BATON ROUGE--Federal officials released the new national uniform crime reporting statistics Monday and analysis reveals that murder, aggravated assault and property crime have all increased in Baton Rouge.

According to the FBI statistics, the violent crime rate in 2011 in Baton Rouge was 26 percent higher than in New Orleans, and the property crime rate was 26 percent higher than in New Orleans.

“The new FBI statistics prove that the situation in Baton Rouge is even worse than we initially thought,” said ‘Fight, Not Fear’ spokesman Jay Connaughton. “In addition to the frightening murder rate, burglary, aggravated assault and property crimes are also on the rise in Baton Rouge. In the last year, crime has continued to grow and spread across the city at an frightening pace.” 

Last week the “Fight, Not Fear” campaign was successfully launched in Baton Rouge to draw attention to the growing problem of violent crime in the area.

The campaign calls for unification of the Parish’s two separate police systems: East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Baton Rouge Police Department. Unifying the two departments would mean greater efficiency and more police officers on the streets fighting crime.

The “Fight, Not Fear” campaign highlights the problems and inefficiencies created by Baton Rouge having two separate police forces. Other cities across the U.S. have faced similar crime problems and cut crime by unifying their law enforcement.

Charlotte, Indianapolis, Louisville and Las Vegas have all unified their law enforcement and cut crime as a result.

The “Fight, Not Fear” campaign calls on citizens to reach out to leadership within the community and insist that Baton Rouge unify its law enforcement and deliver results.

A feature on the “Fight, Not Fear” website allows Baton Rouge residents to lobby their community leaders asking for unification of police forces.

To learn more about police unification, visit FightNotFear.com.

FBI 2011 Crime Rates - Baton Rouge (pop. 231,592) vs. New Orleans (pop. 346,974)

• Violent Crime - # of offenses reported (up 26%)

BR - 2,468

Crime rate per 100,000 - 1,065.7

N.O. - 2,748

Crime rate per 100,000 - 792.0

• Robbery - # of offenses reported (up 21%)

BR - 893

Crime rate per 100,000 - 385.6

N.O. - 1,059

Crime rate per 100,000 - 305.2

• Aggravated Assault - # of offenses reported (up 39%)

BR - 1,460

Crime rate per 100,000 - 630.4

N.O. - 1,326

Crime rate per 100,000 - 382.2

• Property Crime - # of offenses reported (up 26%)

BR - 12,666

Crime rate per 100,000 - 5,469.1

N.O. - 14,013

Crime rate per 100,000 - 4,038.6

• Burglary - # of offenses reported (up 39%)

BR - 4,220

Crime rate per 100,000 - 1,822.2

N.O. - 3,857

Crime rate per 100,000 - 1,111.6

• Larceny/Theft - # of offenses reported (up 36%)

BR - 7,946

Crime rate per 100,000 - 3,431.0

N.O. - 7,616

Crime rate per 100,000 - 2,195.0