State Overview
Louisiana consistently records the highest per-capita homicide rate of any state in the United States — a distinction it has held for most of the past two decades. The violence is concentrated in New Orleans and the greater Baton Rouge area, though rural parishes in the delta region have also seen elevated rates tied to poverty and limited law enforcement presence. Louisiana's "tough on crime" reputation — including a lengthy history of excessive sentences under the state's "habitual offender" law — has done little to deter homicide, which remains stubbornly high despite high rates of incarceration. The state also has a history of racial violence that includes lynchings and the 1873 Colfax massacre. FBI UCR data powers The Murder Channel's Louisiana coverage.