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The Harris arrest was a triumph for Riley, who says locals have been more cooperative since Katrina. But there are familiar, depressing signs too. As TIME was first to report, the murder rate has picked up again in New Orleans and may approach 2004 levels before the year is out. So far, 33 people have been murdered this year--almost half of them in the month of April alone. A man assaulted two women in a bar in the French Quarter last week, and then shot and killed a man who came to their aid, police say. Today there are far fewer people in New Orleans and thus fewer dead bodies. But the number that matters most is the per capita figure. If this rate of killing continues, New Orleans will have an annual crime rate of roughly 45 murders per 100,000 people. (By comparison, New York City's murder rate last year was 7.)
The N.O.P.D. uses a higher population estimate for the city and claims that the murder rate is lower. No one really knows the exact population. But whatever the number, the forces at work in New Orleans change daily, so it is hard to predict the future. For example, last month, under threat of a lawsuit by the National Rifle Association, police began redistributing guns that had been confiscated as an emergency measure after Katrina. So far, 47 out of a stockpile of 942 have been returned. FEMA assistance is expected to drop in the next several months, which could also incite crime. Meanwhile, 300 N.O.P.D. officers are still living in hotels. "It's very difficult to fight crime when you're suffering from the same sources of depression and disruption as everyone else," says Scharf.
The court system is worse off than it was before the storm. The public defender's office is down from 42 attorneys to 21. The D.A.'s office has about 6,000 cases and only 65 prosecutors--compared with 3,500 cases and 90 attorneys before the storm. The office is now run out of a former nightclub, where a mirrored disco ball spins silently over the work space. The criminal court has yet to hold a single jury trial since Katrina.
And at least one judge is back to his old habits of freeing suspects arrested for serious crimes. In March, police and DEA agents arrested Brian Expose, 33, for dealing drugs. Police say they found $186,000 in cash; a pair of assault rifles; five other guns, including an automatic weapon with a silencer; and a large stash of ammunition--not to mention 6 oz. of cocaine.
The same day, New Orleans Criminal District Judge Charles Elloie set him free. From 2003 to 2004, Elloie, one of 12 judges, was responsible for 83% of cases in which a suspect was released after a bail reduction, according to a Metropolitan Crime Commission study. Since Katrina, Elloie has issued either no bail or low bail in at least four cases involving assault rifles, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Elloie did not respond to a call from TIME.
The only bright spot of the Expose tale is that the backlash was swift. Under pressure from local media, Elloie issued a bench warrant for Expose's rearrest--claiming that he hadn't been told all the details of the case. But federal authorities swooped in with their own warrant and arrested Expose themselves. He has since pleaded not guilty and remains in jail without bail.