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Regular Session, 2013
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 121
BY SENATOR MORRELL
LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR. Requests the legislative auditor to review certain crime
statistics for the city of New Orleans.
A RESOLUTION1
To urge and request the legislative auditor to review certain crime data and statistics for the2
city of New Orleans.3
WHEREAS, the city of New Orleans has a shockingly low ratio of gun assaults per4
murder compared to national averages; and5
WHEREAS, in 2010 the city's gun assaults per murder ratio was among the lowest6
in the country and it was even lower in 2012; and 7
WHEREAS, in 2010 in the city of New Orleans there were approximately seven gun8
assaults per murder and in 2012 there were approximately four gun assaults per murder; and9
WHEREAS, according to an analysis of federal crime data by NOLA.com/The10
Times-Picayune, New Orleans has consistently ranked first or second in murder rate among11
cities with a population of one hundred thousand or more during the past decade, but it12
consistently ranks at or near the bottom of the fifty most murderous cities in the country in13
the ratio of gun assaults to murder; and14
WHEREAS, the violent crime rate for the city of New Orleans is roughly one-half15
the average of the twenty most murderous cities in America and twice as high than the16
average for all large cities; and 17
WHEREAS, aggravated assaults and robberies are far more common than rapes and18 SR NO. 121
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murders, and thus far more important in determining a city's violent crime rate; and1
WHEREAS, criminologists have determined that murder is the most reliable statistic2
and that violent crime usually moves in tandem with murder, but New Orleans has a lower3
rate of violent crime than any other city with a murder epidemic; and4
WHEREAS, Rick Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis5
who specializes in crime statistics, noted that the ratio of aggravated assaults to murders has6
been falling precipitously in New Orleans since the mid-1990's, much faster than the rate of7
killings; and 8
WHEREAS, aggravated assaults are essentially unsuccessful murders, and there is9
no evidence that emergency medical care in New Orleans has been on a steady decline; and10
WHEREAS, aggravated assaults with guns reported by the New Orleans Police11
Department have fallen sixty-four percent since 1997; and12
WHEREAS, since 1997 the number of shooting victims treated at Charity Hospital13
or the Interim LSU Hospital, the area's only Level 1 trauma center, have fallen by sixteen14
percent; and15
WHEREAS, because gun assaults and murders tend to stem from the same violent16
impulses, criminologists expect to see a relationship between the two numbers, but New17
Orleans gun assault per murder ratio has decreased significantly during the past twenty years18
which is causing national speculation that the New Orleans Police Department may be under19
reporting or misclasssifying certain crimes; and 20
WHEREAS, millions of dollars in public funds have been expended on the crime21
reporting system in the city of New Orleans.22
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana23
does hereby urge and request the legislative auditor to review certain crime data and24
statistics for the city of New Orleans and make a report of his findings to the Senate25
Committee on Judiciary B.26
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the27
legislative auditor.28 SR NO. 121
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Cathy Wells.
DIGEST
Morrell SR No. 121
Requests the legislative auditor to review certain crime data and statistics for the city of New
Orleans and make a report of his findings to the Senate Committee on Judiciary B.