Southeast
Blue city invests in police — and loses 'murder capital' moniker
New Orleans, which was dubbed America’s murder capital just two years ago during a post-COVID crime spike, has recorded a decrease in homicides by about 50% since 2022, including a 71% drop in juvenile homicides since 2023.
Anne Kirkpatrick, who was named superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department — the equivalent of a police chief — just last year, attributes the recent success in preventing violent crime to collaboration between local, federal and state officials.
“There has definitely been a turnaround in this city,” Kirkpatrick told Fox News Digital. “We are, by far, outpacing the national trend. … There is a national trend of a drop in these rates. Ours are twice what the national trend is. It is not by accident, and it is intentional. We actually are very strategic, and we can point to a couple of strategies that we know are making a difference.”
The police superintendent noted that the police department speaks weekly with community organizations, state police, federal authorities and district attorneys.
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A graph shows this year’s drastic drop in New Orleans homicides. (New Orleans City Council)
“We literally get together once a week in discussion, and then we use a policing strategy that has been around for a while,” Kirkpatrick explained.
That strategy is called Operation Ceasefire, which originated in Boston and which New Orleans has adopted with its own unique take on the model specific to New Orleans crime.
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“We have named it GRIP, which stands for Gun Reduction Intervention Plan. So, in a big-picture way, we know that we have certain repeat offenders who use guns. We call them trigger-pullers,” the superintendent explained. “These are people that are identified, and therefore, we focus on the offenders. So, when you have a small group of people who are responsible for most of the violent crime, it’s really a strategy that goes: identify them … try to intervene and disrupt that cycle. … We will arrest and incarcerate you if we have to, but we also are taking a holistic, public health approach.”
New Orleans has recorded a 50% decrease in homicides since 2022. (Fox News Digital)
Michael Hecht, CEO of the Greater New Orleans Inc. nonprofit that aims to better the city’s businesses and overall quality of life, similarly said that while major cities across the United States have generally seen a decrease in homicides between 2020 and now, The Big Easy saw a particularly drastic drop in violent crime.
“Two years ago, New Orleans was really on the precipice. In 2019, we had enjoyed a 19-year low in homicides. So, it was shocking and really quite tragic, then, in 2022, we were suddenly on a trajectory to become the homicide capital of the country,” Hecht explained. “And that was deemed to be, first and foremost, morally unacceptable but also economically potentially devastating.”
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Hecht noted that on top of the murder surge, there was also an increase in carjackings and a general “sense of terror across all neighborhoods” during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since those dark days of 2022, our murder rate is down 50%,” Hecht said. “And most importantly, over the last year, the juvenile homicide rate is down over 70%. Shootings have declined by a similar amount. Carjackings have declined by almost 70%. And armed robberies have declined by 55%.”
Michael Hecht, CEO of the Greater New Orleans Inc. nonprofit that aims to better the city’s businesses and overall quality of life, says that while major cities across the United States have generally seen a decrease in homicides between 2020 and now, The Big Easy saw a particularly drastic drop in violent crime. (NOLA Coalition)
In response to arguments that other cities are seeing the same trend, Hecht noted that New Orleans “is actually enjoying the fourth-steepest average decline across all major categories of crime of any major city in the United States,” and the city is also doing “about three to four times better than the national trend,” citing an analysis from the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
How were city leaders able to accomplish such a feat? Hecht pointed to several different actions and organizations that stepped up to help curb crime, including Louisiana Gov. Jeffrey Landry’s efforts to sign legislation aimed at preventing violence and increasing punishments for fentanyl dealing and carjacking, as well as creating a specialized law enforcement unit called Troop NOLA.
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Sgt. Ariel Mercadal of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office keeps a watchful eye over parade crowds. (Fox News)
Hecht also noted three specific initiatives that Greater New Orleans believes helped lower homicide numbers: first, “more proactive policing, particularly targeting the worst of the worst to get them off the streets”; second, enhanced use of modern technology that helps improve the New Orleans Police Department’s “solve rate”; and third, more cooperation between federal, state and local authorities.
