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Riley was appointed by the mayor to run the N.O.P.D. after Chief Eddie Compass resigned in September, and he may be replaced, depending on the outcome of the mayoral election on May 20. So far, he has created a criminal intelligence bureau of about 100 officers to "focus on the reoccupation of the city by the criminal element," he says. For the most dangerous suspects, officers meet with judges to urge them to impose high bail. For now, the N.O.P.D. has the advantage of numbers. There are about 135 people in New Orleans for every police officer--or about half the number before Katrina.
In the past few months, "legacy" criminals, as the FBI calls them, have begun returning. Ten local gangs have regrouped where once there were 13. "The drug dealers have to have people to sell to, and now that the population is coming back, there's an increase in trafficking. It's the same thing with firearms. It's almost hand in hand," says Mark Chait, special agent in charge of ATF's New Orleans field office.
So far, the police have had some successes. Nationwide, 30 people from the list of 112 have been arrested, according to the FBI. (Two others are dead.) Public defender Dwight Doskey says he has had a couple of clients come back, thinking they could sell heroin without any competition. They got arrested. "The police were the only competition," Doskey says, "and they won."
Bernazzani is obsessively tracking signs, meanwhile, that members of new, better-organized gangs have come to New Orleans. And in the past few months, about 15 people affiliated with MS-13, the Latin Kings and other, largely Latino and Asian gangs have been arrested for mostly nonviolent crimes. Those organizations have not yet set up operations, but the trend concerns Bernazzani, who says they had no presence in the city before Katrina. Houston drug dealers may also be trying to enter the void, says Michele Leonhart, the No. 2 in charge of the DEA. "Houston-based traffickers are using New Orleans refugees as guides to open up the market. They say, 'Hey, why don't you drive with me to New Orleans for the day, and I'll let you in on some profit?'" Leonhart says. "All good traffickers are looking for new markets."
As for B-Stupid Harris, he came home on or before Mardi Gras, at least according to police, who have accused him of shooting a 22-year-old man to death on Feb. 28. On March 20, acting on a tip, police arrested Harris in a New Orleans suburb. Police say they found 3 1/2 oz. of heroin, 3 1/2 oz. of crack cocaine, two loaded assault rifles and a .45-cal. semiautomatic handgun, plus $5,800 in the house. Later that day, as he was paraded in shackles out of central lockup, Harris told reporters, "I ain't have nothing to do with no murders. Nothing." He did not respond to a letter sent to the jail by TIME, and his attorney was unable to reach him for comment.