The “Fight, Not Fear” campaign that Baton Rouge businessman and political activist Lane Grigsby is bankrolling in an effort to move public support behind consolidating the Baton Rouge Police Department and East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office says both violent crime and property crime are 26% higher in Baton Rouge than in New Orleans.
Innovative Advertising of Mandeville, which is managing Grigsby’s campaign, based the percentages it released this morning on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports for 2011, released Oct. 29.
“The new FBI statistics prove that the situation in Baton Rouge is even worse than we initially thought,” says campaign spokesman Jay Connaughton in a news release.
The crime statistics show that Baton Rouge, with a population of 231,592, had 2,468 violent crimes and 64 murders in 2011. They also show that New Orleans, with a population of 346,974, had 2,748 violent crimes and 200 murders last year.
At the same time, Baton Rouge had 12,666 property crimes; New Orleans had 14,013. The “Fight, Not Fear” campaign was unavailable to comment this morning on whether it based its percentages on populations. Mayor Kip Holden was also unavailable for immediate response to the news release.
Grigsby as recently as August has said he endorses Councilman Mike Walker, Holden’s best-funded opponent in Tuesday’s election. Walker has made stemming crime at the forefront of his campaign. Baton Rouge police spokesman Cpl. Tommy Stubbs says the uptick in crime is largely due to an increase in population in recent years, as in nearby cities.
“The city of Zachary’s crime has increased, but so has their population,” Stubbs says.
Holden’s campaign says Baton Rouge police recently updated it on crime and forecasted a 15% reduction by the end of this year, says campaign spokeswoman Rannah Gray.
“Fight, Not Fear” says a unification of law enforcement will prevent crime, as has happened in other cities with a consolidated sheriff’s office and police department.
“Charlotte, Indianapolis, Louisville and Las Vegas have all unified their law enforcement and cut crime as a result,” says the campaign.
When the campaign launched more than a week ago, it noted the police department has been about 50 police officers short of a full staff for years.
To see the 2011 Uniform Crime Reports per each Louisiana city, click here.
