NEW ORLEANS POLICE REPORT THAT LOOTERS AND ARMED ROBBERS ARE OUT IN THE STREETS DURING HURRICANE ISAAC BUT NO MURDERS SO FAR

While dozens of looters and armed robbers took to the streets of New Orleans during Hurricane Isaac, police reported no killings and virtually no gunfire, resulting in one of the least violent weeks in a city notorious for its sky-high murder rate.

"Maybe people recognized that surviving the storm was more important than petty differences," New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said Tuesday. Serpas attributed the drop in violence to a mandated dusk-to-dawn curfew and heightened street patrols.

For the last week, about 600 police officers and 200 National Guardsmen patrolled the streets at any given time, he said. Even with the beefed-up patrols, the widespread lack of electricity seemed to embolden opportunistic criminals.

At least 12 armed robberies and three carjackings were reported. Officials anticipate hundreds of residential and business burglaries will be reported when all the records are compiled.