On NOcrimeline's future

Where we're going: First, let me say, NOcrimeline is not going away. After yesterday's email to our nearly 1,000 subscribers, many were distressed that the 8th District's refusal to give information on crimes to NOcrimeline spelled the end of the vital service they've come to rely on for the past year.

In fact, a group of French Quarter activists are planning strategy to go as high as they have to go in the city hierarchy to get this information on a regular basis.

Robert Cerasoli, the city's new inspector general, speaking to the French Quarter Citizens group last week, said one of the things his office would be investigating is the "routine" denial by city employees of public information to citizens--that would apply to NOPD reports that are public record.

But in the meantime...

1) To continue to alert the residents of the French Quarter, Marigny Triangle and CBD on a timely basis of crimes occurring around them, we are going to need the help of those residents. While it was convenient and accurate to get that information from the 8th District, we will now have to ask everyone in the neighborhood to be a journalist of sorts.

That means emailing a report of any crime that happens to them or to their neighbors to NOcrimeline@gmail.com. I agree that takes a lot of effort, but by supplying as much information as you can, you can help prevent a neighbor from becoming another victim. Wouldn't you want them to warn you of danger if they could?

Here's the information we need:

• What: The kind of crime (armed robbery, assault, pursesnatching, etc.) and a little detail.
• Who: We don't need the victim's name, but it helps to know their age, sex, race, and where they live (the block is close enough).
• Where: The street and block, and nearest intersection.
• When: The day, date, and time. Just saying "one day last week" is not very helpful. And if you say "Friday night", make sure it was Friday before midnight, and not actually Saturday at 1 or 2 a.m., for instance.
• How: This might be the most important bit of information for your neighbors trying to avoid becoming victims. The more detail you can give here, the better. How many perpetrators were there? Was the perpetrator on foot, or was he lurching in a doorway, or did he jump out of a car? Did he sneak up behind the victim or confront them from the front? What sort of weapon did he have? A knife? A gun? Chrome-plated or black? Revolver or automatic? What did the perpetrator say? How did he get away, what direction?
• Another who: What did the perpetrator look like? (See the special report "Describing a perp" on our website.) To know what a perpetrator looks like helps you avoid someone fitting that description. And if the bad guy is ever going to be caught, it's crucial.

If you can help supply this information as soon as you know about, you can help keep our neighborhoods safe until we can once again rely on the cooperation of the NOPD.

One other thing: You must give your name along with the information. There is no reason to remain anonymous. We will NOT print your name, but we want to know the source of any information that we do print. There's something about putting your name on information that makes you more careful about what you do report. My name's on every NOcrimeline report for that reason.

2) We will keep trying to find out just what Maj. Edwin Hosli's gripe is. The 8th District commander welcomed the proposal for the NOcrimeline newsletter enthusiastically in March, 2007 and didn't hesitate to immediately begin emailing crime maps and reports of crimes to us daily.

The system we set up worked very smoothly until the Times-Picayune demanded the same reports (which they're entitled to) in January. Suddenly, the 8th District brass announced it must rewrite reports to prevent the dissemination of sensitive information to the T-P. That revision worked fine until just before Mardi Gras, when reports began coming in only sporadically. Then they became rarer and rarer. Last week, they stopped completely.

When Maj. Hosli was queried as to why, he said he didn't like the "editorializing" NOcrimeline was doing. The only example he gave was our report from a subscriber who said that an out-of-town guest of hers had a rude encounter with a Vietnamese cop in the Quarter. Maj. Hosli said no Vietnamese officers are assigned to the 8th and he was distressed at the implication one of his officers was rude.

Other than that--which was hardly an editorial comment--he mentioned nothing. From the very beginning of NOcrimeline, we've commented--and editorialized--on events and procedures in the 8th. Whenever Maj. Hosli, or his second in command, Lt. Eddie Selby, felt we were in error or off-base, they didn't hesitate to pick up the phone and call me. If we were in error, we corrected it. If we had a difference of opinion, we discussed it and came away enlightened.

Why Maj. Hosli now uses "editorializing" as an excuse not to tell residents of his district what's happening beats me. (He has replied to some subscribers who've complained that he would email them directly with reports of crimes. Hope he gets all almost-1,000 subscribers. Email him at Ehosli@cityofno.com to get on his list.)

Somehow he must realize that we're on the same side--it's the criminals who are the bad guys.

3) Long-term we'd like to work with Chief Warren Riley on a city-wide distribution of crime information, not only to residents of the 8th District but to citizens in all 8 NOPD districts.

NOcrimeline gets requests repeatedly from residents of other districts--particularly in the Bywater and Marigny--for the same kind of information we've been supplying to the 8th. The overwhelming feeling--as you saw from the subscribers' emails--is that the more they know about crime in their neighborhoods, the safer they'll be. I think they're right.

A NOcrimeline subscriber emailed Chief Riley in January when the report issue first came up that, "The 8th District model works. Maybe it's not perfect, but for now it gets folks involved. Use it as a best of breed model for now."

Chief Riley replied, "The 8th was a pilot that was working very well. We plan to extend it city wide once we are comfortable with it." I don't like the past tense in the first sentence, but maybe there's hope in working with Chief Riley in releasing this information to the public.

4) Failing to persuade Maj. Hosli or his boss, Chief Riley, to supply crime information on a regular and timely basis may require legal action. Filing a freedom-of-information request for each tidbit of information is not feasible. The greater goal would be to have them ruled in violation of state statutes and a court to order all public records to be made available on a regular and timely basis.

This would take a pro-bono lawyer who'd be willing to work free for this cause. The first task would be to define which NOPD reports are public records and persuade the NOPD that they should be made public. The second task, failing the first one, would be to file a lawsuit to flush out the information.

The Times-Picayune seemed all hot to pursue this with their big time, high-paid lawyers back in January. Now the Big City Daily seems content with whatever scraps the NOPD throws them.

