The state’s three most populated cities are among MoneyGeek’s Top Ten List of the Most Dangerous Cities in the Country. 2021 FBI data was used for the rankings and LSU Health New Orleans Criminologist Dr. Peter Scharf said if violent crime isn’t addressed it will only create more problems for Louisiana.
“Like depopulation, further crime to lost cities,” said Scharf.
New Orleans ranked 8th in the study, followed by Shreveport and Baton Rouge.
Scharf said the state’s poverty rate is a major contributing factor and unfortunately selling drugs is one of the easiest ways to supplement one’s income. Scharf said you have to look at the political response to crime from both the state and local governments.
“Have we invested in things like mental health? Do we have treatment programs in place that can reverse these trends? You’re not going to arrest your way out of this level of crime,” said Scharf.
It’s an election year, and Scharf said instead of candidates talking about crime we need to know exactly what they’ll do to address it. He cautions if the plan is to increase arrests to build the prison population because in the past Louisiana topped the list of the most arrests, incarcerations, and murders.
“So, if we go backward, as some candidates are suggesting. Are we going to dig ourselves back into the hole that we’ve been in in the last 30 years that I’ve been here?” Scharf questioned.
St. Louis topped the list of the most dangerous cities, followed by Mobile, Birmingham, and Baltimore. Memphis ranked 5th; Memphis, Detroit, and Cleveland rounded off the top 10.
MoneyGeek’s Safest and Most Dangerous Cities
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