Sadly yes so it's sortof a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario. Just lately we've had serious issues recruiting police (largely due to antiquated pol

Sadly yes so it's sortof a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario. Just lately we've had serious issues recruiting police (largely due to antiquated policies like 'no visible tattoos' or 'they must live in Jefferson Parish (expensive on a cop's salary)'. The murder rate (always a problem in Nola) is actually currently down but violent crime is up significantly and the nature of the crime seems to be getting more and more brazen (http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/11266753-123/buffas-bar-in-french-quarter http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/11266753-123/buffa...). It's obviously a complicated issue that requires a lot more than just "more feet on the ground" but we certainly seem to not have enough at the moment. Here's a link but there's probably a million more available via Google: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/05/nopd_understaffing_examined.html http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/05/nopd_understaffi...