Hang on for the ride: This is not my first rodeo, buckaroos. I've fought for freedom of information a number of times before in a number of towns. I've endured a number of tactics, including being shot at.

Of course, nowhere else is New Orleans. I've been warned here, by people who talk like they know, to watch my back. I'll have to trust that I'm dealing with gentlemen who wouldn't beat up a tired old man.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

Playing catch up

Reports, finally: We finally got crime reports from the 8th District going back 10 days to as recently as 2 days ago, so we'd better bring you up to date on the lowlifes running around the neighborhood. Let's take the most recent first:

• Robbery: Sunday (3.16.08), 4:15 a.m., 451 Dauphine St. (between Conti and St. Louis streets). No report released yet.

• Armed robbery: Saturday (3.15.08), 1:55 a.m., 1400 block of Chartres St. (between Esplanade Avenue and Kerlerec Street). A white woman, 24, and white man, 23, were getting out of their car when they were accosted by a black guy with a handgun. The perp demanded their money and keys to the car. The male victim gave up his wallet and the robber took $50 out of it before fleeing on foot.

The robber was described as 20 to 22 years old, 6' tall, weighing 165 pounds, a brown complexion, wearing large diamond stud earrings, a gray hoodie and a gray cap.

• Carjacking: Thursday (3.13.08), 2:15 a.m., 400 block of Burgundy Street (between Conti and St. Louis streets). As the victim (presumably a male, no age or race given by the NOPD) approached his car, 2 black hoodlums accosted him and demanded his money and car keys. He surrendered his car keys and the crooks fled in the vehicle, down Burgundy toward Esplanade Avenue.

No description of the vehicle (such as year, make and model, color, license plate number) was given by the NOPD. Wouldn't you think this was vital information that might help the public spot the stolen car? Or is that not important?

One car thief was described as 20 to 24 years old, with a thin build and dark skin, wearing all dark clothing. The other was of an undetermined age, with a stocky build and dark skin, sporting medium dreadlocks under a white hoodie.

• Robbery: Tuesday (3.11.08), 4:30 a.m., Canal and Burgundy streets. The victim (presumably a male, no age or race given by the NOPD) and a friend (again presumably a male, no age given by the NOPD) met 2 black guys in the 700 block of Bourbon Street and the 4 of them decided to walk back to the victim's car parked on Carondolet Street. The victim and his friend became separated and at Canal and Burgundy streets, one of the black guys knocked the victim to the ground and took his wallet.

The robber was described as in his 20s, 5'9" tall, 170 pounds, with dark skin and dreadlocks, wearing a red polo shirt and blue jeans.

• Robbery: Saturday (3.8.08), 5:45 a.m., Canal and N. Rampart streets. The victim (again presumably a male, no age or race given by the NOPD) was confronted by 4 black guys and a white woman who "demanded his property," according to the police report, which went on to say the thieves fled "with the victim's property." Was it Park Place, Baltic Avenue, and the B&O Railroad? Just kidding. What do the police mean by "property"?

No description whatsoever of the perps. Some police work. No wonder the 8th District didn't want to release the report.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

Now some good news, sort of

Curious question: At least one citizen at Thursday night's NONPAC meeting wanted to know whether there was actually more crime in the French Quarter or residents were just more aware of it because of NOcrimeline. Naturally, Major Edwin Hosli's response was to claim that crime was down. But if you go to www.NOcrimeline.com, you'll see the chart comparing robberies in the 8th District last year with those this year. In the first quarter of 2007, there were 46 robberies (both armed and simple, based on the NOPD's published crime maps). So far in 2008, there have been 54 robberies, with half of March yet to go.

The important part of the answer Maj. Hosli gave, though, was this: Be aware of your surroundings so you don't become a victim. And we might add: be aware of the "Mean Streets."

NOcrimeline's goal is not to scare residents, but to inform them so they can take precautions to avoid becoming victims.

What they're doing: Maj. Hosli and his second in command, Lt. Eddie Selby, announced several initiatives being employed to try to reduce crime in the Quarter. Among them:

• Video cameras: They have been installed along N. Rampart Street at every street going into the Quarter. When operational, the cameras will give the NOPD a view of everyone walking--or running--toward Rampart. Cops will not monitor the cameras but will record up to 72 hours of activity--enough time to retrieve images of the bad guys after a crime.

An engineer who's a NOcrimeline subscriber wondered why if we have video cameras that can read license plates why they can't be used in the Quarter to put the same fear of God in crooks as they do in motorists on the highway. Hopefully these cameras will be that good--maybe they'll be able to read tattoos and pick out gold teeth.

• More foot patrols: According to Maj. Hosli, "We're getting away from Bourbon Street and patrolling more on Dauphine and Burgundy streets," 2 of the meanest streets in the Quarter according to NOcrimeline's analysis.

Helping: The new police recruits who recently came out of the academy and had been riding with a veteran officer are now coming off of field training and will be assigned to beats of their own.

Hurting: The success of the city in landing more conventions, is pumping more people into the Quarter, requiring more policing but no more help from headquarters.

• More patrol cars: Starting about a month ago, Lt. Selby ordered 3 cop cars to patrol the Lower Quarter (from Dumaine Street to Esplanade Avenue) every night from 7 p.m. on with the blue lights in their rear windows flashing. Supposedly this will alert the bad guys that the cops are in the neighborhood and that they should take their business elsewhere. It's what residents have been asking for for years.
  

He's also mandated that a supervisor be out there to make sure these cops are patrolling and are using the flashing lights because, as he explained it, "They're only going to do what they're forced to do."

(I sit virtually every night for 4 or 5 hours by my 2 big windows on Bourbon Street and can easily see lights reflected from the street. But in truth, I've not noticed any blue flashing lights at all in the past month. Perhaps other residents on other streets have seen these patrol cars. I'd like to hear from you at NOcrimeline@gmail.com.)

