BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — An annual study from the Violence Policy Center (VPC) ranks Louisiana as having the third-highest rate of Black homicide victimization in the country, with 86% of victims killed by gunfire in 2023.
In Baton Rouge, where homicides have dropped by about 10.5% according to police data, community leaders said the crisis is far from over.
“Violence is an epidemic not just in Louisiana but in this country,” said Sateria Tate, Program Director of the Baton Rouge Street Team, a local violence intervention group…