tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post1184774649357550914..comments2024-03-28T06:32:24.557-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Every day is an MF’rr day in New Orleans - Why should Mother’s day be any different?Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-23477861398925045832013-05-13T03:26:15.001-04:002013-05-13T03:26:15.001-04:00A shortage of New Orleans police officers contribu...A shortage of New Orleans police officers contributed to a decline last year in every type of arrest except the kind that NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas has pushed to curtail: a category made up mostly of minor scofflaws wanted on out-of-parish warrants for traffic violations and misdemeanors.<br /><br />In the meantime, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro continues to maintain historically high felony conviction rates for Orleans Parish, while showing an increasing willingness to offer plea deals to defendants on lesser charges that still carry jail time.<br /><br />Those are the findings of the Metropolitan Crime Commission in its latest report, released Sunday, on the Orleans Parish criminal justice system.<br /><br />The report shows a continued decline in arrests for violent crimes in New Orleans. Felony arrests continued a steady slide since 2009, down from 7,945 to 6,088 -- a 23 percent reduction. Municipal and state misdemeanor arrests, meanwhile, have seen a dramatic 56 percent decline.<br /><br />The commission credited that drop to changes in municipal ordinances -- particularly for marijuana offenses -- that give officers more discretion to issue summonses rather than arrest suspects. Municipal summonses have risen by 59 percent in the same period.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.com