While the city of New Orleans has been at work removing politically incorrect monuments, the city’s crime problem has exploded. In the past 48 hours, 4 people have been murdered and another 12 injured.

Crime has been a problem in New Orleans for pretty much forever, but it has taken a more brazen turn in reent years. Most of the victims have been poor black men. Therefore fighting crime isn’t as much of a priority as it should be.

Don’t look for that change in the final days of the Mitch Landrieu mayorship. After all, he believes Confederate monuments drove people out of New Orleans.

New Orleans is set to go to the polls later this year to elect a new mayor. In addition to the other problems of decaying infrastructure, lack of economic development, and an overall poor quality of life, the next mayor needs to address crime. Without public safety, a modern city cannot function. Clearly many residents of the Crescent City feel unsafe.

The way to lure the “best and brightest” to New Orleans is not to tear down Confederate monuments. What’s done is done on that front. The way to encourage people to move to the city is to provide a liveable city.