Posted on 12/28/2005 12:12:11 PM PST by rightwinggoth
HOUSTON Houston Mayor Bill White says federal money should fund a six and a-half (M) million dollar task force to target a rise in post-hurricane crime.
White says Houston police face additional demands after an influx of hurricane evacuees following Katrina.
The hurricane slammed the Gulf Coast on August 29th.
White says Houston's homicide rate rose nearly 25 percent since last year and jumped 70 percent this month.
White says Houston's crime increase isn't solely blamed on Katrina evacuees.
But White says the Federal Emergency Management Agency should fund the task force because of the strain of those additional residents.
Officers working overtime from January to July would staff the task force and target the most crime-affected areas.
My brother-in-law was in town from Houston this weekend. I told him we have a no-return policy on the evacuee's.
Houston, you have a problem.
I remember when it wasn't politically correct to blame Houston crime on New Orleans refugees on Free Republic.
HPD is arresting a lot of people with Lousiana credentials (Driver's license's an such) for various crimes from petty theft on up to murder.
from my own personal experience, this year there are more hustlers approaching people in parking lots...and panhandlers, and the like, whether it's all Katrina refugee related not real sure...but it's probably a factor.
NO was a big crime den...and Houston seems to have received its fair share of it.
WHY FEMA...why not the City of New Orleans or the State of Louisiana - or both. NOT FEMA!
The criminals remain in Texas not because of where they came to, rather it's because of where they came from!
The murder rate is up 20% this year in Houston... and yet we elected this twit as mayor again...
BUMP!
I have never been politically correct and stating facts should always be encouraged.
I heard NO had at least one homicide every single day of the year. I sure hope that doesn't happen in Houston.
12:20 PM CST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Associated Press
HOUSTON -- Federal money should fund a $6.5 million task force to target a rise in crime because police face additional demands after an influx of hurricane evacuees, Houston Mayor Bill White said.
Violent crimes have surged in Houston. The city's homicide rate rose nearly 25% since last year and 70% this month. Just two of Houston's 19 patrol districts accounted for the higher homicide rate, both in southwest Houston, White said.
Officials didn't single out one cause for the higher crime rate but pointed to additional gang activity and population growth from Katrina evacuees as contributing factors.
"Crime is unacceptable, especially the murder rate, in some of these hot spots," White said Monday. "We had criminals here before the evacuation and we had some more criminals here after the evacuation."
Even though the city's crime increase isn't solely blamed on Hurricane Katrina evacuees, White said the Federal Emergency Management Agency should fund the taskforce because of the strain those additional 100,000 to 150,000 residents put on the Houston Police Department.
Officers working overtime from January to July would staff the task force. Their work would equal that of adding 150 officers to the force, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said.
They would target the most crime-affected areas, which are in southwest Houston and include apartment complexes housing many Katrina evacuees, officials said.
"Some people who preyed on the vulnerable and broke the rules in Louisiana have gravitated to certain apartment complexes which already had a high concentration of crime," White said. "Now, those areas have a worse problem."
Katrina evacuees have been connected to at least eight of 121 homicides in Houston since refugees began arriving in September, Hurtt said.
He, basically, ran unopposed...so, no real surprise.
Under Mayor White's tenure, traffic has worsened due to bizarre road construction schedules (which he vowed to end) and crime has increased.
Hey, we do have "red light" cameras though...and plenty of cops enforcing traffic laws...yeppers.
Houston could have taken the brunt of Rita like Lake Charles to get rid of their evacuee problem. Mayor Randy Roach kindly told them to make other arrangements elsewhere since we didn't have the resources to take care of them.
It seems like Southwest Houston is averaging that this year.
Not a whole lot of value placed on human life in that area of the city.
From an AP article from yesterday in which I posted above it states that 8 out of 121 murders were directly linked to the evacuees. Is it basically turf wars and gang related stuff?
Didn't he invite the refugees to come to Houston? If he did, he should foot the bill.
I dont know about turf wars...but it would seem there are too many idle, violent, people living in close proximity to one another.
The able bodied unemployed folks should be in NOLA cleaning up and rebuilding the city. That would solve a lot of problems. However, politics got in the way of common sense.
what I don't get is why the majority think this guy is worth a damn... I guess when you have the Mayor Lee P. Brown for 6 years, anything is better...
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