New Orleans violent crime falls for third straight year as National Guard begins patrol

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans police reported Monday that violent crime in the city declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, releasing the figures less than a week after 350 National Guard troops arrived to patrol on President Donald Trump’s orders. The timing produced competing claims over who or what deserves credit for the decline — and whether the federal deployment was warranted at all.

Local officials and crime analysts said the drop reflects a yearslong trend that predates the Guard deployment, while Trump attributed the reduction to troops who had arrived in the city only days earlier.

Crime figures

Murders in New Orleans fell to 121 in 2025, down from 266 in 2022, when the city was considered the country’s per-capita murder capital, according to violent crime data released by the New Orleans Police Department. The 2025 total includes 14 people killed in a vehicle-ramming attack on New Year’s Day last year. Shootings, armed robberies, and carjackings also declined over the same period, police said.

The NOPD defines “murders” as criminal homicides, including suspected homicides under investigation that have not yet been adjudicated, a department spokesperson said. The count excludes suspected suicides, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides.

Competing claims over credit

At a Saturday news conference, Trump credited the Guard deployment with the crime drop. “We have crime down to almost nothing already,” Trump said. He added: “I cannot imagine why governors would not want us to help.”

Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said she welcomed the troops’ presence while pointing to the longer-running trend. “The National Guard’s presence will certainly have impact,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re just grateful that crime is down, and I don’t care who gets the credit.”

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, had requested the deployment months before Trump approved sending 350 members to the state. Landry cited “elevated violent crime rates” in New Orleans as justification — a characterization local officials had contested for months, noting that crime had been declining and that Guard troops are not trained to arrest or jail people, investigate crimes, or prosecute anyone.

Guard confined to French Quarter

So far, Guard troops have been confined to the historic French Quarter, where troops were also deployed in 2025 following the New Year’s Day vehicle-ramming attack. Kirkpatrick said Monday she would welcome Guard members in other crime hot spots and called the deployment a boost to the 910-member city police force, which she described as understaffed.

“If they prevent a crime by their presence, I’m all for the safety of the city, as long as it’s constitutional and ethical,” Kirkpatrick added.

New Orleans is among several cities where Trump has launched National Guard missions; Washington and Memphis, Tennessee, are among the others.

Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, a Democrat, initially opposed the deployment but has since said she welcomes the federal government’s support for the city’s safety during major events in the Mardi Gras carnival season, which runs through February. A Landry spokesperson said the governor’s office did not yet have an answer for whether troops would be deployed beyond the French Quarter.

National context

Crime analysts said the decline in New Orleans reflects a broader national pattern. “We’re generally seeing a dramatic drop in overall crime pretty much everywhere across the country,” said Jeff Asher, a former CIA crime analyst and co-founder of AH Datalytics. “Declines in New Orleans being no exception there.”