• Decoy cars: In addition to patrolling, the 8th District is parking unmanned marked cars at various locations around the Quarter. The theory is the bad guys aren't going to get close enough to check to see if a cops there, but is aware there might be one--and once again take their business elsewhere.

• Visibility the goal: All these measures are meant to enhance the NOPD's visibility in the Quarter and to cut crime. Lt. Selby would like to see a return to the light blue uniform shirts officers wore before Katrina because he thinks it's hard to pick officers out of a crowd in the dark blue they now wear. But he's not optimistic the chief's going to change the uniforms back any time soon, though I read somewhere it was under consideration. The uniform colors were changed after the storm because so many of the old uniforms were looted from drycleaners and laundries during the catastrophe.
  

That's the guy: Thanks to Sgt. Troy Williams, who heads the 8th District detective squad that investigates robberies, we now know the correct name of the suspect who was arrested for the robbery 3.6.08 at the Old Opera House Annex at 811 Toulouse St.

Arrested was Bobby L. Boone, 36, who when he was arrested gave a false name. (He was charged with that too.)

According to the clerk in the store, a white man with a red shirt wrapped around his hand as if it was a weapon entered the store at 10:25 p.m. and demanded money. The clerk screamed and the crook fled. A short while later a suspect matching the description was apprehended and positively identified as the perpetrator. Detectives say he may be involved in other robberies.

Not so good news: The DA has dropped charges against 3 other robbery suspects:

• Ashley Netter and Danielle Bigham: Charges against the duo were dropped by the DA for armed robbery and flight from an officer against Netter, 23, (right) and for armed robbery against Bigham, 21.

They were accused of robbing a woman 1.10.08 on her way to work at a strip club in the French Quarter when she was accosted at Dauphine and St. Peter streets at 10:19 p.m. by what she thought were 2 black men, one with a gun, who demanded her money. The victim turned over a $100 bill and her cellphone and the robbers fled. Two 8th District officers noticed the suspects fleeing and gave chase. When they apprehended the 2 suspects, it was discovered they were both female.

Netter is still being held on charges in 2 other armed robberies.

• Renard Prevost: 3 charges against Prevost, 20, were dropped by the DA involving Prevost's alleged role in a couple of robberies in the CBD in early January. The charges dropped were armed robbery, armed robbery with a firearm, and felon in possession of a firearm.

He is still being held on 2 other armed robbery charges plus numerous warrants from Jefferson Parish.

Watch out: The large crowd at the Lower Quarter Crime Watch's potluck supper Tuesday evening exuded confidence they could rejuvenate the organization and make an impact against crime.

The group seems to be willing to re-examine its methods and consider a multitude of crime prevention techniques. If you'd like to get involved, contact Ruth Burke, a sparkplug in their efforts at Ruthb553@aol.com.

Is this really happening?: The Times-Picayune keeps reporting crimes in the Quarter that the 8th District brass won't verify.

Saturday it reported an assault occurred in the 500 block of Bourbon Street on Wednesday at 7:57 p.m. Friday it reported an assault in the 1000 block of Esplanade Avenue on Monday at 2:28 p.m. Neither of these incidents showed up on the crime map sent to NOcrimeline.

Friday the T-P had details on a carjacking that occurred in the 400 block of Burgundy Street on Thursday. NOcrimeline received no report on this incident from the 8th District.

Maj. Hosli denies he's giving the Times-Picayune information he's not giving us. In an email Friday in response to our accusing him of giving the T-P preferential treatment, he wrote: "If the T-P got any additional information, it was not sent out by the 8th District. We send them the same information that we send to you."

Huh? The information had to originate with the 8th District, where the crimes occurred and were investigated. Even if the T-P got their information from another agency, that agency would have had to get the information in the first place from the 8th District.

Does this mean Maj. Hosli knows NOTHING about these 2 assaults? Does it mean he doesn't know his guy DIDN'T send out the carjacking report to us?

I'd like to chalk it up to the fact Maj. Hosli is suffering with the flu and is just not himself. But I don't know. It seems to be following a pattern of withholding information from the citizens he's sworn to serve.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

Reporting, partially

You can't handle the truth: Maj. Edwin Hosli reiterated what he told me Monday to the crowd at the NONPAC meeting Thursday evening: That he wished I would just print the crime reports just as he gives them to me and withhold editorializing. I say: Be careful what you wish for.

In the past month there have been numerous errors in the reports that I have questioned and corrected before reporting them to you in NOcrimeline. Some of the errors are relatively minor and inconsequential. Others change the whole meaning of the report.

• In one case, an armed robbery was reported as a simple (without a weapon) robbery, and a simple robbery was reported as an armed robbery. Both scary enough, but still.

• In a couple of other cases, "a.m." and "p.m." were swapped--it makes a big difference whether the crime happened in broad daylight or the dead of night (On Wednesday, the crime map reported a robbery at 1:39 p.m. at Dauphine and Toulouse streets, but the crime report received later in the day reported the time as 2:10 a.m.; after I asked which was correct, the crime map was changed the next day to reflect the a.m. time).

• In others, the day of the week reported doesn't match the date (the Times-Picayune fell victim to this--in reporting a robbery today that happened "Sunday" it didn't note the date given was 3/7/08--a Friday. Maj. Hosli says it happened Friday.)

And you wonder why the DA refuses to prosecute certain cases. If you were an attorney and had less than perfect information, would you want to go into court and make a fool of yourself?

Begging for reports: I think Maj. Hosli means well when he says that he wants to continue making crime information available to the citizens of the 8th District. But either others under his command don't share his enthusiasm or haven't gotten the memo yet. Maybe the Major needs to do a little more commanding.

Before the report brouhaha in January, I used to get crime reports from the 8th District virtually daily as the crimes occurred. This week, I begged for 3 days for 6 crime reports, going back to last Friday (3.7.08), to no avail. Only after emailing Maj. Hosli on Wednesday and coming close to accusing him of reneging on promises from our meeting Monday did I get crime reports on Thursday. But only 4 of them. I still haven't been able to get reports on 2 robberies--one of which occurred way back last Saturday (7.8.08) and the other on Tuesday.

