We must all commit to stop seeing red
11th July 2022 · 0 Comments
One thing is sure, Americans are in an endless loop of mourning victims of mass shootings and daily homicides. What’s not clear is how to stop seeing the red rivers of blood coursing through America’s streets.
The Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, and Highland Park, Illinois, mass murderers took center stage this year. Still, Fox 8 Crime Reporter Kaitlin Rust tagged Louisiana as leading the “entire nation in mass shootings per capita.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, 79 people were injured and nine killed in 16 mass shootings in Louisiana last May. New Orleans had the most, four mass shootings in which 17 people were injured and three were killed. The most recent mass shooting in New Orleans occurred on June 12, 2022, when four people were shot in Mid-City. N.O.P.D. reported 148 murders in New Orleans through July 6.
Baton Rouge had the second-highest gun violence incidents through May 2022: three shootings in which 11 were injured and two were killed. But Louisiana’s most populous cities are not alone in gun violence events. Monroe, Shreveport, Bogalusa, Lafayette, Opelousas, Alexandria, Baldwin and New Iberia reportedly also experienced mass shootings this year.
To say gun violence is an epidemic sweeping across America is putting it mildly. What we are witnessing is a society at war with itself. Every day, we see bloodthirsty criminals with weapons of war that shouldn’t be on our streets.
The federal assault weapons ban, which prohibited the sale and manufacture of certain military-style semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines in the U.S., expired in 2004.
Still, across the United States, just seven states and the District of Columbia have imposed laws that ban guns classed as assault weapons. Those states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
We all should be shook over institutions and lawmakers’ aiding, abetting and encouraging Americans to commit murders. Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that a New York law requiring a permit to carry a gun in public is unconstitutional. The Court sided with the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. in its lawsuit against the New York State Police Superintendent.
A rational person would conclude that stricter gun permits and an assault weapons ban might curtail this country’s murder pandemic. However, rationality flies in the face of Republican lawmakers whose loyalty to the gun lobby trumps any protective measures for Americans.
Common sense would dictate that if Louisiana is first in mass shootings, state legislators will impose stricter gun laws and an assault weapons ban. But no, Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, wrote legislation in 2022 to allow people to carry concealed handguns without a permit. Thankfully, the bill died in committee after the Uvalde school massacre.
How a legislator representing only 829 people can expose more than four million Louisiana residents to potential gun-toting murderers is a topic for another day.
The city and N.O.P.D. are trying to get a handle on what seem to be daily murders. Last February, an “enhanced initiative” was announced by Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson. The collaborative effort includes the U.S. attorney’s office, the Orleans Parish district attorney’s office, the police department, and five other agencies to increase intelligence sharing and staffing for fighting violent crime.
On June 10, Fox 8 reported 11 murders in five days. Responding to what seems to be daily murders, Mayor Cantrell announced public safety a top priority and allocated millions to crime-fighting measures. And the N.O.P.D. resumed enforcing a juvenile curfew for ages 17, between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Still, murderers continued taking lives, and, as of June 30, “New Orleans led the nation in murders midway through 2022,” according to a NOLA.com report.
Citizens are afraid, and rightfully so. Random shootings on the interstate (is there a serial killer on the high-rise?), gang-bangers in fits of retribution, a young mother, a civil servant, killed in cold blood by an estranged boyfriend, a shooting at a recording studio, in neighborhood streets, and nowhere is safe.
While mass shootings are a national problem, in the murder capital of the U.S., New Orleans and Louisiana must all commit to stopping seeing red.
We all, every one of us, should say something if we see or know something. Parents have to watch their children and youth. Who are they hanging out with, and what are their social media habits? School leaders and teachers must be alert to students who experienced or have experienced violence in the home and neighborhoods. We need trauma-informed school environments.
Law enforcement agencies should enact crime prevention strategies, not just focus on arresting perpetrators after crimes.
Lastly, the New Orleans Police Department must recruit and retain more officers. The N.O.P.D. may see record-low employment numbers for the first time in history, according to a WDSU-TV report:
“The city has 989 officers now, according to the City Council. However, that number might drop to 898 by the end of 2022. The city budgets for 1,500 officers, which is necessary for patrolling the city. In June, the City Council added $1 million to the N.O.P.D. budget for recruitment.
Speaking of patrolling the city, how often do citizens see New Orleans’ finest patrolling neighborhoods? That’s a rhetorical question.
An abstract of a 1985 survey posted by the Department of Justice – Office of Justice regarding the relationship between police presence and crime deterrence suggests that it is far more critical how police are used than how many. Increased police strength alone does not make a difference. Instead, law enforcement leaders must consider other factors if police presence will impact crime rates.”
Also, Atlas One, a digital crime prevention program, found five strategies for preventing crime that works: Project Safe Neighborhoods, Community-Oriented Policing, Hot Spots Policing, Gunshot Detection Systems and Social Media Crowdsourcing.
There are methods and strategies for preventing crime. We need strict gun control laws, highly visibly police patrols, and residents willing to work together to solve problems that affect us – blood in our streets, the loss of life, and unsafe environments. There is nowhere safe to be currently. Grocery stores, schools, concerts, theaters, churches, synagogues, mosques, nightclubs and parades have become killing fields.
The insanity of not having gun safety laws must cease. When we step into the voting booths, we must remember who has our best interests at heart and who is truly “pro-life,” not just pro-birth.
Honestly? If it is to be, it’s up to we the people. We must commit to stopping the bloodletting, the senseless violence. Only we can effect change. If we want to live in peace, we must have justice. And that begins at the ballot box. We must vote out those bought by the gun lobby.
The ballot or the bullet is not an option. The best arms we can wield are our votes.
This article originally published in the July 11, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
