While everyone loves a good Halloween scare, the streets of New Orleans are notorious for giving people more to fear than well-executed makeup and realistic costume props. However, the NOPD arrested four murder suspects over the last 24 hours, making this year's post-Halloween postmortem mostly about who was hauled in.

Chief Superintendent Ronal Serpas took the moment as an opportunity to congratulate his department for keeping violent crime off the streets. 

Serpas patted the NOPD on the back at a press conference today for a Halloween free of violent crime, an increase in report rates among citizens, and the four suspected murderers the NOPD booked within the last day, with three of the arrests occurring in a three-hour period. 

The scary happenings on the street this Halloween did not include gun shots, a marked change from last year’s violent crime that left two dead and fourteen others injured. This year, the NOPD arrested 28 people and recovered one illegal gun, but there were no reports of violent crime. 

“Halloween went incredibly well,” said Serpas. “In the last 24 hours the homicide unit cleared five murder cases, four with an arrest and one where the suspect expired.”

Around 1am, officers stopped 20-year-old Kermitt Bernhart in the 100-block of Royal Street for suspicious behavior and loitering. After running his name, officers found that Bernhart was wanted for the murder of Christopher Lambert, who was found dead in the 2400-block of Orleans Avenue on October 19. 

Hours later, 18-year-old Devante Billy was arrested around 8am this morning and booked on Second Degree Murder charges. Billy is a suspect in the slaying of 24-year-old Valan May, who was killed in his car in the 7900-block of Burke Road. 

At approximately 9am, members from the Violent Offender Warrant Squad (VOWS) arrested 21-year-old Chevroun Smith and booked him with Second Degree Murder. Smith was wanted for the murder of 32-year-old Ali Robinson, which occurred on April 13 at the Stallings Playground (2700-block of Laharpe Street). 

Around 10am, the NOPD solved a cold case when 24-year old Dwayne Butler turned himself into his probation officer for the murder of Keith Simmons, which occurred in 2006. Simmons, who was 17-years-old at the time of his death, was gunned down near Dryades and Third Streets.

Another cold case clear was related to a crime that occurred nine years ago. Aaron Morgan, 29, was killed as he was leaving a convenience store in the 1900-block of Forstall Street. Detective Richard Chambers of the Homicide Division was able to find a witness to positively identify assailant Albert Reed, who has since died.

Serpas ensures citizens that the NOPD is winning the public’s trust, citing a high report rate for crimes in the city. 

“There’s no question more people are coming through to the police. Nine out of ten victims said they reported it to the New Orleans Police Department. We’re hovering at 85-90 percent reported, when most cities are at about 50 percent,” beamed Serpas.