New Orleans: The homicide rate was 10 times the national average in 2010, when there were 51 murders per 100,000 residents

Compare that to seven per 100,000 in New York and 23 in Oakland. From September 2010 to February 2011, a student attending John McDonogh high school in New Orleans was more likely to be killed than a soldier in Afghanistan. By late November, the city had seen 175 homicides in 2011 — the same as the total number for all of 2010 — and there have been eight more since then. Though New Orleans has long been known for its violence, the homicide rate has been rising since 2000 and city officials are struggling to stem it. The majority of both killers and victims are young black men, most of whom have had prior police contact, and less than a quarter of whom have a steady job.