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“There have been ideologies or communities that have been just focus on policing or just focus on systemic issues. And we’ve said, ‘No, you need to focus on both of them simultaneously because, of course, there’s a feedback loop. If you don’t have safety today, then you’re not going to have resources to invest in tomorrow.”
As far as the significant drop in juvenile crime, Hecht pointed to the fact that public schools in New Orleans struggled during the pandemic, which led more juveniles to turn to crime and violence, but they have since “posted some of the strongest gains in the state.”
A woman reaches for beads on Bourbon Street while celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
The New Orleans Career Center has put a heavy emphasis on helping local youth get jobs to keep them away from violence.
“There’s no question, as many say, that nothing stops a bullet like a job.”
Leaders have also made improvements to recreational sports, and faith-based communities have helped provide counseling services to “kids that are having trouble at home.” The CEO mentioned the NOLA Coalition, an organization made up of members of all walks of New Orleans life, including Greater New Orleans, that aims to “create a safer and more prosperous New Orleans for all residents.”
Increased investment in the city allowed New Orleans to hire New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, who could not be reached for comment. Hecht said Kirkpatrick has “undoubtedly been part of the success story.” (Handout)
“What the NOLA Coalition did by representing a constituency that was so diverse — black and white, Republican, Democrat, rich and poor, that really represented the fabric of the city … is it created what I call ‘positive pressure’ on our leadership to do the right thing, whether that was investing more money in conditions for our police officers or investing more money in our schools, and we also put our money where our mouth is by raising this money from the local corporate community,” Hecht said. “We demonstrated that we weren’t just all talk.”
“We demonstrated that we weren’t just all talk.”
That increased investment in the city allowed New Orleans to hire Kirkpatrick, who Hecht said has “undoubtedly been part of the success story.”
New Orleans has seen a recent decrease in nearly all categories of violent crime. (Fox News Digital)
The NOLA Coalition has also raised $8 million of its $15 million to support local youth programs like mentoring and mental health services, as well as recreational improvements.
“The closure of the schools, combined with the national pullback on proactive policing, combined to create this toxic environment that was very dangerous. And so the fact that we’ve reversed it so dramatically is encouraging, but it’s also pretty startling,” Hecht said. “I mean, when we started the NOLA Coalition two years ago, our intention, our hope, was to abate the violence. If you had said success is going to look like in two years, you’re going to be number four in the country for the most rapid decrease, I would have said … that’s a nice North Star. But we’re dealing with a lot of complexities here. So, it’s been pretty head-snapping.”
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Compared to national numbers from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, New Orleans has seen an approximate 45% decrease in homicides since last year (about 50% compared to 2022), whereas there was an average 18% drop in homicides nationally across major cities. New Orleans also recorded a 44% decrease in robberies and a 21% decrease in aggravated assaults this year compared to last, whereas nationally, cities recorded an average 8% decrease in homicides and a 5% drop in aggravated assault.
FBI Director Christopher Wray praised the city’s work during a visit to The Big Easy this month, describing their results in combating violent crime as “extraordinary.” (FBI)
The positive change is welcome news for The Big Easy, which is hosting Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9. Hecht said New Orleans leaders, including himself, are making infrastructure improvements leading up to America’s most-watched event, but they plan on maintaining and continuing those improvements after the game.
FBI Director Christopher Wray praised the city’s work during a visit this month, describing their results in combating violent crime as “extraordinary.”
“It’s something we want to replicate going forward,” Wray said, according to Nola.com.
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Southeast
Virginia Democrats blasted for threatening historic military college VMI with funding threat over DEI concerns
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Virginia Democrats in the state’s House of Delegates introduced a resolution on Tuesday that would establish a task force to investigate the Virginia Military Institute and determine if the historic military college should continue to receive funding.
The move is the latest of Virginia Democrats’ efforts to reinvigorate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy in the state after much of the DEI mandates and policies were revoked after President Donald Trump was elected in 2024.
