Nonfatal Shootings In N.O. Increase By 23 Percent

NEW ORLEANS (AP)— The New Orleans Police Department set out this year to show that the city's 2013 homicide numbers, the lowest in nearly three decades, were not a fluke.

The New Orleans Advocate reports that as of late Wednesday afternoon, New Orleans had recorded 150 homicides in 2014, a marginal decrease from the 156 counted in 2013. Officials say it is encouraging sign.

Homicides fell 19 percent from 2012 to 2013.

City leaders say they had not aimed to reduce the city's murder rate by any specific percentage in 2014.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison says the city intends to "double down" on gangs again next year and to reduce homicides for a fourth consecutive year.

Most of the victims of homicides in 2014 were young black men.

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