Baton Rouge surpassed New Orleans in violent crime per capita for 2011.
The FBI released its national crime statistics last week, revealing Baton Rouge’s violent crime rate as 1065.7 crimes per 100,000 people while New Orleans’ was 792 crimes per 100,000 people. Overall, the statistics show Baton Rouge is 26 percent more violent.
Nationally, Baton Rouge is the 25th most dangerous city, falling behind other southern cities like Little Rock, Ark., Birmingham, Ala., Atlanta, Miami and Orlando.
New Orleans did not make the top 25 list.
In 2010, New Orleans was the 13th most dangerous city while Baton Rouge was the 16th.
Crimes classified as violent include murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Baton Rouge recorded 64 murders, 51 rapes, 893 robberies and 1,460 aggravated assaults in 2011, while New Orleans registered 200 murders, 163 rapes, 1,059 robberies and 1,326 aggravated assaults.
Baton Rouge’s 2011 population, 231,592 people, is about two-thirds the size of New Orleans’ 2011 population of 346,974 people.
Corresponding with the grim statistics has been a debate in the 2012 Baton Rouge Mayoral race often focusing on curbing violence in the city.
East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden has said he wants to attack crime at its roots without beefing up police forces, like his opponent Mayor-President Pro Tempore Mike Walker has suggested.
Walker has said he wants to increase Baton Rouge’s police forces and crack down on gangs and drugs. He proposed a nine-step program to control crime that includes pulling all law enforcement teams in the area together, doubling the number of street operations units from five to 10 so the police can focus on crime hot spots, and using the city jail to process those arrested on outstanding warrants.
“Baton Rouge is even worse than we initially thought,” said “Fight, Not Fear” spokesman Jay Connaughton in a news release. “In the last year, crime has continued to grow and spread across the city at an frightening pace.”
“Fight, Not Fear” — a campaign to bring attention to the growing crime problem in Baton Rouge — was started last week in the capital city.
Similar to Walker’s ultimatum, the campaign demands the unification of Baton Rouge’s two separate police forces: East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Baton Rouge Police Department.
The existence of two forces causes problems and inefficiencies in fighting crime, the release said.
“Fight, Not Fear” cites the unification and subsequent drop in crimes rates in Charlotte, Indianapolis, Louisville and Las Vegas in justifying its proposal for Baton Rouge.
-64 murders
-51 rapes
-893 robberies
-1,460 aggravated assaults