"Preferential Treatment" is T-P spelled backward: While NOcrimeline has struggled to get crime reports from the 8th District, the Times-Picayune continues to get the information before we do. Supposedly the crime reports were being sanitized so the Times-Picayune could be given what NOcrimeline got; now it seems they're being given what we're not.

For instance, in today's T-P there was a report of a carjacking in the 400 block of Burgundy yesterday at 2:08 a.m. The crime did appear on the crime map received today, but the time was listed at 2:15 a.m. (picky-picky, but I'm trying to determine the truth here so I can handle it) and it was listed as a simple robbery, not a carjacking.

Here's the T-P version, so consider the source:

"A 32-year-old man was getting into his car when 2 men approached him demanding money. When he said he had none, they demanded he hand over the keys to his car and drove away with it. No weapon was involved in the incident."

The T-P also reported today, without any details, an assault or battery in the 1000 block of Esplanade Avenue on Monday at 2:28 p.m.

Why the 8th District refused to release that information to NOcrimeline is beyond me. (But don't go emailing Maj. Hosli yet. The poor man's coming down with the flu; I got it just after Mardi Gras and I'm still recovering.)

Here's what we do know: Based on the 4 scant reports we did receive this week, here's what we know about recent crimes:

• Armed robbery--Friday (3.7.08), 4:40 a.m.: A 34-year-old white man walking on Bourbon Street near Dumain was approached by a black man who pulled a chrome-colored handgun and demanded money. The victim surrendered his wallet and the robber fled on foot.

The robber was described as 25 to 30, 5'9" tall, weighing 140 pounds.

• Pursesnatching--Friday (3.7.08), 4:50 a.m.: A 21-year-old white woman was walking On St. Charles Avenue. As she approached the intersection of Julia Street, when was approached from behind by a black man who grabbed her purse and fled on foot.

The robber was described as 20 to 30, 5'10" tall, weighing 194 pounds.

• Simple robbery--Sunday (3.9-08), 2:10 a.m.: A 39-year-old white woman walking with a man she knew on a first-name basis was pushed to the ground by the man at the corner of Dauphine and Toulouse streets. He took her credit card and driver's license, and fled on foot.

An arrest warrant was issued for Daniel Medina, 29, a Hispanic man, 5'7" tall, weighing 160 pounds.

• Simple robbery--Sunday (3.9.08), 9:30 p.m.: A 57-year-old black man walking in the 800 block of Barracks Street when he was grabbed from behind by another black man. Then several other black guys came up and began going through the victim's pockets. They took his wallet and fled on foot up Barracks to N. Rampart Street. No description of the robbers was given.

More reports when we can pry them out of the 8th District.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

Rapport restored

How the meeting went: Maj. Edwin Hosli and I had our pow-wow this morning--all very cordial and copacetic. After expressing his cumulative displeasure with some of the spin I've put on information from his office, he's agreed to resume the flow of daily crime reports from the 8th District.

None of the things he complained about seemed like hanging-crimes to me. He'd like to see the reports printed out rote just as he sends them and any comment added separate and apart. He couldn't figure out how his 2 paragraphs could be 2 pages once I was done with it.

Not to defend my verbosity, but I explained I tried to put his reports in context--that a crime that was a routine event to him as a cop was a major experience in a citizen's life and thus the more information they had the better they coped. I don't know if it's analogous or not, but what's a mere leak to a plumber is envisioned as a flooded house to a homeowner.

Much to my surprise, Maj. Hosli printed out every email sent to him last week by NOcrimeline subscribers about the dearth of crime reports--and read each one of them. I have too, and we'll try to post some of the more salient sentiments on this webpage in the next few days. These are the 3 major themes in the emails:

• NOcrimeline--which is fueled by the crime reports compiled and sent daily by the 8th District--makes its readers feel safer;

• Citizens recognize and appreciate the extra effort the command of the 8th District expends to supply them with this vital information; and

• The flow of this information has given citizens a more positive view of the NOPD and willingness to cooperate with police officers.

Tapping on the ream-thick stack of printed emails, I urged him not to penalize these citizens by withholding information just because he's PO'd at me for some reason. Curtailing the information was never his intention; he believes strongly in being candid and transparent with the people he serves. And in cooperating over the past year with NOcrimeline, he's pioneered a valuable service to the residents of his district.

It's just me that gets on his nerves sometimes. So, hopefully, we've restored our rapport to where he'll take a minute or two to call me when he's piqued and give me hell.

(One thing that should be made clear: Contrary to some subscribers' assumptions, the top brass of the NOPD never stifled Maj. Hosli's initiative to distribute this information. There's even an indication Superintendent Warren Riley admires the program and would like to see it extended to all districts but is stymied by incompatible reporting systems. That's a story for another day.)

That being said: News of our accord must not have sifted down yet to the officer who distills the crime reports for the 8th District because we got nothing on the 5 robberies over the weekend since Thursday. See the Daily Crime Alert below for details.

Some good news, for the good guys anyway: The suspect in the vicious robbery of a French Quarter man nearly a year ago--and the robbery of numerous other victims in the Quarter and Uptown--pled guilty to enough charges today that he'll spend the second half of his life in Angola.

Under a plea agreement that the victims were happy with, Gary Lindsay, 39, pled guilty to 10 of the original 29 charges against him. He was sentenced to a total of 280 years at hard labor by Orleans Criminal District Court Judge Ben Willard. Since the sentences run concurrently, Lindsey will serve the longest one of 40 years--without the hope of probation, parole or suspension. In exchange for his plea, the DA agreed not to bring charges against him as a repeat offender. Good thing for Lindsey--that could have meant a life sentence.

