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Homicide Rate On Track To Be Worst In A Decade


musicman

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With more than 300 homicides since January, Houston is on pace to record nearly 400 slayings for the year - which would be the highest number of killings the city has seen in more than a decade.

As of Oct. 16, the city had recorded 316 homicides, up 25 percent from the 252 slayings at this time last year. The Houston Police Department said an uptick in homicides by Hurricane Katrina evacuees has contributed to that increase.

Between Sept. 1, 2004, and Oct. 16, 2005, there were 344 homicides in Houston. From Sept. 1, 2005, through Oct. 16, there were a total of 445 slayings, 83 involving Katrina evacuees, an increase of roughly 29 percent.

Mayor Bill White repeated his position that all ``able-bodied'' evacuees should be working and that the city would continue to arrest lawbreakers.

Police have not kept records of how the estimated 150,000 Katrina evacuees have affected crime rates other than homicide.

article.

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Vehicular Homicide usually falls into the catagory of DUI's or street racing.

Agreed, but sometimes accidents happen, and an accidental homicide would probably be put in the category to boost numbers. I would just like to see a breakdown of the numbers.

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Unless it is like the irate wife they caught on video as she was doing doughnuts over her dead husbands carcass. She made at least 10 laps before the witnesses got her to stop.

Hell hath no furry like a woman scorned.........

Dont know about you guys, but after that, it was "be extra nice to wife week in my house" :):):):)

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Agreed, but sometimes accidents happen, and an accidental homicide would probably be put in the category to boost numbers. I would just like to see a breakdown of the numbers.

didn't see the word vehicular anywhere in the article. Plus I saw the word slay multiple times. To me that's person to person murder.

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HPD usually uses the UCR definition of homicide, which is as follows:

"Homicide - Murder and non-negligent manslaughter are defined as the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. (FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Definition). Not included in this definition are deaths caused by negligence, suicides, or accidental deaths. Attempts to commit murder are classified as aggravated assaults."

DWI related deaths are technically negligent, or involuntary, manslaughter, regardless of the polically motivated description of them as "murder". Therefore, they are not included in the homicide totals, but rather in the traffic fatality counts.

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What about a breakdown of the homicides by city quadrant? (Tho it's obvious SW ends up taking the chunk of the number). I been tryin to figure that out by the question I asked since the HPD website displays figures by individual neighborhoods or precincts, not by SW, Southside, NW, wherever.

Either way U put it, its a damn shame to see Houston go thru this setback. I would hate to see the city get snarled at by outsiders like somebody took Gary, IN and Camden, NJ, combined the two, and stuck it deep in Southwest Harris County and North Fort Bend.

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^^^Just jacked this quote from another thread:

I was just watching CNN HLN's about this, and Jim Pruitt, who is a talk show host, and a gun store owner, is asking Houstonians to arm themselves against Katrina Evacuees.

He is basically saying that once the FEMA money runs out, the crime levels will increase.

True statement? :unsure:

Does that answer your questrion?

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From the Chronicle article that's linked in post #1:

Per capita crime, defined as the number of crimes per 100,000 residents, has decreased in the city, with the violent crime rate down 3 percent this year.

So, that Katrina effect is a positive thing, right?

As much as everyone bitches about the NOLA folks, crime is down in Houston. It's only murders that are up...and that's just drug dealers taking each other out.

By the way, for those complaining about murder rates going up in Houston, and blaming Katrina evacuees, how do you explain the increase in murder rate in big cities across the country? Is it all due to Katrina? Or is it something else?

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As much as everyone bitches about the NOLA folks, crime is down in Houston. It's only murders that are up...and that's just drug dealers taking each other out.

A good friend of mine from college, engineer for Exxon was murdered. So it's not just drug dealers taking each other out.

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From the Chronicle article that's linked in post #1:

Per capita crime, defined as the number of crimes per 100,000 residents, has decreased in the city, with the violent crime rate down 3 percent this year.

So, that Katrina effect is a positive thing, right?

