The Baton Rouge Advocate - March 11, 2008
 

 

 

Inside Report for March 11, 2008

By Joe Gyan Jr.
 

 

n a commentary published in The Washington Post in July 2005 headlined ‘City of the Future,’ urban theorist Joel Kotkin wrote that, “History has shown repeatedly that once a city can no longer protect its inhabitants, they inevitably flee, and the city slides into decline and even extinction.’’

The Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission, which quoted that passage in a recent crime abatement report, wants to prevent that scenario from playing out in post-Hurricane Katrina Jefferson Parish.

A sense of security is one of the main reasons largely middle-class Jefferson has retained its appeal to families and businesses over the years. After recording an average of 41 murders in each of the three years prior to Katrina hitting in August 2005, homicides in unincorporated Jefferson jumped to 66 in 2006 before falling off to 44 last year.

“In spite of the challenge of sharing a boundary with New Orleans — one of the most violent cities in the country — and in spite of the fact that the profile of Jefferson Parish is increasingly urban rather than suburban, Jefferson has remained a remarkably safe place to live,’’ the report observes. “However, the perception that the Parish is relatively immune from crime and violence has begun to change since Hurricane Katrina.’’

The report, prepared by the commission and the demographic consulting firm of GCR & Associates of New Orleans, says there seems to be a “heightened level of concern about crime’’ among Jefferson residents. That, in turn, should concern parish leaders, the report says.

“Because the concern for personal safety and the safety of one’s family is so paramount, the sense that crime is worsening can be an especially powerful motivation to relocate to another community,’’ the report says.

The report blames Jefferson’s spike in violent crime in 2006 on a variety of factors, including the displacement of residents, the shake-up in the illegal drug trade since the storm, and the loss of social service, drug treatment and mental health facilities.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, a member of the crime reduction strike force that contributed to the completion of the crime abatement plan, says overall crime in the parish in 2007 was at its lowest point in more than 20 years.

“Reducing the incidence of crime even further must be a principal focus of Jefferson Parish in 2008 and beyond — both to ensure the personal safety of Parish residents and to give residents and businesses the confidence to continue to make Jefferson their home,’’ the report stresses.

Even before Katrina, the report says, violent crime in Jefferson was higher than in other suburban communities within the New Orleans area and in other metropolitan regions.

“The fact remains that Jefferson is in competition with other communities for residents and businesses, and offering a comparable quality of life (and a comparable degree of safety) is a principal way for Jefferson to remain competitive,’’ the report says.

The Jefferson group said it agrees with criminologists and law enforcement professionals that fighting crime should not be left solely to the criminal justice system. The report quotes Hayes, who once said, “Crimes increase as education, opportunity and property decrease. Whatever spreads ignorance, poverty and discontent causes crime.’’

The report, which also addresses blighted properties in the parish, puts it this way: “Improving the education system, linking the poor to job opportunities, addressing concentrated poverty, and encouraging reinvestment and economic development are all tools in the struggle against crime that must remain policy priorities in the coming years.’’

Joe Gyan Jr. is The Advocate’s New Orleans bureau chief.

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