Violence holds back New Orleans revival

Killings earn city 'national murder capital' reputation

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NEW ORLEANS - The small group gathers each Tuesday night on the same vacant lot. They stand silently in a circle, holding hands and pausing two seconds for each person who's died violently in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina tore the city apart.

The moment of silence is long. It lasts more than 11 minutes, representing more than 350 killings since the end of August 2005.

"Our hope is that even the most faithless see some unity, some presence of God as they drive by or hear about what we're doing," said Charles Anderson, a 26-year-old writer and social activist from New Jersey.

He moved to New Orleans this year after hearing about a march in which thousands of New Orleanians surrounded City Hall to demand a response to the city's crime problem. Shortly after, Anderson founded United For Peace In New Orleans, a grass-roots group of natives and newcomers to the city who organize the weekly remembrance.

The goal is to keep the continuing problem of deadly violence in the public eye.

Yet some worry that an overemphasis on crime is scaring away former residents and tourists, hampering New Orleans' comeback and overshadowing what some call unprecedented efforts to address the problem.

"No matter what the reality is, people's perceptions outside the city can be really, really difficult to overcome," said Emily Chamlee-Wright, a researcher with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She's part of a team that's studying how Katrina has affected the New Orleans community.

"So the message is, 'Let's be clear about what patterns we're seeing so we can have a better understanding of what the dangers are.'"

In the past two years, New Orleanians have been killed at a rate well above pre-Katrina years when factoring in the city's huge population drop. That's giving New Orleans a reputation as a national murder capital, even though it was listed as the 65th most dangerous U.S. city in a recent report based on FBI crime statistics.

Last summer, Mayor Ray Nagin drew harsh criticism from activists when he said violence "helps keep the New Orleans brand out there."

"It's not good for us, but ... it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back," Nagin said.

The city's violence woes have been exacerbated by a depleted police force and crippled criminal justice system — and by drug traffickers who are fighting over any inhabitable turf.

It's meant that crime hot spots have shifted, sometimes to neighborhoods that were once considered relatively safe.

"Everything is up for grabs," said Chamlee-Wright. She's spent months interviewing residents who've returned and said their thoughts on crime are mixed.

"While some people have the perception that things are worse, others are saying it's a lot quieter and better because people are more mindful of their neighbors and looking out for one another," she said.

The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau receives frequent queries about crime, and is trying to give an assessment.

"It would be irresponsible to tell people, 'Come on down, you'll be perfectly safe.' I don't think anyone can say that," said Mary Beth Romig, a bureau spokeswoman.

But they remind people that little violent crime has involved tourists. They also advise visitors to stay in areas intended for tourists, such as the French Quarter.

In truth, that was the advice in New Orleans even before the hurricane.

"All of the problems that have been exposed were in play pre-Katrina. Maybe not to the extent that they were now," said Rafael Goyeneche, a former New Orleans prosecutor who heads the watchdog group Metropolitan Crime Commission. "But I think it gives us a chance to finally fix things. You have to own up to your problems before you can fix them."

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