Monica Hernandez / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- It's a major concern for the Crescent City, and on Tuesday night, city leaders and neighbors joined together to take a stand against crime.
A makeshift memorial set up in front of the 7th Ward home where a woman and her 13-year-old son were found shot to death early Monday morning added new urgency to the neighborhood's annual Night Out Against Crime event, just a few doors down on Annette Street .
"We're out here because this was a senseless, senseless murder and they say not in your backyard, but not on your front porch," said neighbor Kevin Parker.
Over 265 Night Out Against Crime events were planned in the Crescent City on Tuesday. According to Superintendent Ronal Serpas, that's the most since 2004. They're aimed at strengthening communities by bringing neighbors and law enforcement officials together.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and a number of police officers visited the events.
But on the same day, the New Orleans Crime Coalition released a survey of more than 600 people showing overall satisfaction with the NOPD had dropped 13 percent in the last six months. In August, less than half of those surveyed were satisified with the overall job of the NOPD.
Still, more people were satisifed with the department's efforts to fight violent crime, and 77 percent felt safe in their own neighborhoods, although less than half felt safe in neighborhoods outside their own.
In New Orleans East, city leaders also spoke out on crime. They said the survey results weren't surprising given the recent indictments and convictions of nopd officers.
"What's important is that we know what our challenges are," Serpas said.
"We're rebuilding the police department," Landrieu said. "They have a real job to do in restoring their credibility with the public and they're going to have to earn it back."
And the way to do that, the mayor said, is by getting out and speaking with the community at events like this.
Organizer Cindy Nguyen agrees.
"It's definitely a start for the NOPD," she said. "We've got to work toward something, and I think for them to come out here with strong force really shows us as a community that they do care."
The head of the crime coalition, which released the survey, believes the drop in overall satisfaction with the NOPD is only temporary. He believes it's sparked by recent negative press.
Otherwise, overall satisfaction with the police department has been on the rise since the surveys began in 2009, he said.
