BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. – Hurricane Katrina didn’t merely toss the lives of law-abiding Gulf Coast citizens into chaos, it disrupted the routines of criminals in ways that law enforcement officials and criminologists are still struggling to understand.
Like the currents and eddies of the storm’s devastating surge -- which at times left one home standing while flattening another next door -- Katrina’s impact on crime rates has been both fickle and hard to quantify.
Edward Shihadeh, a professor of sociology at Louisiana State University and co-coordinator of the university’s Crime and Policy Evaluation Research Group, noted that measuring Katrina’s impact in the storm zone and areas that received large numbers of refugees is impossible because of the massive population shifts it caused.
“In order to calculate a crime rate on a per capita basis, you need to have an intelligent guess what the population is,” he said. “Any calculation based on the (pre-Katrina) population data is worthless.”
Also complicating matters in many of the hardest-hit areas is the destruction of police department computer systems used to track arrests and convictions.
“We’re only now kind of getting back to where we can operate,” said Maj. Bobby Underwood, chief of the patrol division of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, which has set up shop in an old Dollarwise store miles inland from its wrecked former headquarters in Bay St. Louis.
Anecdotal evidence and interviews with local law enforcement officials in Hancock County, Miss., indicate that crime rates have climbed in some areas and declined in others in the months since Katrina. Certain crimes, such as looting, rose sharply in the storm’s wake and then abated, while others, including domestic violence and alcohol-related offenses, are becoming more pernicious as the months drag on.
Changing the face of crime
Some examples of the varied ways the storm has changed the face of crime in the Gulf Coast:
· The exodus of much of New Orleans’ populace has slashed the violent crime rate in what was annually ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in America. Police Lt. Billy Cerevolo told the Houston Chronicle in December that the city’s Ninth Ward -- once a hotbed for crime -- is now considered a “retirement district” because officers there do very little aside from protecting the badly damaged property of residents who may never return. A citywide decline in serious crime led Louisiana state Rep. Peppi Bruneau to suggest in November that the city should begin downsizing its police department.
· In Houston, home to an estimated 100,000 new residents displaced by Katrina, police said last week that at least 23 people who relocated to the city from the hurricane zone are either victims or suspects in murders. Mayor Bill White has asked FEMA to pony up $6.5 million to help police combat increased crime.
· In Baton Rouge, La., which saw its pre-Katrina population of 227,818 approximately double overnight, police statistics show no significant increase in serious crime in the three months after the storm. “Police officers I talked to … said the one big increase has been in traffic accidents and traffic altercations,” said Shihadeh, the LSU professor. “They said, ‘This is pretty much what we do around the clock.’”
Interviews with law enforcement officials in Hancock County, Bay St. Louis and Waveland support the premise that the storm had nuanced effects on individual jurisdictions.
For example, officials in both cities say that they have been making few drug busts in recent months while the Sheriff’s Department narcotics unit, which lost two of its four officers in the aftermath of Katrina, is now seeing more drug activity than before the storm.
“It was dead, but it started picking up around Nov. 1, and in December, we had a case a day,” said Matt Karl, the department’s director of narcotics enforcement.
Dealing drugs from FEMA trailers
Some recent busts carried out by the squad include the seizure of 7 pounds of crystal methamphetamine from a local dealer and a raid that led to the arrest of 10 suspects who allegedly were selling crack out of a pair of FEMA trailers.
The latter case is a source of frustration in the overtaxed department, since the suspects were released on bail and have returned to selling drugs from the encampment, said Deputy Abe Long.
“They’re still there, and they’re back at it,” he said, adding that calls to FEMA to try to get them evicted were in vain: “They all say, ‘We’re going to get back to you,’ but we’ve had no further contact.”
Other trends, though, are universal among the departments.
All made numerous looting arrests in the first weeks after the storm, and Waveland Police Chief James Varnell said his officers continue to pick up the occasional “accidental looter.”
“A lot of people are sightseeing and just pick something up,” he said. “These are people who never would ever have thought of stealing anything and didn’t look at it as stealing.”
Overall, he said, crime in Waveland is probably up slightly from pre-Katrina levels, “but I don’t think it’s that much more.”
'Crimes of opportunity'
Frank McNeil, police chief in Bay St. Louis, said his department has seen an increase in “crimes of opportunity,” such as residential break-ins and theft of building materials, tools and heavy equipment. But that rise has been offset by drops in drug-related arrests and petty crime, leaving the overall number of crimes reported today at about the same level as before the storm, he said.
