NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— On Thursday, The New Orleans Police Department held a media briefing to discuss the recent arrests made in the city.
NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said this last week there were seven homicides.
Along with violent crimes, he mentioned carjackings are also on the rise.
Ferguson said NOPD wants to end the year on a positive note.
With one month left in 2021, the New Orleans Police Department held a news conference to discuss the latest on violent crime which is on the rise, while overall crime is down slightly.
Murders are up this year compared to 2020 and a recent rash of carjackings are big concerns for the NOPD right now.
According to Supt. Ferguson, there’s an 11 percent increase in violent crime at this time. There have been 193 murders in 2021 so far compared to 184 murders last year.
“We are never happy to have 193 homicides in the city of New Orleans,” Supt. Ferguson said.
He recognizes that more work needs to be done.
“We continue to flex and we continue to engage. Our officers have been engaged to ensure the safety of our city,” he said.
In addition to the murders, another major concern for the NOPD right now is carjackings, which is seeing a huge spike. On Wednesday, a carjacking on Hickory and Hillary Streets ended up in the arrests of two adults and one juvenile.
“Two firearms were seized from the individuals as well,” he said.
Supt. Ferguson said they’ve been vigilant making 16 arrests.
“Through the month of November, we are confident that we’ve caught 3 or 4 loosely knit groups in this rash of carjackings. We have reason to believe that the arrests we made will make a difference,” he said.
He continues to reiterate in regards to solving crimes, if you see something, say something.
“We can not do it alone. We thank our community for ensuring the safety of our city and we will continue to stay the course of addressing violent crime,” Supt. Ferguson said.