Who the head of police is and what that person is let do counts for a lot. New Orleans this year will register the lowest number of homicides since 1972. Why? The chief started as patrolman walking a beat and spent his life policing the city. He moves resources around where stats show the most problems. Just the presence of cops on every block or two and in every school yard at night cause the Dindus to move on. The methods he uses are a real example of what someone who doesn't care who gets the plaudits as long as the job gets done can accomplish.
New Orleans cops know how to use nightsticks. They’ll occasionally even use them on unruly tourists to stay in practice.
In Baton Rouge, on the other hand, the practice was to just shoot the troublemakers.