But he said his officers do get called out on a lot more calls from residents hearing “suspicious” sounds.
“In those trailers, you can hear everything that’s going on outside,” he said.
All three departments say that one area where they have seen a significant increase is domestic violence, a trend that experts say tracks with what they’ve seen after previous natural disasters.
Kenny Hurt, director of investigations for the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, attributes the rise to frustration among residents over the extended hardships they’ve had to weather and to nerves frayed by extended periods spent in close quarters.
“Everybody’s confined in the trailers, and a lot of neighbors are crammed in so close (in FEMA encampments),” he said.
Waveland’s Varnell agreed with Hurt’s general assessment but said the bureaucracy surrounding the rebuilding process is the biggest source of frustration.
“Everything you do takes an act of Congress. Everything is a task,” he said. “Nobody has any patience, and the officers are on edge, too.”
A matter of control
Rita Smith, executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said that while difficult circumstances play a role, they aren’t the underlying reason that violence in the home typically increases after a natural disaster.
“I think for perpetrators of domestic violence, control is a huge issue, and when they have no control over anything else in their lives, control of their family is still available to them,” she said, adding that rape also often climbs after natural disasters. “(The frustration) doesn’t cause it, but it impacts frequency and severity.”
Some of the changes in crime patterns since Katrina are the result of changes in police agencies’ ability to combat it.
All three police agencies in Hancock County have been able to replace most of their essential equipment –– patrol cars, guns, bullet-proof vests and computers -- thanks to donations from out-of-state departments. But all have lost staff since the storm and have had to reprioritize to meet post-Katrina realities.
No place to put drug task force
“We haven’t seen as many drug arrests as before, said Waveland’s Varnell, speaking from a trailer in the parking lot of the city’s wrecked police station on Highway 90. “But that’s probably a result of the (diminished) population and the time dedicated to it.
“We lost all our equipment for our narcotics task force, … (and) now we don’t have a place to put it or to put the task force.”
At the makeshift sheriff’s station, meanwhile, narcotics officer Long is trying to work through a thick pile of backlogged drug cases on his desk.
“We’re not allowed to work overtime, … we can’t hire anybody and we have no relief,” the 35-year-old deputy said, shaking his head. “We’re just taking care of problems as they arise instead of being proactive.”
Da train, boss! Da train!
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If you've never lived in a ghetto then you don't understand what these people are going through. Selling drugs is clearly wrong but before Katrina hit that's how they were surviving. If America had stepped in a long time ago and seen that there is way too much generational poverty going on in such a developed country and started developing social programs to help people all over the country who can't find work and other things we wouldn't have so many problems. As a Black person I can totally relate to the victims because I was there, homeless, on welfare, without any hope but I got ahold of community programs and I'm now a senior in college working full time and paying taxes. The victims need more than just FEMA debit cards, America owes them a proper education, job opportunities, parenting classes, vocational training, and I can go on and on for days. The poor and minorities in America have always had an unfair advantage when it comes to surviving in America so until we step in and show them that there are other ways to live and we do care then they are going to continue to sell drugs and act a certain way no matter if they are at home, in a shelter or wherever. The aftermath of Katrina is so sad to me because I've seen my fellow Black people suffer all of my life and this is just too much. But in a way it's good because it shows the rest of the country we have a serious social problem where the poor and minorities are living in ghettos with no money, no cars,no education, and no hope and when the storm hit they all came out and gave us all something to seriously think about.
Melissa (Sent Feb 2, 2006 2:06:25 PM)
would love to load all the NON law-abiding people on several buses and personally deliver them to Nagin (mayor)..Blanco(governor) and yes....maybe a few to Crawford, TX..We are overwhelmed here in Houston..not safe to go anywhere anymore....Sleep light Mayor and governor....the buses will be rolling again.
Dblackstock....Houston (Sent Feb 2, 2006 2:06:27 PM)
I honestly believe that there will always be a criminal element in any society but at what point do our legislators and elected officials realize that the war we need to wage is not in Iraq, Korea or Iran! It is right here in America where poverty (which is a contributing factor towards criminal behavior)is rampant! Wake up. Lets clean up our own back yard before we go traipsing around the globe. Or maybe we could bring our servicemen home and totally alleviate our penal system by emptying the jails and sending the convicts to hunt for Bin Laden and police IRAQ!!! Imagine the tax savings!!!!!!!
r.morrison (Sent Feb 2, 2006 2:18:11 PM)
We were there in MS, on the coast, during the storm and after it. I agree that there are a lot of people who didn't help themselves and took and are still taking advantage, but let's now forget the thousands of others who are not taking advantage. There are so many men and women who are there in LA & MS doing their jobs and doing the best they can. We as a nation need to be compassionate, forgiving and understanding or those who have suffered. As one who was there and saw the before and after, I can promise unless you've been though something like this, you have no idea what it can do to a persons moral. Please be patient and make a humanitarian effort to stay open minded and kind.
