Page 1 of 2
Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 121
BY SENATOR MORRELL
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the legislative auditor to review certain crime data and statistics for the
city of New Orleans.
WHEREAS, the city of New Orleans has a shockingly low ratio of gun assaults per
murder compared to national averages; and
WHEREAS, in 2010 the city's gun assaults per murder ratio was among the lowest
in the country and it was even lower in 2012; and
WHEREAS, in 2010 in the city of New Orleans there were approximately seven gun
assaults per murder and in 2012 there were approximately four gun assaults per murder; and
WHEREAS, according to an analysis of federal crime data by NOLA.com/The
Times-Picayune, New Orleans has consistently ranked first or second in murder rate among
cities with a population of one hundred thousand or more during the past decade, but it
consistently ranks at or near the bottom of the fifty most murderous cities in the country in
the ratio of gun assaults to murder; and
WHEREAS, the violent crime rate for the city of New Orleans is roughly one-half
the average of the twenty most murderous cities in America and twice as high than the
average for all large cities; and
WHEREAS, aggravated assaults and robberies are far more common than rapes and
murders, and thus far more important in determining a city's violent crime rate; and
WHEREAS, criminologists have determined that murder is the most reliable statistic
and that violent crime usually moves in tandem with murder, but New Orleans has a lower
rate of violent crime than any other city with a murder epidemic; and SR NO. 121 ENROLLED
Page 2 of 2
WHEREAS, Rick Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis
who specializes in crime statistics, noted that the ratio of aggravated assaults to murders has
been falling precipitously in New Orleans since the mid-1990's, much faster than the rate of
killings; and
WHEREAS, aggravated assaults are essentially unsuccessful murders, and there is
no evidence that emergency medical care in New Orleans has been on a steady decline; and
WHEREAS, aggravated assaults with guns reported by the New Orleans Police
Department have fallen sixty-four percent since 1997; and
WHEREAS, since 1997 the number of shooting victims treated at Charity Hospital
or the Interim LSU Hospital, the area's only Level 1 trauma center, have fallen by sixteen
percent; and
WHEREAS, because gun assaults and murders tend to stem from the same violent
impulses, criminologists expect to see a relationship between the two numbers, but New
Orleans gun assault per murder ratio has decreased significantly during the past twenty years
which is causing national speculation that the New Orleans Police Department may be under
reporting or misclasssifying certain crimes; and
WHEREAS, millions of dollars in public funds have been expended on the crime
reporting system in the city of New Orleans.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request 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 by August 1, 2013.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
legislative auditor.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE