Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Superintendent Michael Harrison met with Seventh District officers this afternoon (Oct. 21) to highlight a citywide reduction in armed robberies. 

The number of armed robberies repported in New Orleans year to date has decreased from 753 in 2015 to 648 in 2016, a 14 percent decline. In the Seventh District, which covers Eastern New Orleans, armed robberies are down 14 percent and murders are down 25 percent year to date. 

"This is just an opportunity to say thank you," said Chief Harrison. "Your district is trending down and we see what you do."

Harrison told officers that the additional overtime funding and new initiatives like the department's armed robbery task force have led to the decrease. 

More overtime funding is expected to be available next year to continue the success. Mayor Landrieu's 2017 budget proposal increases the department's budget by $8 million to provide additional funding for overtime and hiring more officers. 

While acknowledging the good police work, Landrieu said law enforcement alone is not the answer to making the city safer.  

"No matter how good the police department is, there's no way you can respond to violent crime in the city just through police. They can get there fast. They can chase the bad guys and put them in jail. But at the end of the day, it really is the citizens of New Orleans through a lot of different kinds of ways that are going to create peace."