Crime tops concerns across Louisiana, WBRZ poll finds

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana voters name crime and violence as their top concern, with education close behind. That's according to a new WBRZ News 2 poll.

When asked to identify the most important problem facing the state, 18 percent of respondents listed crime and violence. Another 16 percent named education, followed by high insurance rates (16 percent) and economic growth and employment (11 percent).

Crime and violence also landed atop the list when a respondent's "second most important" answer is included. About 33 percent ranked crime first or second among their concerns, with 30 percent making education one of their top two issues.

Though it's been the talk of the town locally -- with the massive I-10 overhaul on the horizon -- roads and bridges rated fifth statewide in the poll.

Nearly one in five respondents answered "all of the above" rather than choosing specific areas of concern.

Slightly more than half of voters want officials to get rougher on crime and extend sentences, while 41 percent want to see renewed emphasis on systemic issues of race, poverty and unemployment instead of more incarceration.

The poll was conducted last week by Faucheux Strategies. Other media outlets in the polling partnership include WWL-TV, KTBS-TV, KATC, and The Times-Picayune/The Advocate. The Urban League of Louisiana and the Public Affairs Research Council round out the sponsorship group.

Faucheux Strategies is a nonpartisan research company. The margin of error for the full polling sample is 3.46 percent, with 800 completed surveys included in the results of the poll.

Sixty-four percent of respondents are white, 30 percent Black and six percent other.

Interviews were conducted via cell phones and landlines.