Jane Doe, MS (Sent Feb 2, 2006 2:31:02 PM)
WELL,WHY ARE THEY REBUILDING A CITY BELOW SEA LEVEL ANYWAY? AND NOW THEY ARE GETTING MORE BAD WEATHER. ALL OUR TAX DOLLARS AND BEING WASTED. IF I WERE A COP, I WOULD JUST RELOCATE. IF IS NOT WORTH IT TO TRY TO FIGHT CRIME IN THAT AREA. THE PEOPLE THERE REALLY DON'T WANT YOU TO ANYWAY.
JTAYLOR PITTSBURGH, PA (Sent Feb 2, 2006 2:39:12 PM)
I bet you people from Houston voted for Bush. You get everything you deserve
joe (Sent Feb 2, 2006 2:39:45 PM)
People need to learn how to read. The article did not say that ALL THE PEOPLE effected by the hurricane is breaking the law it said "some people" are breaking the law. The idoit that dumped all of the New Orleans people into the group of "drug dealers" needs to take reading 101 again.
peggy johnson (Sent Feb 2, 2006 2:46:50 PM)
Ron Morningstar from Richland, Wash. said it all. Can't add much to that!!!
SLD, Farmville, VA (Sent Feb 2, 2006 3:22:17 PM)
What I can't understand is that this country will start a Wae in Iraq, Demolish the Intrastructure and then be willing to pour Billions of dollars into a country that could care less about us. Now we have a tragedy in the Gulf coast and we can't put the same effort into our own citizens displacement or well being. With Presidents Bush's so called leadership and compassion why haven't we made any progress in comming up with a committee or let alone a plan for the rebuilding. When it comes to displacement and people of color this country seems to work at a snails pace. I distinctively remember how all these weathly american countries rallied when the tzunami hit Asia. Our President and his Administration should be ashamed of its self.
Mark (USN Ret ) (Sent Feb 2, 2006 3:58:41 PM)
And Exxon had the largest ever profits for 4th quarter!
SusanneA. (Sent Feb 2, 2006 4:04:11 PM)
I think we should stop making this such a racial issue, even though it may seem that way. All types of peoples lives were destroyed, not just black, or white. We should try to give more support and less criticism, we all know and understand that the government did next to nothing to help the city of New Orleans, and we can't do anything about that right now. What we can do is show some support for those who have lost so much, and the law enforcement officers trying to bring order back to their towns. Let's not make it worse by making it such a racial thing, it dampens the roots of the true problems that the New Orleans(including of course all the hard hit cities) citizens have to deal with everyday.
James, SC (Sent Feb 2, 2006 4:15:53 PM)
FIRST OF ALL I CANNOT IMAGINE SUCH A STORM, BUT OUR
PAST STORMS IN S.C. HAVE ALMOST BEEN AS BAD. I AM SO
SICK THAT PEOPLE WILL NOT TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES OR
THEIR FAMILIES. THE GOVERNMENT HAS PAID FOR THEM FOR
GENERATIONS AND WE STILL PAY.WE HAVE ALWAYS HAD POOR
PEOPLE AND THE 13 BILLION,30 YEARS LATER WE ARE BACK
TO THE SAME SQUARE. PEOPLE ARE SICK TO DEATH OF THOSE
PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT HELP THEMSELVES, AND LETS THEIR
NEIGHBORS CONTINUE TO FEED THEM. SOMEBODY SHOOT UP
AMONG US ...PLEASE
JEANIE M WHITENER (Sent Feb 2, 2006 4:19:32 PM)
i'm a dallas texas resident and work in the staffing industry; we rushed to assist these evacs w/permanent, as well as temp jobs just after the hurricane and every last one of them have fell off and all f/the same reason, attendance; they ALWAYS HAVE to take off to go stand in a line f/a benefit or another!!! our clients were, of course, understanding at first, but oh my gawd!!! i agree w/the other posting that the majority of these people are lazy and want only a handout; i've ONLY seen the hardworking and honest NO residents on tv ... PHANTOMS!!!