“This takes away from VMI, takes away from its mission,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., told Fox News Digital. “I think that it’s harmful to the Commonwealth of Virginia, harmful to VMI as an institution, harmful to all the incredible military leaders and community leaders that have come out of VMI.”
“It’s just reprehensible that they would even go down this road,” Wittman added. “But, it seems to be what’s happening in Richmond.”
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Republican lawmakers are blaming Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and renewed DEI efforts for what they describe as an ideological push that could jeopardize the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Greg Nelson /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Wittman, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, represents the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and parts of the Peninsula of Virginia. He attended Virginia Tech University and was a member of the Corps of Cadets, which he says had a friendly rivalry with VMI.
VMI was founded in 1839, making it the oldest public senior military college in the country. VMI has had several notable graduates, including sitting Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, and Gen. John “Dan” Caine, Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz attended VMI. (Adam Gray/Getty)
Wittman was not the only member of Congress who voiced concerns about the potential Democratic-driven demise of the nation’s first state-funded military college.
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Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and pointed to newly elected Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger as the culprit of the threat to VMI.
“Less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “The left’s renewed focus on VMI is not intended to benefit our military.
“Instead, it’s yet another avenue to tear down an institution that has developed exceptional leaders and statesmen who have made significant contributions to our nation, such as George C. Marshall, Mike Waltz, and the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, whom I had the privilege of serving with in the Air Force,” Fallon added.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks during inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Steve Helber/AP)
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In 2021, then-Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered a state-sanctioned investigation into VMI’s DEI structure. An investigation which specifically looked for racism and sexism. The audit came in President Joe Biden’s first full year in the White House, when DEI policies were running rampant at universities and corporations across the country.
One of Spanberger’s first acts since being elected was appointing Northam to VMI’s Board of Visitors.
“To appoint disgraced former Governor Ralph Northam, a man of poor moral character, to the Board of Visitors at VMI is an insult to our nation’s oldest state-supported military school and the leaders it produces,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “He has no business overseeing VMI, and leftists like Spanberger can’t help themselves from advancing their radical, far-left agenda.”
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered an investigation into VMI in 2021.
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Spanberger has received sharp criticism for many of the liberal policies she has implemented in her short time in office, including an executive saying local and state law enforcement are no longer required to cooperate with ICE, a reversal from a previous order issued by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“Screw any and all of you who lied to low-information voters and sold Abigail Spanberger as some kind of moderate,” Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, posted to social media. “She’s been in office like 6 hours and is already trying to turn Virginia into Minneapolis.”
George W. Bush speaking to cadets at the Virginia Military Institution in 2002. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Should the legislation introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates make it to Spanberger’s desk, it is possible that the military institution will not survive if state funding is revoked.
“There is no logic, there is no logical reason why you would do this,” Wittman told Fox. “If you have issues with VMI, many of those have played out in years past, the institution has done everything that the General Assembly has asked for them to do.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
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Southeast
Parents’ relentless hunt for missing daughter heats up as new technology breathes life into case
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Two decades after Jennifer Kesse mysteriously disappeared, her parents say they continue to search for their daughter every day as emerging technology gives them a sense of optimism.
Jennifer Kesse was 24 years old when she vanished Jan. 24, 2006, after failing to show up for work in Orlando, Florida.
In an interview with Fox News affiliate WTVT, marking 20 years since her disappearance, her parents, Drew and Joyce Kesse, described how the passage of time has not brought closure.
“We look for Jennifer pretty much every day,” they said. “It seems like an eternity. It seems that we’re still living in a surreal state.”
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Florida investigators have reignited the search for Jennifer Kesse after her Orlando disappearance Jan. 24, 2006. (Fox News/Courtesy of the Kesse Family)
Jennifer’s car was later found about a mile from her home. Surveillance video showed a person of interest parking her car and walking away, but the individual’s face was not visible.