Lindsey was apprehended after the broad daylight robbery 3.31.07 of Bill Norris as he and his wife, Betty, were returning to their home in the 1000 block of St. Philip Street. After Bill backed his car into the driveway and before the electronic gate fully closed, the perpetrator grabbed the gate and forced his way inside. He grabbed the victim, forced him to the ground at knife-point and took his wallet. The victim's screams alerted his wife, who was already in the house, and his son, Will, both of whom came to the door and scared the attacker off with their shouts.

The perpetrator got in his car and fled toward Burgundy Street. A neighbor, identified as William Sullivan, alerted by the victim's family's shouts, followed the perpetrator into the Ninth Ward where NOPD officers apprehended the suspect who was suspected in as many as 20 robberies in the 2 weeks prior to his capture.

Don't forget: These meetings this week are important in curtailing crime in the French Quarter and Marigny Triangle:

• Lower Quarter Crime Watch, 6 p.m. tomorrow (3.11.08), a potluck dinner at the home of Jeff and Celia Collins, 1009 Burgundy St. (at St. Philip Street). The public is invited, but you're asked to bring your favorite dish; French Quarter Realty will supply the drinks. It's an opportunity to meet the group's patrol officers, but a move is underway to rejuvenate the LQCW with new leadership and possibly assess whether patrols are the best way to fight crime. It might be an opportunity to join an effort to combat crime in the Lower Quarter.

• NONPAC, 5:30 p.m. Thursday (3.13.08), at he Maison Dupuy Hotel, 1001 Toulouse St. (at Burgundy Street). This is a good opportunity to commend Maj. Hosli for supplying crime information to NOcrimeline. Your presence at these meetings speaks volumes.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

One down...

Suspect arrested: Unlike Wednesday night's 4-robbery/20-minute spree, 2 robberies Thursday resulted in the arrest of a suspect who may be implicated in even more robberies.

The first robbery Thursday was in the early morning at 12:09 a.m. when a white man, 58, walking in the 800 block of Dumaine Street toward Bourbon Street from Dauphine Street, was approached by another white man brandishing a black revolver and demanding money. The victim turned over his cellphone and backed away from the robber, then ran toward Bourbon. The robber was described as 6'2" tall, weighing 180 pounds.

The second robbery was late Thursday night at 10:25 p.m. when the victim (no age or sex reported by the NOPD) was working in a business at 811 Toulouse St. A white man with a red shirt wrapped around his hand as if it was a weapon entered the store and demanded money. The clerk screamed and the crook fled.

A short while later a suspect matching the description was apprehended and positively identified as the perpetrator. The name of the suspect could not be confirmed in court records, but he is said to be a 27 years old, 6' tall and weighing 160 pounds. Detectives say he may be involved in other robberies, but not in the 4 Wednesday night where one victim was shot and the perpetrator was black.

The message got through: The overwhelming response of NOcrimeline subscribers emailing Maj. Edwin Hosli, commander of the 8th District, to plead for the release of crime information in the French Quarter undoubtedly had an influence on NOcrimeline getting the reports on Wednesday's and Thursday's robberies. Maj. Hosli, whose Blackberry kept him awake through the night, relented and sent these reports. He and I still plan to meet at the 8th District station at 9 a.m. Monday to discuss whatever it is that caused him to curtail the crime reports the past month.

(If you email Maj. Hosli in the future, try to do it during normal business hours. He has to monitor his Blackberry 24/7, so any message is going to jar him awake at whatever hour.)

Meetings not to be missed: Put these meetings on your calendar. Both can be important in curtailing crime in the French Quarter and Marigny Triangle:

• Lower Quarter Crime Watch, 6 p.m. Tuesday, a potluck dinner at the home of Jeff and Celia Collins, 1009 Burgundy St. (at St. Philip Street). You are asked to bring your favorite dish; French Quarter Realty will supply the drinks. It's billed as an opportunity to meet the group's patrol officers, but a move is underway to rejuvenate the LQCW with new leadership and possibly assess whether patrols are the best way to fight crime. It might be an opportunity to join an effort to combat crime in the Lower Quarter.

• NONPAC, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, at he Maison Dupuy Hotel, 1001 Toulouse St. (at Burgundy Street). This will be a good opportunity to confront Maj. Hosli with your thoughts on supplying crime information about the 8th District and to hear his thoughts on it. Your presence at these meetings speaks volumes.
  

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

Crime wave

Armed robberies abound: No less than 4 armed robberies in a span of 20 minutes--concluding with one victim being shot--terrorized the French Quarter last night. 8th District detectives investigating the crime spree believe the robberies and shooting were committed by the same guy.

The shooter and robber--who's still out there somewhere--is a black man in his early 20s with a slim build, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, and brandishing a chrome-plated handgun. That's the description given in each robbery.

Here's what happened:

• 9:05 p.m., a white man, 29, was walking on Royal Street at the intersection of Orleans Avenue when he was approached from the front by a black male who produced a chrome-plated handgun and demanded money. The victim complied, surrendering the cash from his wallet. The perpetrator fled on foot on Orleans towards Bourbon.

• 9:12 p.m., a white man, 22, was walking in the 900 block of Bienville Street, between Dauphine and Burgundy streets, when he was approached from the front by a black man who produced a chrome-plate handgun and demanded money. The victim complied, surrendering cash and a cell phone. The robber fled on foot up Dauphine.

• 9:15 p.m., a white man, 28, was walking in the 600 block of St. Peter Street, between Chartres and Royal streets, when he was approached by a black male who produced a chrome-plated handgun and demanded money. The victim backed away from the robber, who fled on foot on St. Peter, turning on Royal towards Orleans.

• 9:24 p.m., a white man, 34, was walking in the 1000 block of Dauphine Street, between Ursulines and St. Philip streets, when he was approached by a black male who produced a chrome-plated handgun and demanded money. The victim refused and the perpetrator fired his gun, striking the victim once in the leg. The victim was taken to a local hospital and treated for the wound to his leg. The shooter fled on foot. Early news reports indicated the man had been shot during a robbery at the corner of Bourbon and Ursulines streets, but the victim was actually shot on Dauphine and ran to Bourbon, where he collapsed.

