Louisiana's Crime Rates: A Glimpse of Hope in 2025

Louisiana saw some good news in 2025. Crime rates went down in many cities. New Orleans had fewer murders. There were 121 in 2025, down from 125 in 2024. That's a 3% drop. But the big news is that murders are down 55% from three years ago. That's a huge improvement. Shreveport also saw a big drop. Murders went down 19% from 2024 to 2025. There were 42 murders in 2025. That's the lowest since before the COVID pandemic. Lafayette saw a drop too. There were 10 murders in 2025, down from 18 in 2024. That's a big change from the record high of 29 in 2023. Baton Rouge also saw a drop. There were 94 murders in 2025, down from 113 in 2024. But the city still has problems. It's hard to find and keep police officers. They even had to cancel a police academy because not enough people were interested. Not everyone is happy with the progress. District Attorney Hillar Moore said the numbers are still too high. But he thinks things are getting better.New Orleans had a big drop in murders. If you don't count the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, the drop is even bigger. Murders have been going down for three years. They are now at a 50-year low. Other crimes went down too. Nonfatal shootings went down 3%. Carjackings and armed robberies went down a lot more. Carjackings were down 35%. Armed robberies were down 28%. This progress didn't happen by accident. The police are using better technology. They are working with other groups to stop crime. The district attorney's office is working with police to build better cases. The city health department and other groups are also helping. They are trying to stop crime before it happens. The new mayor, Helena Moreno, promises to keep doing what's working. Gov. Jeff Landry also promises to support these efforts. It's good to see people working together to make things better.