Hard times in the Big Easy
New Orleans is the murder capital of the United States: researchers into 2022\u2019s crime figures say it suffered more homicides per capita than any other major city. Carjackings, armed robberies and other potentially lethal offences are also at sky high levels in \u2018The Big Easy\u2019 - a place better known for its happy mix of cuisine, carnival and colonial architecture.\n \nCrime plagues many American cities, and some of these problems are down to familiar causes, with economic disparity, poor education and the prevalence of guns all at play. However, other factors appear unique to New Orleans, such as high incarceration rates; entrenched racial inequality and chronic police understaffing. Many people believe that the chaos and mistrust of authority which followed Hurricane Katrina\u2019s devastation in 2005 has brutalised the generation which grew up in its shadow. \n \nFor Assignment, the BBC\u2019s Anna Adams meets those at the sharp end of this crisis in her adoptive city, and asks what went wrong. But as she also discovers, the spirit of the Big Easy can still be resilient, with some local people stepping up to do their failing authorities\u2019 work for themselves in a variety of different social projects. To the backdrop of the city\u2019s ever-present music, this is the story of a community that is literally under fire, and fighting for its life.\n \nPresenter Anna Adams \nProducer Mike Gallagher \nSound mix Rod Farquhar\nProduction coordinator Helena Warwick-Cross\nSeries editor Penny Murphy
(Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)