New Orleans has always been a hotspot for crimes, historically having one of the highest murder rates in the country. New Orleans prolific crimes can be traced back to the 19th century, when New Orleans was expanding its ports and commerce; groups fought for power to control the revenue streams. Ultimately, organized crime groups and mafia families fought for control - of ports, types of commerce and groups of workers they could control. These fights led to assassinations, murder, and other crimes that continue to this day. The police lost control - they would not step in to interfere with the illegal activities because either they were paid off by the criminals or feared they would be killed by the mafia. The lack of police intervention caused private citizens to step in, creating lynch mobs to tackle crime and take out criminals.
Founders of the American Crime Family, Charles and Antonio Matranga moved to New Orleans from Sicily in the middle of the 19th century to work . They opened a saloon and brothel, which would become their base for their mafia. They used racketeering of Italian dockworkers to make most of their money. The Provenzano family had control of all fruit shipments from South America. The Matranga family was threatening to have a war with them over the fruit, but the Provenzanos decided to let them take part of the money they make from the operation to avoid having a gang war. They ended up having a war over grocers, which ended up with many Matrangas dead .
The war attracted attention from the police after a while, which led to Police chief David Hennesy getting shot and killed by members of the Matranga. Nine of the Matranga crime family were put on trial for the murder, but before they could be convicted or set free, a lynch mob that was worried that they might be set free, attacked them at their holding cells. Eleven of the mafia members (nine on trial plus two visitors) sucumbed to injuries that they suffered during the attack. None of the lynch mob were charged with murder, because it would be too hard to figure out which members of the mob actually killed them.
This series of attacks is probably one of the best examples of how the criminal punishment system in New Orleans was affected by the expansion of the commerce and ports.
New Orleans was founded to be a port to the world – with its intersection at the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, it was a great location for world trade. However, it was also a cesspool of disease, floods, and other problems. Despite this, the city was a major economic powerhouse and the city grew and prospered despite of the problems.
The book Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?, written by independent journalist and private investigator Ethan Brown, tells the horrific true story of the bayou town of Jennings, Louisiana located in the heart of the Jefferson Davis parish. During the four year duration between 2005 and 2009, the town of Jennings was on edge after the discovery of the bodies of eight murdered women were found in the filthy canals and swamps. The victims became known as the “Jeff Davis 8.” For years, local law enforcement suspected a serial killer, and solely investigated the murders based on that theory alone. The victims were murdered in varying manors, but when alive they all shared many commonalities and were connected to
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
Crime in New Orleans is treacherously high; it has been the worst year since 2004. The ordeal lies with trying to teach old dogs new tricks instead of doing the unattainable the justice system should focus on children who are still innocent and deserving of a better future. Kids need persistent discipline, but if their parents are sluggish on the matter how are they going to learn right from wrong? P.A.S.T. will help teach kids that the violence is nothing but history. The program will help children in any household setting because the program’s converge doesn’t have much to do with the children’s parents, nor is it optional. Therefore, the parents will not have a choice in the matter of having their children taken out of P.A.S.T. that will be determined solely by the judge, but they can request for their child to be placed into the program. The program is focused on the first crime or things children would normally not receive punitive measures for whether it either be in the household or in public ranging from acts of defiance to misdemeanors, such as stealing small items, getting in fights, or relentless disrespect or abuse towards parents or siblings. Ways to improve the crime rate in New Orleans are to follow the step process of P.A.S.T which is to punish, assess, show sentiment, and thrive.
Katrina is the costliest U.S hurricane, with estimated damage over $81 billion and costs over $160 billion.” The people that were affected the most was the poor people, children, the sick, and the elderly. Most of New Orleans was underwater; it was going to take a long time for the city to come back from this. “The The rescue and recovery efforts following Katrina became highly politicized, with federal, state and local officials pointing fingers at one another.” People didn’t get the proper warnings to evacuate. After the hurricane “Government officials have sought to learn from the tragedy and implement better environmental, communications and evacuation policies.” Ten years after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the city is still dealing with still trying to recover. The have lost a lot when the hurricane hit and it affected them financially, because of the popular areas that are in New Orleans. In all, almost everyone that evacuate from New Orleans fled to Houston which led to the population to grow, but also those that came to Houston had a different feeling about things. Houston has also had its fair shares has had 27 disasters- eight hurricanes, eight floods, six severe storms, three
To begin with, anybody privy to the events in New Orleans that ensued after Hurricane Katrina struck knows that horrible things that had nothing to do with natural causes happened: there were murders, gunfire directed at a rescue helicopter, assaults and, courtesy of New Orleans’ city police department, a myriad other crimes that most probably went unreported (Katrinacoverage.com).
