Two reports within the past week have ranked Louisiana as the most dangerous state in America, setting the stage for Republican Gov.-elect Jeff Landry to call a special legislative session next year to address crime as his first order of business.
A WalletHub study on Monday listed Louisiana dead last on its ranking of safest states. Among the metrics making Louisiana so dangerous was its rate of violent crimes, including a last-place ranking of 50th for most murders per capita and a ranking of 46th for most assaults per capita.
That follows a report last week from Hubscore that also ranked Louisiana as the most dangerous state in America using similar metrics.
Landry, who has served as the state’s attorney general for eight years, scored a stunning victory in the Oct. 14 governor’s race, unexpectedly winning the primary outright in a crowded field to avoid a runoff election.
On the campaign trail, Landry repeatedly said his top priority as governor would be to address crime, noting three Louisiana cities — Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport — rank in the top 10 worst U.S. cities for crime.
“Unequivocally, we have a crime problem,” Landry said when he qualified for the race. “I understand Louisiana and understand what’s at stake. Enough is enough. Crime knows no party, no race.”
Landry is also the chair of the new Violent Crime Task Force established this fall in legislation passed by Republican Shreveport Rep. Alan Seabaugh, who won a promotion to the Senate in the Oct. 14 election.
“Our hope is that this task force can come up with some recommendations that build a criminal justice system in the state of Louisiana so that when good people make bad decisions, they get a second chance,” Landry told The Advocate in September. “However, we’re recognizing now that there are some bad people on our streets that are inflicting a tremendous amount of damage and pain on the citizens of this state.”
Landy is expected to push for rollbacks to changes in criminal justice laws supported by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ and passed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in 2017.
Last spring, Louisiana residents listed crime as their top concern in the annual survey conducted by the LSU Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs for the first time in 20 years.
More:Republican Jeff Landry will be Louisiana’s next governor after stunning primary win
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1
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