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June 27, 2006
Same Old Same Old In New Orleans
Things really are getting back to normal in New Orleans. A story in yesterday's Houston Chronicle details the return by the N.O. street gangs to their murderous turf wars--only now there's a lot less turf to battle over since large portions of the city are still uninhabitable:
[New Orleans resident Michelle] Smith and others in this slowly recovering city are dismayed that violent crime seems to be returning to normal faster than other aspects of life. But law enforcement veterans familiar with the city's historically high murder rate are not surprised."You have legacy African-American street criminals who are coming back and finding out that 75 percent of the city is uninhabitable," said James Bernazzani, special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans office. "They're now crowded together into areas least affected, or they're squatting in damaged areas that butt up against them, like Central City.
Comparing New Orleans murder rates is tricky because only about half of the city's pre-storm population has returned, but one thing hasn't changed. Even though the criminal justice system is just now getting back up to speed, a lot of Louisiana judges have returned to their disgraceful practice of releasing violent criminals almost as soon as the police capture them:
The system's weakest links today, he said, are judges in state courts who are notoriously lenient in releasing suspects.In late March, for instance, New Orleans narcotics officers arrested 33-year-old Brian Expose. In his house, they found 6 ounces of cocaine, two assault rifles, four pistols, a silencer and $189,000 in cash.
A judge released Expose on a personal recognizance bond. "He was out before the police finished counting the cash," said Bernazzani.
The "revolving door" is corrosive because it silences witnesses and encourages retaliation killings, [special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans office James] Bernazzani said. And it can nullify all the extra manpower on the street.
The criminal justice system in New Orleans was thoroughly broken before the storm, and it appears that it remains so.
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