Violent crime in Houston increased at nearly twice the national level for the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year, a preliminary FBI report indicates.
Nationwide, robberies were up by almost 10 percent, killings increased 1.4 percent and aggravated assaults increased 1.2 percent, while rapes decreased less than 0.1 percent. Overall, violent crime increased in all four regions of the country from January to June this year, compared with the same period last year.
Violent crimes, including killings and rapes, rose by 5.9 percent in Houston, the report indicates, compared with 3.7 percent nationwide. Killings in Houston during that period rose by a staggering 28 percent — from 158 last year to 202 this year. Rapes, aggravated assaults and property crimes all remained at about the same level.
There are many theories as to why the crime rate is rising, from a lack of police officers (with additional commentary here) to Katrina evacuees (with additional commentary here) to illegal immigrant gangs (more on this here).
All these are undoubtedly contributors to the cause, but not the whole of the problem independently. Because of this its time for Houston to realize that serious discussions have to begin that address the crime problem holistically. What's passed is the time for cute-sounding acronyms and political solutions for the problem. It's time to get serious about violent crimes, and put feel-good political measures (such as cameras and racist tasers) on the back burner until the violence can be suppressed.
This is what should happen, but we all know that it won't.
Still, one can always hope.
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