“Our numbers are astonishing” in terms of crime prevention

The chief of the New Orleans Police Department says the policing strategy they implemented is helping to reduce crime twice as much as in other cities in the country.

Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says overall crime in New Orleans has dropped by more than 25 percent.

“There is a national trend of reducing violent crime, but that trend is about 13%. We are more than double that, and that is not because we are riding the tailwind of a trend,” the police chief told WWL TV. “It is the result of a deliberate strategy.”

She says authorities across the country are now looking to New Orleans for answers.

“All eyes in the country are on New Orleans. Our numbers are astonishing.”

Kirkpatrick wants to build on that success and use his accomplishments to recruit 300 more officers to the historically small NOPD.