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Day 408: Frenchmen St. Shooting Redux

Last night, I posted a piece on the Frenchmen St. shooting of Monday night and the bravery that the injured Westbank man and his wife projected in the face of near death.  Gallant as the couple was, my post was a bit much, even if from the well of my own bad mood, so I took it down.  Here is what I really want to get across.

Such fear-inducing near misses are becoming more commonplace in relatively cheerful and safe parts of New Orleans, and this is unacceptable.  However, the tendency of witnesses, viewers and readers to write off the whole city as crime-ridden and worthless, based on a handful of bad events, is equally destructive.  I did not appreciate the Fox 8 reporter’s attempt to egg the Westbank woman, the injured party’s wife, into saying something she didn’t want to.  This was what she truly felt, “[New Orleans] is still a wonderful city.  One such incident is not going to change my mind.  You’re not going to get me to say anything bad.  No.”  It is as honest as and frankly more refreshing than, “We were doing our part to help New Orleans and look what happened.  We’re not coming back.”

While the return of tourists to New Orleans is great for its economy, the real help we need is for these visitors to understand that We Are Not Ok, petition their leaders and ours, and shed more light on the growing pains of a recovering American city.

As Mr. Clio says, it’s not New Orleans’s crime problem, but a symptom of the lack of inter-state and inter-parish cooperation fostered by our own leaders’ denial of the real facts. 

On the other hand, when people from places like Slidell or Houston come to the New Orleans area and commit horrible crimes (please, check those links–are those horrible enough for ya?), it’s still considered part of New Orleans’s “crime problem.” The stories get limited coverage (so little, in fact, that it’s difficult to find good links to them via Google). As New Orleanians, it seems that we’re just supposed to tolerate this stuff as one of the costs of living in the Big Easy, and then we’re supposed to beat ourselves up about what a rotten, corrupt, ineffective place we live in.

It’s time we asked for more effectiveness out of our own police department and media, i.e. a better understanding and representation of the problem, not just more deputies / national guard on the streets and more disaster reporting.  

  1. What can NOPD do (differently) along with the police departments of surrounding parishes, Baton Rouge and Houston to address the problem? 
  2. Is it time to vote in a Riley replacement, someone who doesn’t deny how bad it is?  Will that infuse morale into a deflated police department, or create new animosity?
  3. How can we pressure local media, the kind tourists and returnees watch on TV and read in the paper, into reporting, and not sensationalizing, all of our moves forward and back?  This way, the locals and visitors aren’t “protected” from the truth, but they aren’t frightened either.  Simple disclosure, with outlines of our achievements and needs, is real news.

The Superdome hosting the Saints again was great.  Crime in the Marigny is horrible.  None of these phenomena, in my opinion, is going to make or break the city.  That is all.

Also, unless you feed it exact phrases and cross your fingers, Google is terrible at hyper-local searches.  My in-progress search engine will rule them all some day.

8 comments… add one
  • John October 11, 2006, 11:58 AM

    This reminds me so much of my DC days. DC never recovered from its “murder capital” reputation of the 1980s, even though it has not been the “murder capital” for a very long time. But perceptions linger. Any single incident becomes “proof” that the city is a horrible crime ridden cesspool.

    The thing is, it CAN break a city. Everything in DC (business investment, housing, etc.) lagged well behind the booming metro area for years, because nobody wanted to live or work in crime-ridden Marion Barry land (unless they were federal employees and had to…).

    And when the problems were dealt with, and the city got safer and functioned better, it still took years before anybody believed it.

    No great wisdom here other than hold the feet of city leaders to the fire to address the problems, and then shout out the good results for all to hear… and be prepared for it to take a LONG time.

  • Adrastos October 11, 2006, 4:00 PM

    Nothing can be done about Riley: he’s C Ray’s chosen one and the Chief is the Mayor’s call. And we know that Nagin only listens to the voices in his head. I’d love to have a more street wise police chief like Canatella or Bryson but Riley is a master of po-lice poltics so he’ll stay until he becomes too much of a liability.

  • Pam Folse October 11, 2006, 9:57 PM

    Actually, my dear, I did not think your rant was over the top at all. I understood it completely. I wanted to jump into the TV screen and hug that woman who refused to be baited. What a woman!

