Homicides drop 7% in city from 2010

One more person was killed in East Baton Rouge Parish last year compared with the number of homicides in the parish in 2010, according to preliminary statistics authorities released Tuesday.

Based on the unofficial numbers, there were 64 homicides in the capital city, 15 outside the city limits and two in Baker, bringing the total number of people killed in the parish last year to 81, authorities said.

Eighty people were slain in the parish last year, 69 in Baton Rouge, nine outside the city limits and two in Zachary.

Baton Rouge police spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly said the number of homicides in the city last year represents a 7 percent decrease from 2010 and the fewest number of killings in Baton Rouge since 2006 when 56 people were killed.

Police Chief Dewayne White said he is gratified that the city has seen a decline in the number of homicides in 2011 and hopes it’s the beginning of a downward trend that will continue this year.

But, White said the number is still much too high, and that the Police Department “will continue to work diligently with all of our law enforcement partners and every segment of our community to try and reduce this senseless violence.”

Such violence increased 67 percent last year outside the city limits, according to statistics provided by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, which investigates homicides that occur in the rural areas of the parish.

The Sheriff’s Office investigated 15 homicides last year compared with nine in 2010, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said.

Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said his office is still evaluating the types of homicide cases it investigated in 2011.

“I’ll be able to comment further once we’ve completed our audit of the cases,” he said.

The number of homicides on record in East Baton Rouge Parish peaked in 2009 when 88 people were slain in the parish, 75 of whom were killed in Baton Rouge.

The number of killings in the parish were high in the early 1990s, decreased in the late ’90s and early 2000s and gradually went back up after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.

So far this year, two people have been killed, both within the city limits.

Toney Banks, 43, 2080 N. Lobdell Blvd., died Tuesday afternoon after being shot in the 6100 block of Blackberry Street, Kelly said.

Gregory Alexander, 22, 2846 69th Ave., died Sunday after being shot in the 1900 block of 69th Avenue, police have said.

As of late Tuesday, no arrested had been made or suspects named in either of the shootings. Motives also had not been determined.

Comments

1) Comment by phil - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Great, the expensive crime cameras and shot locaters might work after all. Are criminals dragging people to another area outside of the city to kill them now, since the overall murder rate for the entire parish apparently went up?

2) Comment by tradewinns - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

come on EBR, we can do better. with everything else in a downward spiral, you'd think our growing number of thugs could at least gotten two more in last year so we could have shown a growth in something. i'll bet those first two murders this year were planned for last year. cain't even depend on criminals to do their job. i think i smell an opportunity for our government to begin a new department on criminal timing coming. shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred million, the first year.

3) Comment by mikelike - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

I guess it was not Leduff fault after all. This new chief isn't doing any better.

4) Comment by Cousin Dave - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Looks like the headline writer got it right this time, and the reporter Kimberly Vetter screwed up again (which is really nothing new). The article is supposed to be about the city's murder rate, based on city police statistics, which is were the murder rate has historically been the highest in the entire region. Apparently Vetter couldn't stand it that murder is actually down inside the city limits, so she had to obfuscate the entire issue by added murder from the unincorporated area. The fact that Sheriff Sid Gaurteaux said he needs additional time to evaluate the 15 murders that occured in the unincorporated area speaks for itself.

5) Comment by bourbon-soda - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Even the cherry-picked headlined sample for the city is not close to being statistically significantly different from 2010 to 2011 and is probably best viewed as a random fluctuation.

6) Comment by phil - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

When you look at the totals. apparently the overall is that one more person was killed in 2011 than 2010. I doubt if it matters to the families of the people murdered whether it happened in the city limits or not. Crime is still a BIG issue.

7) Comment by 8point6 - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

"So far this year, two people have been killed, both within the city limits." Looks like this is shaping up to be a banner year for homicides....two in four days.

8) Comment by #1Fan - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

You manipulate the numbers in many ways. How about the number of attempted murders in the Parish? What if the the gun wielding thugs had x # of hours of target practice? What do you think that would add up to?

9) Comment by ABayouBoy - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

I'm no mathematical whiz kid, but only one murder less in the EBRP area (make that NBR) results in a 7% difference? I would have to agree with bourbon-soda. Something doesn't seem to add up here.

10) Comment by bourbon-soda - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

The headline is an egregious example of retrospective statistical cherry picking.