The population of New Orleans was steadily decreasing, between the years of 2000 and 2005, 30,000 (6%) of the population left New Orleans in search for better lives (4). The declining population shows us that before Hurricane Katrina residence were already considering leaving the city, some push factors leading them away from the city include poverty and unemployment (5). Accord to the U.S 2005 Census Bureau around 23% of the residence lived in poverty, this can be a result of the nearly 12% unemployment rate (5). With an unemployment rate double the national standard and nearly one forth the population living in poverty, the city of New Orleans had many push factors against it resolution in a decline population prier to Hurricane Katrina. At the time of the storm nearly 400,000 residents were displaced from their homes too near by safe areas or other states. The population reming in the city as decreased to a few thousand (6). A month after the disaster when the levee breaches were repaired and the flood water was pumped out of the city, residence were allowed to return to what was left of their homes. The first reliable estimate of the New Orleans population after Hurricane Katrina was an ‘American Community survey’. The survey projected that by the start of 2006 around one third or 158,000 of the population returned. By the middle of f2006 the city
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast of the United States. The storm was measured as a category three hurricane which had reached winds of approximately one hundred and forty miles per hour. The storm had initially measured almost four hundred miles across affecting the areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Of these three affected areas, Louisiana contained the largest amount of damage; however, one city in particular suffered the greatest damage and was the primary focus of this disaster. That was the city of New Orleans. The city of New Orleans was at an incredibly high risk for a few reasons. One reason was that New Orleans was surrounded by significant bodies of water. Each of these bodies of water had contained levees that were built in the twentieth century, where some were stronger than others. Those levees that were not built properly held the greatest risk of being breached and causing treacherous flooding as well. Another factor included New Orleans being located below sea level, which had included the “city’s poorest and most vulnerable pe...
Hurricane Katrina left a devastating scar on the citizens of the southern coast of the U.S., especially New Orleans, Louisiana. The category 5 hurricane was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the most deadly. Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29th, 2005 and after that day, 66,000 people were displaced from their homes. Of those who decided to ride out the storm with hopes of success and survival as they had experienced with other storms, they were found on their rooftops, in their attics, hoping for boat or helicopter rescue, relying on others for help to survive. The storm had reached 28,000 square feet inward to Louisiana, which was 60 percent of the state. 1,100 Louisianans lost their lives, and 200,000 were displaced and/or lost their homes (Davis 8). It was a devastating time of despair and suffering. People were put through experiences that would scar them for a long time. While preparing for evacuation, people left most of their belongings at home to flee to a safer city or to find shelter in the Superdome and Convention Center. Some even decided to remain in their boarded up homes. After the hurricane had past, a few hours went by and a levee located near the Mississippi River canal broke leaving New Orleans flooded (Delisi). After the disaster, the state and federal governments were pointing fingers at each other as to who was to blame for the poorly planned evacuation and rescue efforts for the victims. The state government promised to help evacuate those who could not transport themselves. Citizens were told to go to the Superdome and convention center for evacuation, but the supplies needed for survi...
Hurricane Katrina put a hindrance on New Orleans because the city was left with blighted properties that span from the 9th ward to the 7th ward. Blighted properties were a direct result from flooding, wind damage, and citizens that moved or were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. When the levees broke an abundance of water entered the city and caused homes and business to become flooded. When the city was under water for days it created damage, homes were crumbled to pieces and even uprooted from the ground. Flooding even caused homes to deteriorate and become inhabitable and unsuitable. Blighted properties became breeding grounds for crime, infestation of rodents and other animals, dumping of dead bodies, fires (arson), mold, squatters (homeless), and other serious health issues. These are serious challenges that the city of New Orleans must tackle.
Crime in this country is an everyday thing. Some people believe that crime is unnecessary. That people do it out of ignorance and that it really can be prevented. Honestly, since we live in a country where there is poverty, people living in the streets, or with people barely getting by, there will always be crime. Whether the crime is robbing food, money, or even hurting the people you love, your family. You will soon read about how being a criminal starts or even stops, where it begins, with whom it begins with and why crime seems to be the only way out sometimes for the poor.
There comes a time in the world where the outcome of certain events can cause a huge social change, one of those events is Hurricane Katrina. The events that took place prior to, during and after Katrina although impact only a few places physically it was left in the minds of everyone in the world. There were many actions that could have taken place to prevent the damage of such a catastrophic event, however nothing was done. Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 hurricane struck Louisiana and parts of the Mississippi. New Orleans in particular, due to various reasons received the most damage. Katrina first started off as a small hurricane formed in the Bahamas as it moved towards Louisiana and Mississippi it became a category 5, which is the strongest it can become, then decreased to category 3 once it finally struck. The storm caused an incredible amount of damage that Hurricane Katrina was noted as the most destructive and costly natural disaster in US history. The death toll was 1,836 people with 200 bodies left unclaimed as well as over 700 people unaccounted for. Hurricane Katrina was a source of social change as people have learned from the impact it had on the mind and body of the citizens of New Orleans, the mismanagement and lack of leadership the government showed, and the substantial immediate and long term economic damage it caused the country.
= Gang Violence in California The City of Los Angeles is the “gang capital” of the nation. There are more than 450 active gangs in the City of Los Angeles. Many of these gangs have been in existence for over 50 years. These gangs have a combined membership of over 45,000 individuals.
Peter Maas declares organized crime the “biggest business in the country” (Maas). “The largest and best known organized crime group is the nationwide organization variously known as the ‘syndicate’, the ‘mob’, the ‘Mafia’, and the ‘Cosa Nostra’” (Nash, Jason O-155). Some activities of the Mafia include gambling, loan sharking, pornography, illicit drugs, and racketeering. The Mafia began in Sicily, but did not retain to just that one location. In fact, in the late nineteenth century many of the Sicilian members immigrated to the United States (Nash O-155). The Mafia in the United States contains members that are Americans with Sicilian ancestry (“Mafia” M-48). There are several Mafia groups in the United States. Law enforcement authorities agree that there are around twenty-five groups that operate in large cities across the nation (Nash O-155).
Every year many natural disasters happen around the world. In New Orleans, and several other states, a devastating hurricane struck. High speed winds and major flooding caused many people to lose their homes and even their lives. Many people have heard of hurricane Katrina, but not everybody knows what caused it and the affect it had on the United States.