    I wish i had an idea about how to better police, but short of firing everyone over the rank of patrolman, i have none. I suppose we just have to keep bitching: and be good citizens who report, testify, etc.

    By the way, this incident got to me personally. I was parked on Chartes and Frenchman. I left approximately 2 minutes before the event, or so I am told by those who were watching the clock. But I will not stop frolicing on Frenchman. This is my town. You will have to shoot me to get me out of here. Actually, even that won’t work. After death I will reside in the family crypt in Greenwood. I am here forever.

  • dillyberto October 12, 2006, 4:34 AM

    I like your demand for results. I don’t see many forthcoming from the mayor. I feel better about the coalition for change happening on the city council. Do believe change can come from this end of government to make it a better city?

  • Slate October 12, 2006, 10:55 PM

    Bravo!

    My husband and I were there at Checkpoint’s about 20 min after the shooting. The rumors were rampant, the panic was tangible.

    Interestingly, as I put in blog form the emails I wrote last year, the one I wrote this day last year sounds like it could have been written yesterday.

    I agree with you. Hope to see you this weekend.

  • casey nunez October 13, 2006, 11:23 AM

    I came up with a plan that would beyond question result in an 80% reduction in not only the new orleans murder rate but ALL drug related crimes as well.

    The solution is quite simple however I can’t even get anyone to listen.

    THE FACTS WE HAVE ATTEMPTED TO FIGHT THE WAR ON CRIME/DRUGS FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND AS WE ALL KNOW THIS SIMPLY HAS NOT WORKED NOR WILL THIS APPROACH EVER WORK. MY PLAN WOULD FIGHT CRIME FROM THE INSIDE OUT WITH THE DEALERS BASICALLY BEING THE ONES TO TRULY MAKE THE DIFFRENCE. HERE IS HOW MY PLAN WOULD WORK. IF WE WERE TO OFFER ANYONE COMING FOWARD WITH A TIP THAT LEADS TO ARREST AND CONVICTION OF SOMEONE KNOWN TO BE INVOLVED IN THE SALES OF ILLEGAL DRUGS 50% OF THAT DEALERS NET ASSETS USING THE FEDERAL SEISURE AND FORFEITURE LAWS THAT LAW ENFORCMENT USES ALL THE TIME WE WOULD EXPERIENCE A DOMINO TYPE EFFECT THAT WOULD RESULT IN EVEN MOTHERS TURNING IN THEIR OWN CHILD FOR A PIECE OF THE PIE SO TO SPEAK. NO DEALER WOULD FEEL NOR BE SAFE SINCE IT IS AFTER ALL ABOUT THE MONEY AND NOTHING ELSE.

    IF I KNOW THAT JOE IS WORTH A NICE HOME ECT AND IS DEALING DRUGS AND THAT BY SIMPLY MAKING JUST ONE CALL I WOULD STAND TO TAKE HALF OF EVERYTHING HE OWNS YOU BEST BELIEVE ID BE ON THE PHONE BEFORE THE NEXT GUY. THIS WOULD REALLY AFFECT THE MID TO UPPER LEVEL SUPPLIERS/DEALERS MOST SINCE THEY WOULD SOON REALIZE THE FACT THAT AT THE DROP OF A DIME THEY COULD LOOSE IT ALL IN A FLASH AND THEREFORE THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TRUST ANYONE SINCE AS WE ALL KNOW THERE REALLY IS NO HONOR AMONG CRIMINALS EXPECIALLY IF THERES MONEY TO BE MADE.

    I KNOW COMPLETELY THAT THIS PLAN WOULD WORK BETTER THAN 100,000 NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS AND EVEN IF WE HAD NO GUNS WHATSOEVER THE COMMON CRIMINAL WOULD SIMPLY TURN TO THE NEXT BEST THING SUCH AS KNIVES ECT BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS UNTILL WE RID OUR STREETS OF ILLEGAL DRUGS THE CRIME STATS HERE AND ALSO ACCROSS AMERICA WILL ONLY GET EVEN WORSE.

  • casey nunez October 13, 2006, 11:24 AM

    Meant to say from the OUTSIDE IN

  • G Bitch October 18, 2006, 8:31 AM

    What about the court system? And DA Eddie Jordan’s office? They, too, are part of the problem and meaningful results should be demanded from them. All arrests/convictions are not equal..

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