss is incalculable! A murder assaults more than the victim. Pray for her devastated family and friends, all of whom are searching for strenght in the face of horror.

On Saturday October 4th, there will be a memorial parade and Anti-Crime march in Jessica's memory.
The parade, led by The Storyville Stompers, leaves Schiro's in the Marigny-corner of Royal and St. Roch- at 4p. We parade through her neighborhood up Esplanade to Ernie K-Doe's Mother-n-Law Lounge, where all who wish will speak in the garden.
Free food, cash bar, and music to follow.
Rides back to the Marigny will be available.

Th investigation is ongoing. As of yet, there are no breaks to report. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CRIME SHOULD CALL Detective Nicholas Gernon at 658.5308

The only way New Orleans can reduce the murder rate is if we speak out and act!
I encourage all who are outraged by this statistic to make a stand by joining us in our march against violence.

NOPD Targets the homeless with entrapment

MOVING TARGET

The NOPD baits the homeless and other perpetrators with beer, candy and cigarettes to net burglary arrests.

Read full article here

How running 5 minutes late can potentially save your life!

This morning was hectic for no reason. Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I had every intention of making it to work early only to be late. I wanted to walk today but had to jump on my bike due to my tardiness. Now, not only is my new neighbor a convicted felon (forcible rape of all things)but my path to work is paved with drive by shootings. The first, I missed by a matter of minutes on my way to the office and the other AGAIN, I missed by a matter of minutes while heading out on an errand. Two drive-by's same location different times and ole' yeller the cruiser, and I missed each by minutes. I am suppose to feel safe?

Nola.com did it's usual half ass story. Tomorrow it will all be forgotten. Business as usual.
I mean, i didn't even realize it was the scene of a murder investigation when I crossed the police tape. NOPD just hanging around talking. I even ducked under the tape (because there was no seeming urgency or potential that this was even the scene of a crime...besides the yellow police tape. None of the cops said a word. I take that back, one made a cat call "yeah, you right girl, mmmmmmmmm!"
Costa Rica is looking better and better!

Read on....

No New Orleanian left behind!

Like a skipping record, over and over I am sickened by the tales I encounter of the day to day life in New Orleans "business as usual" for it's citizens and it's community.
No one can argue that unlike most American cities, New Orleans IS the sum of it's inhabitants. With out us, there is no tourism. With out tourism, there is little economy. With out an economy, there is no New Orleans. With out New Orleans....
A woman heads to work in her Chevrolet truck as she does 5-6 days week only this day she has brought her dog with her because he has an appointment to get a summer cut, Mohawk in fact. She stops at a vet's office to pick up eye drops for the kittens she has been nursing at work. She parks the truck, leaving her purse in the cab and her dog in the back and is gone for 5 minutes only to return and find that the truck has been towed.... the purse and the dog as well. Another man is confused because he too had been gone a matter of minutes only to return and have his car towed. The woman calls her boss for a ride to rescue her dog and her purse from the impound lot. The man does the same. As they are waiting a bartender steps outside shaking his head and says, "you know, the sign is obscure, they cleaned the street already at 9am, yet this is the second or third time they have towed cars". The woman arrives at the impound hysterically inquiring about her dog. They ask her for her drivers license. She says it is in the truck. She begs for them to let her get her dog and then she can get her purse and then she can take care of this. After threatening to call the LASPCA first and wasting 30 more minutes of her time, they finally release her dog and truck for $125. She leaves and heads to take the dog to his appointment and while dropping him off receives a ticket (once again, "legit" but obscure). Finally, she arrives at work and 30 minutes later there is a crash outside. An elderly woman had obviously stopped for the train which had it's lights on but was not moving and a car had slammed into her. The elderly lady was being cursed at and threatened by the hoodlums in the car that rear ended her and the woman's boss had come to call 911 and ensure this womans safety. 10 minutes after the 911 call a cop showed up, asked them to move the cars to the side and then said another cop was on his way. The boss called 911 again and said a cop came and left. 911 told him that the original cop who was dispatched to the call was on his way. An hour later, the other cop arrived.

On a personal note, I walked into work the next day and my boss pushed a letter from the City of New Orleans printed on fancy paper towards me and said "Check this out!" The letter was to inform his local, well respected and decorated web development company that the City of New Orleans had chosen another company to design their site. The other company not only has a horrible web site to represent themselves but they are also located in Colorado.

A tenant of a friend of mine woke up the other day to the boot on her car in front of her house. She new she had a ticket but it was recent and in no way delinquent. When she called the city to inquire, they informed her that she had several "delinquent" tickets from the block of Constance behind Whole Foods (where she is employed). Funny thing is, I ride my bike past that exact block frequently to and from my job and just the other day I saw someone ticketing cars and stopped to ask "Why?". There is no sign stating no parking anywhere. When I asked the meter maid why she was ticketing and where the no parking sign was, she replied "I'm doing my job. Don't talk to me". Back to the boot. So, the woman is on the phone with the city inquiring about the boot and she is asked for her credit card info. in order to pay the fines. She is given a code to unlock the boot AND then she has 48 hours to return the boot HERSELF or she will be charged $50/day in fines.

In conclusion, (because I could keep going and going with similar tales but need to get back to work)
It seems to me that the City of New Orleans is doing it's best to drive the local's out of the city by enforcing the wrong rules and justifying their deficiency in what really matters by claiming that they "don't have the means". If the City of New Orleans can dispatch a tow truck to tow a car in less than 5 minutes yet can't get anyone to the scene of crime or they continually deny local businesses a chance to work in their own city then we are in for a long downward spiral..... This city is nothing without those of us who live, breathe, and color it!

SilenceIsViolence 1 year anniversary

silenceisviolence.org/article/64

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Tomorrow I hope to see everyone out there!
*You must be the change you wish to see in the world
-Gandhi