Has New Orleans become a city overrun with criminals?  A Tulane criminologist says it's more likely that most of the murders and violent crime involve a fairly small group of people.

Dr. Peter Scharf says he thinks there are somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 individuals who need to be taken off the streets to really turn things around.

''Target these highest risk, highest volatility, highest violence individuals and get them and get them in jail,'' said Scharf.

Dr. Peter Scharf:


Scharf does not think people in New Orleans are being over-dramatic about what's been happening.

''We're at serious crisis right now and it's easy to get melodramatic but this situation warrants it,'' he said.

He also worries about the young men and boys who could be easily drawn to the lifestyle of drug dealing and fast money because they see little hope for the future.