PamPam of Dallas (Sent Feb 2, 2006 4:36:51 PM)
TO MR MORNINGSTAR FROM WASHINGTON,
YOUR COMMENTS ARE VERY HARSH TO THE PEOPLE WHO LOST EVERYTHING THEY OWN. THE ONLY THING THEY HAVE TO LIVE IN IS A FEMA TRAILER OR A TENT. I AM SURE THERE ARE SOME LAZY PEOPLE DOWN HERE BUT ISNT THAT EVERYWHERE? THE PEOPLE HERE ARE , FOR THE MOST PART, TRYING TO HELP THEMSELVES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. THIS IS A DEVASTATED AREA AND WE CAN'T DO IT ALONE. IF IT WERE YOU IN THIS SITUATION, I AM SURE YOU WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION.
KAREN, BAY ST LOUIS, MS (Sent Feb 2, 2006 5:57:41 PM)
It is amazing how much money we are wasting on the people of New Orleans. I wish Americans had a truer picture of how their money is being spent. The hell with those trying to improve themselves, let's give out more free houses from HUD to thugs. Better yet, let's give out FEMA vouchers so that everyone can go to Walmart and buy a big screen TV or jewlery.
John Doe, Paradise, La (Sent Feb 2, 2006 5:59:38 PM)
Law Enforcement can only do so much; however, conditions and situations produce crime. One should look at the new people in their cities and say, "by the grace of God, there go I".
An-Belinda Honablezh Sacramento, CA (Sent Feb 2, 2006 7:02:16 PM)
Let's not group together the vicitms of New Orleans and Mississippi. These two groups are so different it's not funny. I am originally from New Orleans and my family lives in SW Mississippi. It is ignorant to think that the residents/evacuees from one are the same as residents/evacuees from the other. I can speak from personal knowledge that the criminal element in New Orleans (or whereever they are now living) are lazy, law-breaking, drug-infected thugs. Please do not confuse them with or group them with the vicitms in SW Mississippi. Black and white citizens there get along fine and it's not nearly the same lifestyle as in New Orleans. The people in SW Missisippi are not lazy and just looking for a handout. Please visit there if you think otherwise.
Lenora Atlanta, GA (former New Orleans and MS resident) (Sent Feb 2, 2006 8:10:28 PM)
Hurricanes can take the people out of the Ninth Ward ("a hotbed for crime"), but it can NEVER take the Ninth Ward out of the people. We should've known what kind of animals we were inviting over when we witnessed what happened at the Super Dome and Convention Center. Go home evacuees! You've worn out your welcome!
John A., Pearland, Texas (Sent Feb 2, 2006 8:10:57 PM)
It's wrong to lump all of the Katrina victims together and say that none of them deserve help. Speaking as a Mississippi Katrina victim, I can tell you that though my family lost our home, we have worked hard to help ourselves and others--and we are definitely not the only ones doing this. There are so many people here, victims themselves, who are doing everything in their power to help themselves and others through this devastating time. If you see us with our hand out, it's to help pull others up, not to ask for charity.
Our whole world has been turned upside down and inside out, but those on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are, for the most part, a very hard working, honest, brave sort. If you will pay close attention to the news, you'll notice that no one is complaining about Mississippi evacuees causing problems. There is more than one reason for this. One reason is that we aren't a bunch of criminals and wellfare recipients who have been laying back, getting government support all of our lives, like many of the 9th Ward citizens.
Also, another thing that doesn't seem to be making the news is the fact that the vast majority of drug busts and DUI's in this area involve workers from out of state that came here to take advantage of the many job opportunities in cleanup and construction since the hurricane. Everything I've heard on the local news that involves murder, drug busts, DUI's lately has involved those people, not our locals.
Remember, there are all kinds of prejudice, not just that involving races. So many black Americans are yelling about racism, but there's another kind of prejudice going on here, that for Southerners in general and blue collar workers in particular. We may be poor, but we're proud, honest and hard working. Both my husband and I have worked since we were 16 years old, first at night, weekends and summers while we were still in school, then full time afterwards. It's very difficult for people like us to ask for or accept help, so do not add to our misery by attempting to tar us all with the same brush and lump us all into one tidy little pile of humanity that you think you can stick a label on and dismiss. Mississippi will get through this with or without your help. Of course help makes it easier and faster, but don't worry, we take care of our own.
Rhonda (Sent Feb 2, 2006 8:16:28 PM)
I live in Louisiana and I see nothing that is being done with all of the "money" to fix New Orleans. I think some people are just sticking the "money" in their pockets. The schools are suffering from the people coming here.
