Posted on 12/31/2005 4:08:09 PM PST by saquin
The city of Houston is appealing for emergency funding to help to fight a huge crime wave following the arrival of refugees from hurricane-hit New Orleans.
The murder rate in the Texan city leapt by 24 per cent last year, with the toll for November and December up by 70 per cent on the same period in 2004.
There were 324 murders in Houston in 2005, compared with 263 in 2004. Of the 2005 tally, 51 occurred in November and December - up 21 on the same period of 2004.
The police department has not monitored precisely how many can be attributed to those evacuated after Hurricane Katrina, but says that at least 12 homicides in the past four months have involved evacuees either as victims or perpetrators.
While stressing that they cannot lay all the blame at the door of hurricane evacuees, the police chief and the mayor suggest that the influx of as many as 150,000 extra people has been a contributory factor.
The issue is highly sensitive as the majority of the hurricane's victims were drawn from New Orleans's black underclass.
Harold Hurtt, the police chief, said: "We are beginning to see more involvement in violent offences by the evacuees who came here from Louisiana."
Bill White, Houston's mayor, is now appealing to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $6.5 million (£3.8 million) to help to strengthen his police department.
The city is experiencing an opposite trend to New Orleans, where police say they have never seen things so quiet, with only two killings in four months.
My town of Kerrville, Texas (pop. 20,000) and Kerr County (pop. 40,000) got New Orleans evacuees (The churches actually recruited them to come here - not enough "diversity" to suit them.). Now we have a significant surge in crime - more drugs, shoplifting, house break-ins, theft, beatings, etc.; no shootings yet, but probably a matter of time.
Right now New Orleans is one of the safest cities in America. It's perfect if we can just get some competent leadership.
But with the political shake up unless the Edward-Landrieu-Blanco crime syndicate steps up they risk losing almost complete control of Louisiana.
Send in Anderson Cooper so we can get this story put in context for the rest of us to understand.
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