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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Is New Orleans Safe for Anyone?

    Immediately after Katrina, violent crime all but disappeared from New Orleans as the city lost about half of its pre-hurricane population. But the police chief says that 80% of its criminals have come home, and a headline in last week's Times-Picayune read " Killings bring the city to its bloodied knees ."

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Immediately after Katrina, violent crime all but disappeared from New Orleans as the city lost about half of its pre-hurricane population. But the police chief says that 80% of its criminals have come home, and a headline in last week's Times-Picayune read "Killings bring the city to its bloodied knees." Recent murder victims include Dinerral Shavers, a 25-year old high school teacher and drummer for the Hot 8 Brass Band, gunned down in broad daylight driving his car with his family. Another was Helen Hill, a filmmaker and wife of a doctor, shot to death when she answered a morning knock on her door in a Bohemian neighborhood near the French Quarter. In the aftermath of such high-profile murders, citizens are ready to march on City Hall. We visit a devastated city that's under siege. Will New Orleans be safe for Mardi Gras less than six weeks from today?

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    In New Orleans: First Katrina, Now Violent Crime
    1. 1:34US in Fractured Somalia on the Hunt for al Qaeda
    2. 7:43Bush to Detail Iraq Plan, Admit Mistakes in Tonight's Speech
    3. 23:23Is New Orleans Safe for Anyone?You’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Dan Konecky

      Producer, To the Point

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Karen Radziner

      Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

    • KCRW placeholder

      Baty Landis

      Owner of the Sound Cafe

    • KCRW placeholder

      Gwen Filosa

      Staff writer, Times-Picayune

    • KCRW placeholder

      Peter Scharf

      Founding Director of the Center, for Society, Law and Justice

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    In New Orleans: First Katrina, Now Violent Crime
    1. 1:34US in Fractured Somalia on the Hunt for al Qaeda
    2. 7:43Bush to Detail Iraq Plan, Admit Mistakes in Tonight's Speech
    3. 23:23Is New Orleans Safe for Anyone?You’re reading this
    Back to To the Point