[wagglebee]

Many people believe that Washington, D.C., is the “murder capital of America.” And indeed it often is, but that is only because such rankings are limited to “major cities” –those with a population of 500,000 or more, and New Orleans has (or had) a population of 485,000. Were it not for this actuarial accident, Washington, D.C.. wouldn’t even have a shot at the murder title. The per capita murder rate in New Orleans is 16% higher than in “Murder Capital” Washington, D.C.; and nearly 10 times the national average. To have a murder rate equal to that of New York City, New Orleans would need to reduce its murders by 86%. No, that’s not a typo.

My brother-in-law was in graduate school at Tulane, he was mugged leaving a bar in the French Quarter a year and a half ago. On the night he was mugged, there were over a dozen other muggings and several burglaries. About six months before that his SUV had been stolen, the police never made any effort to recover it, it was only found because the theives totalled it and abandoned it a couple weeks later.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Many people believe that Washington, D.C., is the “murder capital of America.” And indeed it often is, but that is only because such rankings are limited to “major cities” –those with a population of 500,000 or more, and New Orleans has (or had) a population of 485,000. Were it not for this actuarial accident, Washington, D.C.. wouldn’t even have a shot at the murder title. The per capita murder rate in New Orleans is 16% higher than in “Murder Capital” Washington, D.C.; and nearly 10 times the national average.

The answer to that "major cities" anomaly is simple: arbitrarily round up the population to 500,000 when calculating the per capita murder rate. That means increasing the population - thus decreasing the per capita murder rate - of NO by 3%. You then change

"The per capita murder rate in New Orleans
is 16% higher than in “Murder Capital” Washington, D.C"

to read,

"The per capita murder rate in New Orleans, as a major city,
is 13% higher than in “Murder Capital” Washington, D.C."

If New Orleans is the den of iniquity this article describes, what are the chances that the mayor - or the governor of LA - are the second coming of Elliot Ness? This really sounds like a job for Rudi Guiliani. Absent strong oversight we can't possibly afford to rebuild New Orleans.

Gee, what are the chances that the traditionally corruption-free political home of Bill Clinton would be right next door to a cesspool of corruption like Louisiana? </sarcasm>