Pubdate: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA) Copyright: 2004 The Times-Picayune Contact: http://www.nola.com/t-p/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848 ON THE WAY DOWN A year ago, the murder rate in New Orleans seemed destined to spiral out of control. By April 2003, murders were up so dramatically that the city looked like it was on track to have 400 deaths by the end of the year. That would have come perilously close to the highest murder count of the 1990s. Thankfully, that didn't happen. By the end of the year, the murder rate had begun to drop. And figures released by New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass Thursday show that the downward trend is continuing. That is truly good news. Even though killing slowed in the city in the last half of 2003, the year's homicide total was 275. New Orleans had the highest per capita rate among large U.S. cities. If murders continue to fall, perhaps the city will be able to relinquish that dreadful spot by the end of 2004. As the murder rate falls, the quality of life in the city rises. That is particularly true in New Orleans' most violent neighborhoods, which the Police Department has targeted by putting extra officers on the streets, working with federal prosecutors to round up drug dealers and other crime-fighting techniques. Superintendent Compass credits those beefed up efforts -- dubbed Operation Full Court Press -- as the main reason that homicides are dropping in a 7-square-mile area that police determined last summer was the deadliest spot in the city. Assigning more than 100 officers to the homicide hot zone and focusing on arrests of suspected drug dealers no doubt did help lessen the killing there. The efforts of ministers and other residents to keep the peace seem to have taken root as well. Superintendent Compass says that police are getting more help from the community, which is a good sign -- especially since reluctant witnesses have been such a thorny problem for police and prosecutors. The year is still young, and violence is an unpredictable force. But there is reason to hope, for the first time since 1999, that fewer people will die violently this year than last. And, for the moment, hope is enough. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake