Crime in New Orleans is on everyone’s minds. Just two years ago, New Orleans took the crown for “murder capital” of America in 2022 after an extremely violent year.

Two years later, a significant downturn in crime is reportedly taking place in New Orleans. Across the board, crime in New Orleans is at its lowest reported level since 2019 (pre-COVID-19).

Certainly, one of the main drivers of this decrease in crime is undoubtedly due to the increased state police presence in the city—dubbed as “Troop NOLA.”

Under Governor Jeff Landry, Troop NOLA is the latest effort by the state government to help fix the long-standing criminal elements plaguing New Orleans. Established in 2024, Troop NOLA is not under the tyrannical, decade-long consent decree of Obama-appointed judge Susie Morgan. Judge Morgan’s consent decree has undoubtedly played a major role in hampering the NOPD from stopping criminals. In fact, the Department of Justice claimed in early 2022 that the NOPD’s consent decree was almost done. It’s now July 2024, and the consent decree is still ongoing.

Unlike the NOPD, the Louisiana State Police is actually able to take the necessary actions to stop criminal activity in New Orleans. In fact, New Orleans residents witnessed multiple instances of the State Police chasing down criminals last month.

Just look at some of the fantastic fruits coming from Troop NOLA’s presence in the city over the past few months. Back in May 2024, the LA state police cracked down on the dangerous ATV street takeovers wrecking New Orleans. Then in mid-June, the Louisiana State Police made 13 arrests and confiscated three illegal guns in just one week.

Troop NOLA is making a tangible impact in improving public safety, and New Orleans residents are starting to notice. Even the “soft-on-crime” advocates in Louisiana’s establishment media are complaining about the newfound safety in the city.

Overall, Governor Landry is delivering on his campaign promise to make Louisiana safe again, and let’s hope that the state government continues to fix the many long-standing issues plaguing New Orleans.

With the Super Bowl taking place in seven months, New Orleans is finally making some much-needed headway on fixing crime. We still have a long way to go until New Orleans is a functioning city once again, but I am grateful to finally see some positive developments concerning public safety under the Landry administration.

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Nathan Koenig is a frequent contributor to RVIVR.com, a national conservative political site affiliated with The Hayride. Follow his writing on the Louisiana First Standard Substack, on Twitter (X) @LAFirstStandard, on Tik Tok @la.first.standard & on Instagram @lafirststandard. Email him here: louisianafirststandard@proton.me