French Quarter homicides up, but those numbers alone don't show big picture

Is the French Quarter getting more violent? Despite an increase this year in homicides in the historic neighborhood, a crime watchdog says a deeper dive into the numbers show something else.

"You need to look at how many times someone took out a gun and actually fired it," said New Orleans Metro Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche.

Goyeneche says the past three years of data show shootings in the French Quarter haven't varied much.

From August 2021 to August 2022, Goyeneche says there were a total of 20 fatal and non-fatal shootings, with seven becoming homicides.

For 2023, it was 19 shootings with three of them proving fatal.

By August 2024, 20 shootings had happened, and eight of the victims died.

"The variable is the aim of the person pulling the trigger, or the luck, or lack thereof, of who gets in the way of some of the bullets," said Goyeneche.

Goyeneche told WWL's Newell Normand that the French Quarter has challenges that other New Orleans Police Districts don't have -- in that it can swell in population two to four times it's normal size on nights and weekends.

He says overall, violent crimes in the NOPD Eighth District, which includes the French Quarter, is down 12  percent, and property crimes are down 10 percent.