An Impotent System

March 13, 2007
The Times Picayune
Editorial

Glynn Francois Jr. couldn't seem to stay out of court, but the criminal justice system never found a way to hold him for long. There will be no need to try any longer.

Mr. Francois was shot to death as he drove along North Broad Saturday afternoon in his rented Dodge Durango. Police say the attacker rode up in a maroon Dodge Magnum and opened fire. Three men fled the Magnum, dropping an AK-47 as they scattered.

A midafternoon gun battle would be frightening no matter where it happened, but this particular stretch of Broad is a busy route between Mid-City and Gentilly. It is fortunate that no one else was harmed.

So far, no arrests have been made. But it is a good guess that the shooter was a rival or an enemy or someone else with a grudge. Revenge killings are common in New Orleans.

Mr. Francois had a lengthy arrest record. His 20 arrests over the past five years included accusations of armed robbery, sexual battery, kidnapping, battery on a police officer and various drug dealing charges. He was due in court April 13 on a crack possession charge.

Who knows what might have happened in that case. In every previous case he was either acquitted at trial or, more often, prosecutors dropped the charges against him.

So, either police repeatedly arrested an innocent man. Or a guilty man was allowed to roam free no matter what he did. Neither is a comforting thought.

There has been much debate over New Orleans' murder rate and how high it actually is. New research from a Tulane University demographer makes a compelling case that the city's homicide rate is much higher than police want to admit. The research looked at the city's estimated 2006 population month by month and calculated the murder rate based on those numbers. Other researchers say that is a more accurate approach than using one population figure from later in the year, after most current residents had returned post-Katrina.

Whatever the rate, though, this much is certain: There are far too many murders in New Orleans. And the Police Department and district attorney's office have yet to show any ability to put together effective prosecutions.

In 162 homicides in 2006, police had made 47 arrests as of mid-February. Prosecutors had taken only two of those suspects to trial and gotten one conviction.

In recent weeks the two agencies have vowed to work together. The question is, how in the world could they ever have thought that was optional?


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