New Orleans murder rate on the rise again

“My heart goes out to these police officers,” Scharf said. “They’re fighting public apathy, racial division and a dysfunctional court system. They work their hearts out, and nothing ever happens to these cases.”

Only one in four people arrested in the city for murder is eventually convicted, according to a recent study by the New Orleans Police Foundation, a private nonprofit group.

According to the study, 42 percent of serious crime cases reviewed by prosecutors — about 22,000 — were turned away between 2002 and 2004 because the cases were not deemed suitable for court.

District Attorney Eddie Jordan said the lack of eyewitness testimony was one reason for the dropped cases. New Orleans has had such a problem with retaliation against witnesses — including murder — that the district attorney’s office took the unusual step of starting a local witness protection program.

Witnesses may also be reluctant to talk to police because of the department’s struggles with allegations of brutality and corruption.

In the 1990s, two rogue cops turned out to be killers. Former Police Superintendent Richard Pennington, now Atlanta’s chief, is credited with cleaning up the department, purging scores of bad cops during the 1990s.

Complaints about cops return
But recently, complaints about police brutality have surfaced again.

In March, a New Orleans ritual — the annual St. Joseph’s night assembly of the Mardi Gras Indians, black residents who dress up in elaborate costumes — was marred by complaints that officers roughed up members.

In early August, allegations surfaced that two officers had beaten a man before dropping him off at a hospital. The department has had little to say about the case, but Police Superintendent Eddie Compass ordered an investigation and called in the FBI to help.

Compass has tried to burnish the department’s image with community outreach, including ordering officers to address people as “sir” and “ma’am.” But the same day that order came down, the department was dealt another blow when a drug-related gun battle erupted in a residential neighborhood, leaving four people dead.

Rafael Goyeneche, a former state prosecutor who now heads the private Metropolitan Crime Commission, said both the district attorney and the police are trying to seriously tackle violent crime — but under current budgets, that will be tough.

“Unless they are given additional resources, and that means manpower and more money to recruit and retain, I’m fearful that we are not going to make any lasting and meaningful progress in combatting crime in this community,” Goyeneche said.

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