As much as everyone bitches about the NOLA folks, crime is down in Houston. It's only murders that are up...and that's just drug dealers taking each other out.

By the way, for those complaining about murder rates going up in Houston, and blaming Katrina evacuees, how do you explain the increase in murder rate in big cities across the country? Is it all due to Katrina? Or is it something else?

Sure. It wasnt just houston that got the new residents

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Is there an increase of murders of professionals/innocent people?

Possibly, but I doubt by very much if viewed in terms of murders per thousand white collar residents. Murders tend not to be random and they tend not to be committed by white collar folks.

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if the number of murders is increasing, then statistically there will be an increase for each group.

Not necessairly - There is the possibility of the increase affecting a large amount of certain groups of people - For instance, a lot of the Katrina violence was evacuee on evacuee - Either due to drug wars, or other conflicts. Unrelated murders/murders in separate categories may have actually decreased in the said time period.

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Not necessairly - There is the possibility of the increase affecting a large amount of certain groups of people - For instance, a lot of the Katrina violence was evacuee on evacuee - Either due to drug wars, or other conflicts. Unrelated murders/murders in separate categories may have actually decreased in the said time period.

take a statistics class sometime, i think you'd change your answer.

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take a statistics class sometime, i think you'd change your answer.

Actually, he is exactly right. There is nothing in the article or the ensuing posts that suggest that murders of particular subgroups of residents has increased, nor does it suggest that murders in particular areas of town have risen. The only data given is the total number of murders, plus a subset attributed to New Orleans residents. In fact, if the Katrina murders are subtracted out, there has been only an increase of 18 murders over the last year, or 5.2%. Given that the city's population has increased 5%, NOT including Katrina evacuees (10%, if they are included), the argument could be made that there has been no increase in the murder rate among the non-Katrina population at all.

The above example can be easily picked apart, due to lack of information. Conversely, there is not enough information to say that murder rates among particular groups has risen. So, VicMan's suggestion could be just as true as your's...or, just as false.

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Actually, he is exactly right. There is nothing in the article or the ensuing posts that suggest that murders of particular subgroups of residents has increased, nor does it suggest that murders in particular areas of town have risen. The only data given is the total number of murders, plus a subset attributed to New Orleans residents. In fact, if the Katrina murders are subtracted out, there has been only an increase of 18 murders over the last year, or 5.2%. Given that the city's population has increased 5%, NOT including Katrina evacuees (10%, if they are included), the argument could be made that there has been no increase in the murder rate among the non-Katrina population at all.

The above example can be easily picked apart, due to lack of information. Conversely, there is not enough information to say that murder rates among particular groups has risen. So, VicMan's suggestion could be just as true as your's...or, just as false.

The lack of information is true but the comment concerning 18 additional murders (not including Katrina related ones) adds more creedence to my comment vs. supporting vic's. I'm not saying overwhelming creedence though. Assuming of course murder is random.

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The lack of information is true but the comment concerning 18 additional murders (not including Katrina related ones) adds more creedence to my comment vs. supporting vic's. I'm not saying overwhelming creedence though. Assuming of course murder is random.

Except that most murder is not random at all. Most murders are committed by a family member, or an acquaintance. Generally, less than 25% are committed by strangers. So, using your assumptions, there would be an increase of no more than 4 or 5 random murders, a number that is statistically insignificant, in comparison to 362 or 445 total murders. If one were to read other articles relating to the nationwide increase in murders, a conclusion could be drawn that gang violence accounts for the increase. But, there again, no evidence in the Houston article exists to make that call. So, it remains a guess, at best.

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Except that most murder is not random at all. Most murders are committed by a family member, or an acquaintance. Generally, less than 25% are committed by strangers. So, using your assumptions, there would be an increase of no more than 4 or 5 random murders, a number that is statistically insignificant, in comparison to 362 or 445 total murders. If one were to read other articles relating to the nationwide increase in murders, a conclusion could be drawn that gang violence accounts for the increase. But, there again, no evidence in the Houston article exists to make that call. So, it remains a guess, at best.

i'll stop BUT........ LOL

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