Ellen S. Ball,La. (Sent Feb 2, 2006 9:35:25 PM)
I find it very interesting that of the total number of evacuees, which I believe numbers well over 1 million people, only some 250,000 or so have returned to begin rebuilding. And, the majority of them are white. Nagin made his racist statement that NO would once again be a "chocolate city", apparently to attempt to lure the black population back. Can you imagine if a white mayor of any other major city in the nation said something like "we will rebuild our city into a vanilla city again"? That person would be brought up on charges! Everybody knows that NO was, and is, one of the most corrupt cities in the nation, and I am sure the politicians are foaming at the mouth over all the Federal money flooding in, trying to figure out how to best funnel as much as possible to themselves, their cronies, etc. The whole situation is SICKENING. I know a guy who went to NO, is now working for FEMA, placing FREE mobile homes on lots with homes that are destroyed. Brand new, fully furnished, and the first question out of the mouths of the recipients is, "What, no free cable TV?" This from people who didn't even HAVE televisions in the first place! Our tax money should only be going to those who are willing to WORK to restore their property. I also know an insurance adjuster who spent over a year working in the NO area, several years ago, after a chemical plant blew up. The contractors hired to do the repairs on the homes affected could not find any local help willing to do the work, even when they offered cash, tax free money. They had to bring in help from out of state. It is becoming apparent that in the name of political correctness, we are pouring who knows how much tax money into a cess pool. I totally agree with Ron Morningstar above. The Federal Government didn't cause the hurricane, and if the local government, both city and state, had used the funds given by congress to actually REBUILD the levies BEFORE the storm, they wouldn't be in such a mess. They need to QUIT blaming the Feds, and GET TO WORK. Make them work for the rebuilding money.
Tom J. Denver, Colorado (Sent Feb 2, 2006 10:50:39 PM)
Thank you, Rhonda. Grouping any locality into one "type" of people is perhaps the worst, most hurtful prejudice of all. I am also living and working in Hancock County, and watching almost everyone I know here rebuild - with or without help. Yes, there was a small percentage of our population BEFORE the storm that committed crimes or sat back and took handouts. Katrina didn't change them, it just gave them more opportunities to be themselves. However, they do not represent the majority of Hancock County's people.
I think the focus of this report - the rebuilding of Bay St. Louis and Waveland - was blurred during this particular story. The story started out about police and sheriffs in Hancock County, then quoted various statistics comcerning New Orleans evacuees.
We are a normal place trying to overcome an abnormal event. We appreciate all the volunteer help (you guys rock!), the government's help, and the donations sent from all over the country. We appreciate the out-of-towners who are here to do honest work and earn a fair wage. We don't appreciate out-of-towners who cheat us or add to our crime. Please, America, don't believe the worst you hear - at least open your heart to some of the good things you hear about us, as well. They are true.
Diane, Diamondhead, MS (Sent Feb 2, 2006 10:57:32 PM)
I know contractors who went to the shelters around the NO and Baton Rouge areas offering $10-20/hr for workers to help clean up. They had a hard time finding anyone willing. As a local college student, I was able to make good money working weekends in NO, with no prior experience. Some people are lazy and will always be lazy no matter the opportunities placed before them. They will be content living a substandard lifestyle as long as its given to them. Those with motivation and drive will always get through the hard times. I have no sympathy for those who can't help themselves. There will never be an equal playing field for all citizens. Life is not fair, anywhere in the world, and an infinite number of government programs will not make it fair. How badly you want a better life will determine if you achieve it or not. I personally know many people struggling to get their lives back together. But they will, because they have that desire.
Adam, Baton Rouge (Sent Feb 2, 2006 11:47:43 PM)
WELL SAID RHONDA! COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF!
Lori, MS Gulf Coast (Sent Feb 2, 2006 11:56:37 PM)
These professional miscreants from the 9th Ward, responsible for the post Katrina "violent" crime wave in Houston, have suddenly found themselves in an enviroment and locale where their behavior actually calls attention to itself.
Don't put up with it Houstonians! Write your Senators and Congressmen imploring them to respond to your local law enforcement's request for funding to address this problem.
Assemble the men and materiel` necesary to hunt them down and treat them like the domestic "terrorists" that they are!
Do us all a favor and do what the Landrieu's, the Nagin's, and the Blanco's wouldn't do (to their voter base) -- and send them to meet Jesus!
Take them out of the mix -- the rest of us have a chunk of civilzation to rebuild!
LeeRoy in West Monroe (Sent Feb 3, 2006 12:14:40 AM)
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