Louisiana’s Shocking Murder Rate Is 3 Times Higher Than the National Average

BATON ROUGE, La. (KPEL News) - Louisiana has one of the highest murder rates in the nation, and it's gotten so bad it's outpacing the national average several times over.

Also, according to new data put out by the home security company Vivant, the state's capital is one of the worst in the country when it comes to both murders and burglaries.

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The home security company says it "collected data from the FBI NIBRS (2021 to most recent) from all FBI agencies and territories across the United States."

"Along with the raw reported offense numbers, we calculated per capita measures," it explains in its methodology. "Crime data was gathered overall and by crime type."

Why put the information out there?

"Community engagement plays a significant role in enhancing public safety," Vivant said. "The community often acts as the first line of defense—with community members actively watching their environment to look for potential problems."

Overall, New Orleans is one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country, coming in at No. 5 on Vivant's list. It ranks 13th in violent crimes, 4th in murder, and 2nd in rape.

Baton Rouge, meanwhile, is right behind New Orleans when it comes to murder - it charts in at 6th in the country. In between the two is Detroit, Michigan.

"Murder Capital" Still?

In 2023, New Orleans was labeled the "Murder Capital" of the country by an NBC News report. While the stats show it's gotten a little better there, murders that take place there (as well as crime overall) is still way higher than the national average.

READ MORE: New Report Digs Into New Orleans, Louisiana Designation as the Nation’s ‘Murder Capital’

At the time, Rafael Goyeneche with the Metropolitan Crime Commission said most of the violent crimes were being committed in two main police districts - New Orleans East and Central City.

"If you can reduce crime by 50% in those two districts," he explained, "you are reducing violent crime by 25% in the entire city of New Orleans."

But New Orleans isn't the only city with a high rate of crime, though. Along with it and Baton Rouge, other cities are having issues dealing with the most violent of crimes.

Shrevport, Louisiana, has a murder rate almost three times the national average, and overall violent crime is almost two times the national average. The murder rate in Natchitoches, Louisiana, despite being significantly smaller, has a murder rate more than three times higher than the national average

Law and Order

The data is being made available just as Governor Jeff Landry is calling for a special legislative session to deal with spiking crime in the state.

"I issued a call for the Louisiana Legislature to convene for a special session on crime," said on social media. "This special session begins to fulfill the campaign promises we made to the people of Louisiana to make our State Safe Again."

It also comes after Landry unveiled his proposed state budget. In it, State Police would get a $32.4 million increase, which is said to mostly fund the "Troop NOLA" expansion in New Orleans, as well as two cadet classes.