Carjackings in the Big Easy have skyrocketed over the last three years, more than doubling since before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to city data.
New Orleans has grappled with increased violent crime in the last few years. It had the most homicides per capita among major U.S. cities in September, earning it the title as the nation's murder capital before being unseated by the year's end. And the city's homicide rate has doubled since 2019, according to the New Orleans City Council’s crime dashboard.
And carjackings soared, increasing 165% over a three-year period, the dashboard shows. There were 273 incidents last year compared to 103 in 2019.
Some New Orleans residents have taken precautions to avoid getting carjacked amid the citywide surge.
"You try to park close to your house or where you’re going," Kelly, of New Orleans, told Fox News. "You don’t sit in your car and play on your phone."
Sally, from New Orleans, said people "have to be aware of what's going on" around them when they leave the house.
Meanwhile, carjackings in cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis have also spiked in recent years. The City of Brotherly Love didn't live up to its name when carjackings increased by 494% since 2019, surpassing 1,300 in 2022, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
To hear more from partiers in a murder capital on the crime surge, click here.