That's 7 robberies in 4 days in the 8th District, 6 of them in the French Quarter.

Another robbery: Later last night, a white man, 25, was robbed by 2 black men in the 400 block of Calliope Street at 10:30 p.m. They took his wallet and watch before fleeing on foot toward Tchoupitoulas Street.

Earlier robberies: Though we have no reports on these from the 8th District, on Sunday night there were 2 robberies within 75 minutes of each other in the 500 block of Burgundy Street, between St. Louis and Toulouse streets.

The first, at 10:10 p.m., was a "simple" robbery, which only means a weapon wasn't visible or implied. The second robbery was an armed robbery at 11:25 p.m.

We regret, since we received no reports on these from the 8th District, that we can't tell you how they happened or given you any description of the robbers so you can be on the look out to protect yourselves. Who knows? Maybe it was the same guy who gunned down one of his victims last night.

Robbery solved: Now if they could just catch the guy. 8th District detectives have issued a warrant for the arrest of a juvenile in the armed robbery of a tourist 1.15.08.

We can't give you his name so you can help track him down because he's so young it might damage his delicate psyche for life.

The tourist, a 20-year-old woman was in the 900 block of Dumaine Street, between Dauphine and Burgundy streets, was accosted while on her way to her hotel by a black guy wielding a big black-handled knife and demanding her purse. She told the robber she was "shocked" and didn't give it to him. The police report says he "repeated himself 2 additional times before she complied and gave him her purse."

The bandit was described as 18-20 years old (now we know he's 16 or younger), 6'2" tall, weighing 180 pounds, and wearing dark clothing.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

A bad idea

Downright scary: You may have heard that the interim district attorney, Keva Landrum-Johnson, is rethinking her initial decision not to run for the office she inherited from Eddie Jordan. As Jordan's hand-picked successor, she is more like Jordan than not.

The only perceptible difference is that she can read a calendar and criminal cases aren't falling through the cracks because she doesn't act quickly enough to keep them from becoming "701" cases that aren't acted upon within 60 days after arrest.

The trouble is, her "action" is refusing to prosecute more cases than she's taking to court. By my count, she and Jordan freed 15 suspects and gotten guilty pleas from only 8 suspects in the past year--after hard work by 8th District detectives in rounding up the miscreants.

Some very recent cases in point:

Cop doesn't show: The DA failed to get the cop to court to testify last Wednesday about the arrest of Louis Handy for attempted murder on Bourbon Street on Lundi Gras, so Handy walked free.

Handy, 18, was arrested by the NOPD's Violent Offenders Warrant Squad 3 days after the alleged 1:22 a.m. incident in the 100 block of Bourbon Street. 8th District detective Jason Giroir's investigation of the shootings of a 16-year-old black boy from Uptown in his right side and of a 20-year-old black dude from the Lower 9th Ward in the calf led to the warrant issued for Handy.

Handy was also freed Wednesday from charges of illegal use of a weapon and possession of marijuana. The Monday before the DA did agree to prosecute him on marijuana possession charges from an arrest in November 2007, after refusing similar charges from an arrest in April 2007. Then--like a guy with a death wish--just one day after being freed on the attempted murder charge, he's arrested on Thursday on a charge of possession of heroin with intent to distribute.

White boys go free: The DA refused Thursday to prosecute 3 white guys who allegedly robbed a 26-year-old black woman standing on the corner of Bienville and Clinton streets smoking a cigarette at 1:10 a.m. on 12.28.07.

One of the white guys allegedly walked over from a group of 2 other white guys and asked her for a light. When she attempted to give him a light, he grabbed her purse from her shoulder and fled with his buddies. The purse contained $540. She flagged down a NOPD officer who later apprehended the trio, all of whom she was able to identify.

Freed from charges of simple robbery were: Michael Daigrepont, 29, and Aaron Naquin, 24, both of Lacombe, and their buddy, Richard Rospiershi, 27, of Indiana.

Crazy about crime: Kenneth Wiley, 49, a black guy with a long rap sheet going back to 1991 and a history of court cases in which he's tried to convince the court he was mentally incompetent to stand trial, finally found success.

Last Thursday, 2 court-appointed psychiatrists found him incompetent to stand trial on simple robbery charges for snatching the wallet of a 29-year-old white woman in the 300 block of Bourbon Street just before 5 a.m. on 6.7.07.

He's been sent to the Feliciana Funny Farm and his case will be reviewed again 5.8.08.

Let's find a good DA: We survived the Eddie Jordan years of inaction and incompetence as District Attorney, and must now endure his hand-picked successor who--in my opinion--is hardly any better. What we need is someone more like a junkyard dog, someone with the ferocity to take apart criminals hauled in by Lt. Eddie Selby's detective squad.

The election is this fall and we'll have to live with whom we choose for 6 years. I've only heard a couple of names mentioned so far as possible candidates and know little about them. But civic-minded people and groups need to start thinking and recruiting viable candidates now. As much effort ought to go into this now as all the bitching we did during Jordan's tenure.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome NOcrimeline@gmail.com.

Thom Kahler

Oh so sloooow justice...

Or fast, depending: Nearly one year to the date, Ronald J. Martin finally pled guilty to robbing Greg and Belinda Huber in a vicious incident 2.28.07 in the 900 block of Gov. Nicholls Street.

That case was monumental in the birth of NOcrimeline. Due to the misinformation and lack of information surrounding the incident, the need for facts fast was evident. The need for NOcrimeline was evident.

Martin, 31, pled guilty Monday to 2 counts of second-degree robbery and 1 count of second-degree battery. Judge Camille Buras sentenced Martin to 10 years in prison on the robbery charges and 5 years for battery, to be served concurrent with the robbery sentence.

