NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — An uproar Sunday with stunt driving raised concerns about safety in large groups.
“I understand people want to have fun but it’s the way you do things,” said Corey Kenney.
As of Tuesday, there had already been more homicides than all of 2021 combined, and shootings had surpassed 200. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said, if the crime doesn’t slow down, tourism will.
“It just keeps getting worse and it’s already been hurting tourism and people to New Orleans especially,” Nungesser said. “But if we don’t turn this around, this kind of disrespect for the police, this criminal activity is going to kill tourism.”
However, it isn’t just people who live in the area who expressed fear.
“We definitely need to increase security everywhere,” Thomas White of Alabama said. “Especially in schools.”
So, the day to day crime isn’t the only thing keeping people out. It’s the fear of gatherings that officials said, should not even exist.
“You look at some of the festivals that have taken part in the city of New Orleans and people are regularly returning to their cars with the windows busted, cars stolen, things stolen out of their car,” Councilman JP Morrell said. “It’s become rather common place.”
The NOPD officially responded to safety concerns in a statement saying, “Regarding festival safety and security, public safety is the primary objective for the NOPD. Our Special Events Section coordinates, monitors and prepares operational plans with police resources for all major scheduled events (i.e. Essence, 4th of July, Mardi Gras, etc.) to ensure public safety remains the highest priority.”