New Orleans' murder rate only gives residents one indication of just how violent the city's streets really are. More than 180 people have been killed so far in New Orleans, but how many others were shot but did not die from their wounds? The numbers may surprise you.

“I think our shootings, on a per capita basis, are probably even with most American cities,” said New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley.

Shooting statistics aren't regularly reported by police departments across the country. In fact, many departments classify them differently; they’re considered a form of aggravated battery in New Orleans.

After months of requesting the city’s shooting statistics from New Orleans Police, Eyewitness News learned that since 2002, officers have worked 3,075 shootings, and that number does not include murders.

“People don't feel as comfortable sitting out on their porches as they used to,” said Baty Landis, spokeswoman for Silence Is Violence. “There's much more tension in the streets and, yes, I do think there's a lot more violence than there is murder, per se."

Because New Orleans Police didn't break down the number by year, Eyewitness News had to calculate an average. And on average, 560 people get shot on New Orleans streets every year, far more than one a day.

"Let's face it: the majority of people that are shooting are young, impoverished African-American kids," Riley said.

And Riley adds many of those who end up on the wrong side of a bullet were once shooters themselves.

“The people who are doing this type of thing are the same people whose mother is bringing them to the crime scene at three-years-old. Then, they're 15 and they don't mind shooting someone," he said.

Because so many of the city's shootings are related, Riley said district detectives track them closely. And homicide detectives are called in when the injuries are more severe.

“Clearly, a shooting is a murder that didn't happen. We recognize that,” Riley said. “So we go after these shooters as vigorously as we do the murderers. So it's very important in crime fighting."

In 2006, New York Police worked 1,500 shootings; but with a population 28 times the size of New Orleans, that's only a little less than three times the number of shootings.