According to the police report, the victims were walking in the 900 block of Gov. Nicholls about 1 a.m. when a black man got out of an older model white sedan and came up to them. The assailant struck Greg Huber several times in the face and then began to hit Belinda Huber in the face until she also fell to the ground. The suspect then took the female victim's purse, got back in his vehicle and fled.

Detective Nick Gernon developed Martin as a suspect and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Martin,who was from Westwego, was apprehended by Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies on 3.13.07.

One down, oh so many more to go. Let's see how long this bad ass stays off our streets and out of our worries.

More to go: Just as one robber is convicted of robbery in the 900 block of Gov. Nicholls, another occurs.

On Saturday morning, around 12:30 a.m., a 30-year-old white man riding his bicycle at the intersection of Gov. Nicholls and Dauphine streets was tackled by 3 black dudes. One produced a handgun and demanded his money. The victim surrendered his wallet and cellphone.

The only description of the perps was that they were wearing all black.

Not all things as they seem: NOcrimeline often gets inquiries about such and such a crime that occurred and wonder why there's no mention of it in our reports. Case in point:

We had several people inquire about the "burglary" at the home of a friend of theirs in the 1200 block of Royal Street. She awoke about 3 a.m. on 2.18.08 to a man banging on her door, demanding that she open the door, and threatening that he was going to get her. He kept banging on the stained glass window in the front door until a piece of it broke and he smashed his fist through the door.

Now she's not the kind to entertain that sort of gentleman caller, so she called 911 and her neighbors. Both responded quickly. But when she went to the 8th District station the next day to see what had happened with this intruder, she got a bit of runaround until Maj. Edwin Hosli put her in touch with Sgt. Luther Lumpkin, who heads the 8th District's property crimes squad. He assured her that the perpetrator was charged with public drunkenness, trespassing and criminal damage to property.

Not a "burglary", but a crime resolved to the citizen's satisfaction nevertheless.

Then in other cases: A woman who witnessed a ruckus at Chartres and Conti streets on 2.16.08 at about 2 a.m. in which the police responded with "upwards of 25 cars/horses" wondered what the hubbub was.

I don't know. It appears on the crime map as an "aggravated assault" in which an arrest was made. But it's another one of those reports since Mardi Gras that we haven't been able to pry out of the 8th District.

Gunshots fall on deaf ears: At least 2 NOcrimeline suscribers whose judgment I trust reported an identical incident of hearing gunshots in the early morning after Mardi Gras ended. One lives in the 1000 block of St. Peter Street and the other in the 900 block. Both reported hearing 8 to 10 gunshots shortly after 5 a.m. One reported the exact time as 5:05 a.m.

911 was called and police responded 3 minutes later. Officers found no shell casings or blood. Maj.Hosli had no idea what the situation was about.

More dissatisfied tourists: Another subscriber reported house guests who had an unpleasant experience on Bourbon Street this past weekend. A young man (I would guess in his 20s) was badly beaten and bruised by 3 black men and his wife was attacked by some black girls.

Asked by their hostess if they reported it to the police, the couple said there were several cops right in the vicinity who did nothing. The woman said one cop was Vietnamese who said he could do anything because the thugs would beat him up too.

"They said they will never come back to New Orleans," the subscriber said. "You hear stories, but this happened to my company and I'm speechless. What good is a large police presence if the policemen just stand there?

This subscriber's a regular fixture at NONPAC meetings, so Maj. Hosli can expect an earful at the next meeting.

Missing from Mardi Gras: A man missing after a night of partying on Mardi Gras almost sounds like a joke, a bad experience that endures after the revelry.

But in this case, the family of John Delatte, 28 and the father of 3 with another on the way, believes his disappearance was caused by someone else. Delatte brought his family from Texas to New Orleans, where they used to live, the day before Mardi Gras.

On Mardi Gras night, he went to Razzoo Bar & Patio, 511 Bourbon St., to meet with a bartender he knew there. He left there between 10 and 11 p.m.

His ATM card was used 4 times nearby (DejaVu, Rio, Double Play, and 432 Bourbon) for $50 to $100 transactions, the last being about 5 a.m. on Ash Wednesday.

He was last seen wearing a black LSU T-shirt, dark tan khaki shorts, brown leather belt, ankle socks and blue/white/grey Nike tennis shoes.

His vehicle is also missing: a 2004 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer, all red/burgundy, bumpers, grill, and side step also red/burgundy with brushed nickel rims and luggage rack. Texas license plate 9VWM87.

Additional information is availble at the family's search site: www.bringjohnhome.com

You wonder how seriously the NOPD--or any police department--takes these cases. The family is under the impression the case is being investigated by Det. Jason Giroir of the 8th District. The trouble is, the Homicide Division investigates all missing persons cases, according to Maj. Hosli.

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com.


Thom Kahler

ROBBERY HOT SPOTS: Where you're most likely to be robbed in the Quarter

[Editor's note: This report was compiled in 2008 based on figures from 2007. Since then, the patterns have changed somewhat, and the number of robberies have decreased dramatically. The report has not been updated because NOPD crime map figures spanning a significant period of time are still not reliable.]

When you read report after report of robberies in NOcrimeline, you start to realize some streets are more dangerous than others. And you are right. But which ones?

An analysis by NOcrimeline of robberies last year in the NOPD's 8th District (the French Quarter, the Marigny Triangle, and CBD) was complicated by suspicions about the reliability of the publicly-published crime maps from NOPD headquarters. But they are all we have to go on. I suspect they track the pattern of actual crimes generally, if not specifically.

Pinpointing actual locations of robberies was often complicated by ambiguous postings by officers on their crime reports. In some cases, the intersections where crimes occurred were specified; in others, only the hundred block was listed and there was no way to know which intersection it might be nearest. NOcrimeline tried to specify the intersections to give a sense of the areas where the most crime was occurring.

