Several high profile newspapers recently printed in-depth articles about New Orleans’ ongoing crime problem and the lack of solutions, and some tourism officials said Monday the ugly reality has created a bad perception across the country.

Jaimie Lee Brocato

To battle perception problems, tourism officials say they've put up 44 billboards in 18 cities trying to lure tourists to the city.

Articles by three of the country’s largest newspapers described a dysfunctional criminal justice system that was spinning out of control.

The New York Times quoted District Attorney Eddie Jordan as blaming shoddy police work, among other things, for what he called an “insurmountable problem” prosecuting criminals.

The Chicago Tribune wrote of a plummeting population and skyrocketing murder rate. It said “these problems wound the entire city.”

Tourism officials said the perception problems have been so bad they enlisted the help of the New Orleans Police Department to sell the city. Whenever they have major meetings with potential conventions, a police spokesperson actually gives a presentation, telling them where the crime is and how safe tourists typically are. 

“It's that leisure visitor who's saying 'Do we want to go down this year for Mardi Gras? I don't know. Did you read that story in the NY Times? I don't know that it's so safe,'” said Mary Beth Romig with the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

But the problems are not just with perception, and according to the District Attorney’s Office, they are quite real: In 2006, there were 161 murders in New Orleans. But prosecutors said there were only 37 arrests, and of those, the D.A. only charged 20. And so far, only four suspects have gone to trial.

And while 16 are waiting to go to court, some said history was on their side, considering past plea bargains, dropped cases and not-guilty verdicts.

“That means maybe five convictions out of a total of 161 murders,” said Metropolitan Crime Commission President Raphael Goyeneche.

Goyeneche said while quelling the fears of potential visitors is important, fixing the actual crime problem was more important and once that happened, tourists would follow.

“While the locals may be aware of it, the national media wasn't aware as to how dysfunctional the criminal justice system was pre-Katrina and how dysfunctional it remains post-Katrina. So this is I think amazing to outsiders who come in and take a look at this.”