Drew previously shared with Fox News Digital that after Jennifer’s employer called to report that she failed to show, he immediately tried to reach his daughter, relying on a family rule that they would always answer each other’s calls. But her phone went straight to voicemail.
“I knew something was wrong immediately,” Kesse said.
Jennifer Kesse, 24, was reported missing after she failed to show up for work Jan. 24, 2006. (WTTV)
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Drew and Joyce made the two-hour drive from their home in Tampa to Orlando, where they found their daughter’s apartment empty with several outfit choices laid out on her bed.
The parents immediately called the Orlando Police Department (OPD) to report Jennifer missing.
“They looked around her apartment, shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘She had a fight with her boyfriend probably. She’ll be back,’” Kesse said. “They walked out. And that was Jennifer’s last chance.”
The Kesses later sued OPD to gain access to Jennifer’s case file, which spans more than 16,000 pages.
“It exhausts you. It drains you physically, mentally and emotionally, and it will in time take a toll on your actual physical health,” they told FOX 13.
With the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) now overseeing the case, the Kesses said they are pursuing new investigative approaches, including working with an artificial intelligence firm to analyze the case file and surveillance video.
One focus has been on identifying the person of interest through physical characteristics visible in the video.
“An ear is just like an eye or a fingerprint. It’s very unique to a person,” Drew said. “When we find the ear, then we’ve found the person.”
Jennifer Kesse and her father, Drew, open presents in an undated family photo. (Courtesy of the Kesse Family )
The Kesses also said new DNA samples were tested last year and that investigators are closer than ever to identifying several people they would like to speak with.
As they continue to wait for answers, Jennifer’s parents said they still believe she was taken shortly after disappearing.
“I personally still think that Jennifer was taken and taken out of the area — state and maybe country — very quickly,” her father said, adding he believes she may have been targeted because she was alone.
Drew and Joyce shared with Fox News affiliate WTTV that they will never stop searching for their daughter, Jennifer, who disappeared Jan. 24, 2006. (KTTV)
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Now nearing 70, Jennifer’s parents said their determination has not faded since the search began two decades ago.
“Till we die,” Joyce said. “Whatever it takes. There’s no quit in us.”
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Jennifer Kesse smiles alongside her mother, Joyce. (Courtesy of the Kesse Family )
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Anyone with information about Jennifer’s disappearance is encouraged to contact FDLE’s Orlando office at 407-245-0888 or OROCColdCaseTips@fdle.state.fl.us.
The OPD and the FDLE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Middle school basketball fight results in adult getting tased as announcer nonchalantly calls the action
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A chaotic scene unfolded in Kentucky during a middle school basketball game on Thursday night, as a fight led to someone getting tased.
Emmalena and Carr Creek elementary schools were competing in the A-Team Championships at Knott County Central High School, and things got ugly when two players tackled each other onto the court.
That prompted coaches and players to try to break up the fight, but chaos grew when parents came down from the stands to try to end the fracas.
Emmalena and Carr Creek elementary schools were competing in the A-Team Championships at Knott County Central High School. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
That only made matters worse, resulting in one adult on the floor getting tased.
The announcers on the call gave A-plus commentary.
“Look here, this ball game’s gotta get over,” one announcer said.
Then, when the moment happened, the announcer called it as if it were a normal occurrence.
“They just tased Ryan,” the announcer said.
Perhaps middle school basketball just means more in Kentucky.
A brawl ensued at a middle school game in Kentucky, but it was the announcer’s call that stole the show.
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The announcer’s call got some love. A Barstool Sports personality likened it to Al Michaels call of the “Miracle on Ice.”
“He said ‘they just tased Ryan’ like Ryan has been tased before,” another X user wrote.
Somehow, no arrests were reported. The game was called due to the brawl, with Carr Creek leading 48-30, but no winner was declared.
The game was called due to the brawl. (Fox News)
That wasn’t the only basketball brawl in Kentucky this week, as a high school game had fisticuffs and benches clearing.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
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