Under "robberies", the NOPD lumps armed robbery, simple robbery (pursesnatchings and such where no weapon is used), carjackings, and attempted, as well as actual, robberies. There were 184 incidents labeled as robberies in the 8th District in 2007.

* * *

As you might expect, the bulk of the robberies occurred in the French Quarter, just because it predominates the district geographically. Of the 184 robberies, 138 of them were in the Quarter. Of those, 68 were in the blocks from Canal Street (technically not in the Quarter) to St. Ann Street where tourist were the most likely victims. Most disturbing was the 50 robberies that happened in the more residential Lower Quarter from Dumaine Street to Esplanade Avenue.

Surprisingly, 34 of the 184 robberies occurred in the Marigny Triangle, where the streets curve around for a few blocks from Esplanade Avenue to Elysian Fields Avenue and go up as far as St. Claude Avenue. Only 32 of the robberies were in the CBD where the streets are virtually devoid of foot traffic--and thus, victims--after dark.

Surprising too is how few of the robberies are on Canal, Iberville or Conti streets in the heart of the tourist mecca. Each had 5 robberies; Iberville was the nearest cross-street in 8 others, Canal in one other, and Conti in 2 others.

Even Bourbon Street is not as dangerous as you might suspect. Running its full length from Canal to Esplanade, Bourbon was the scene of 16 robberies and was the cross-street in 11 others in both the Upper and Lower Quarters.

Startling too was the revelation that 2 rather peaceful-seeming streets were subject to so much violence: Gov. Nicholls and St. Philip streets. There were 5 robberies on Gov. Nicholls, and it was the cross-street in 9 others; on St. Philip there were 6 robberies and it was the nearest street in 7 others. Both of those rather bucolic short neighborhood fares matched the totals on the whole length of Royal and Decatur streets.

Even North Rampart Street, the boundary between the French Quarter and Treme where many of the robbers are suspected of being holed up, doesn't make it into the top 10 of the worst places. Only 6 robberies occurred on that street, and 3 more on streets near it.

The MOST DANGEROUS streets? The 2 most dangerous streets--those you almost instinctively recall hearing over and over again--are Burgundy and Dauphine streets. They were each the scene of 21 robberies last year. Burgundy was the cross-street in 19 other robberies and Dauphine in 15 others.

Some speculate that the 2 streets being so relatively quiet and in close proximity to each other allows robbers to cruise down Burgundy from Canal, turn on Esplanade and go one block, turn up Dauphine and go back to Canal--all the while hunting for victims.

The SAFEST streets? The 3 safest streets are all contiguous and straddle the boundary between the Upper Quarter and Lower Quarter--Orleans, St. Ann, and Dumaine. There were only 2 robberies on Orleans and Dumaine, and one on St. Ann which is sandwiched between the other 2. Ironically, Dumaine is right next to St. Philip, which is one of the worst streets.

St. Peter, which is also contiguous with those 3, just upriver from Orleans, could probably be considered safe too, since it had only one robbery, but it was the cross-street in 7 other robberies (among them 2 at Burgundy and 2 at Dauphine).

Why are some streets safer? Obviously streets like Burgundy and Dauphine, which are more lightly traveled and have less foot traffic, are prone to robbers isolating lone victims. But why is Dumaine one of the safest streets while St. Philip, right next to it, is one of the most violent?

It would be interesting--maybe even vital--for the NOPD, or a civic group like Lower Quarter Crime Watch, to try to assess what it is about one street that makes it safer. Or what makes it more dangerous.

Maybe it's the number of streetlights working on a safe street or burned out on a dangerous street? Or brighter porch lights illuminating the safer streets? Maybe there are fewer hiding places for thugs to lie in wait?

There could be any number of reasons, but determining what makes a street safe could be replicated on other streets to make them safer too.

How to protect yourself: Until we have that ideal world where we can step out our door and stroll the French Quarter any time of day or night without fear, there are some precautions you can take.

Perhaps you don't have to be as cautious as the person I heard about recently who, leaving a party at one of the most dangerous intersections late at night, took a cab home--all of 2 blocks away.

But the best way to stay safe on the streets is to stay vigilant. Pay attention to your locale, cars cruising by, pedestrians approaching (whether from the front or rear), people loitering on the street. If you encounter any situation that looks threatening, change your pattern--turn around and walk the other direction, turn down a side street, stand on a well-illuminated doorstep. Take your cellphone out and make a show of calling 911--and do it, to report a threatening situation.

There are those who advocate going armed down those dangerous streets. But you have to ask yourself whether you have the experience or aptitude to match up against a hoodlum who isn't thinking right to begin with. You don't want to get into a quick-draw contest with a hopped-up druggie who's already got his gun out and his mind on your money.

And if you'd rather rely on pepper spray or a taser, do you want to be that close to a demon such as you've encountered to be able to use it? I have heard of at least one case where she emptied her pepper spray canister on an attacker and all it did was infuriate him further and intensify his attack on her.

It ultimately comes back to staying alert. Day and night. Brightly lit street or dim. Lots of people around or few. If you sense danger, get someone to go with you, or wait and go later. But don't allow yourself to be a victim.

This is the list of the most dangerous streets. The numbers after each street indicate the total number of robberies last year on that street or near it:

1. Burgundy (40)
2. Dauphine (36)
3. Bourbon (27)
4. Gov Nicholls (14)
5. Decatur (13)
6. Royal (13)
7. St. Philip (13)
8. Iberville (13)
9. St. Louis (12)
10. Frenchmen (10)
11. Barracks (10)
12. Ursulines (10)
13. Bienville (10)
14. Chartres (9)
15. N. Rampart (9)
16. Esplanade (9)
17. St. Peter (8)
18. Conti (7)
19. Canal (6)
20. Toulouse (6)
21. Pauger (6)
22. Kerlerec (4)
23. Dumaine (3)
24. Orleans Ave. (3)
25. St. Ann (3)

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As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com

Thom Kahler