Armed robbers on a spree around houston - truck driver shot - why is Houston so dangerous!!! (Sherman: sales, high crime)

[ayahuasca_mike]

Originally Posted by radiodude84

8th in violence for all big cities combined? That's pretty bad. Or are you saying it's LOWEST 8th in violence in all big cities combined. That'd be pretty good!

Still, we should be more like LA and NYC in crime!

You are sick in the head, ask the last few home invasion attemptees what happened to them when they kicked in a door in Texas. Four ended up dead. I love Texas. You can have LA and NYC.

[radiodude84]

Originally Posted by moddestmike

You are sick in the head, ask the last few home invasion attemptees what happened to them when they kicked in a door in Texas. Four ended up dead. I love Texas. You can have LA and NYC.

if it's that effective why are you more likely to be killed here? Home defense only goes so far...it's better to prevent it in the first place. You're talking anecdotes, which does not give an accurate picture. And contrary to popular belief you can own guns in NYC and LA - so it's not like you can't defend your home there if you want to.

Also the stats are in the article ited above. On every study I've ever seen also Houston is significantly more dangerous than most big cities, especially NYC

me discussing the recent story wasn't supposed to be proof of Houstons violent crime problem (which the stats do prove) but rather an illustration of the problem.

[westres1]

I dont think Houston has a major crime problem. Most of the shootings you hear about are gang or drug related. If your not a druggie or gang banger you dont have a high risk of being robbed or murdered.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Originally Posted by radiodude84

if it's that effective why are you more likely to be killed here? Home defense only goes so far...it's better to prevent it in the first place. You're talking anecdotes, which does not give an accurate picture. And contrary to popular belief you can own guns in NYC and LA - so it's not like you can't defend your home there if you want to.

Also the stats are in the article ited above. On every study I've ever seen also Houston is significantly more dangerous than most big cities, especially NYC

me discussing the recent story wasn't supposed to be proof of Houstons violent crime problem (which the stats do prove) but rather an illustration of the problem.

You keep talking about all these articles and stats...so share them with us already!

[Zhang Fei]

Originally Posted by radiodude84

Why can't Houston be safer like other big cities!

My guess is police coverage per square mile is much lower in Houston. Houston has about 8 cops per square mile. Los Angeles has 27 cops per square mile, and New York City has 77 cops per square mile.

Why is there a disparity in police coverage per square mile? One could venture that those other cities have bigger populations, which are able to support a bigger police force. But one would be wrong. Even if you look at number of cops per 100,000 people, LA has 349 cops per 100,000 people and NYC has 437 cops per 100,000 people compared to Houston's 230 cops per 100,000 people. Bottom line is that Houston has less police coverage, whether you measure this on a per square mile or per capita basis.

Shouldn't Houston's relaxed gun laws deter criminals? I suspect not, given that the total number of concealed weapons permits in Texas is 400,000, out of a population of maybe 24m (of which perhaps 18m are eligible for these permits). The odds of a criminal encountering a gun-toting victim (assuming holders of carry permits have their weapons on hand all the time) are about 2.2%, at worst. There might be armed bystanders around, but not everyone is willing to get involved in a potentially deadly situation. And minimally intelligent criminals can discriminate between high percentage and low percentage opportunities. There will always be an opportunity for another score, if a given situation appears too risky.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by Zhang Fei

My guess is police coverage per square mile is much lower in Houston. Houston has about 8 cops per square mile. Los Angeles has 27 cops per square mile, and New York City has 77 cops per square mile.

Why is there a disparity in police coverage per square mile? One could venture that those other cities have bigger populations, which are able to support a bigger police force. But one would be wrong. Even if you look at number of cops per 100,000 people, LA has 349 cops per 100,000 people and NYC has 437 cops per 100,000 people compared to Houston's 230 cops per 100,000 people. Bottom line is that Houston has less police coverage, whether you measure this on a per square mile or per capita basis.

You can thank Mayor lee Brown for this. Early retirement packages killed the police force numbers.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Sorry, LA has some places that make SW Fondren look tame.

Having lived in L.A for quite a few years and now living in Fondren SW, I agree with EasilyAmused.

[Zhang Fei]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGirl1

You keep talking about all these articles and stats...so share them with us already!

Houston is more dangerous than LA and New York City. (Note that this is a reference to the cities proper, not their suburbs or metro areas). I've provided links to the city data pages that provide crime stats for these cities. On a per capita basis, New York is safer in every category than Houston, whereas Los Angeles is worse only in the category of arsons. I think Houston is significantly under-resourced in terms of police coverage per capita, relative to the other two cities. I suspect bringing the number of cops per capita up to LA's figures would help bring the crime rate down significantly.

But to do that would cost hundreds of millions a year, not counting the pension obligations. Say Houston adds 2000 cops at a fully-burdened cost (i.e. including benefits, office space, equipment, training, air conditioning, patrol car, gas) of $120K a year each. That would mean an additional cost of $240m a year. Divided up over Houston's 718,000 households, that would mean an average property tax increase of about $334 a year. How many people would pay that much money for a safer Houston? I suspect many would prefer to take their chances. and keep their hard-earned cash.

[radiodude84]

pay for it with a tax on fast food. I suspect the demand curve for junk food is completely inelastic here given the size of Houstonian's waistlines!!!

Oh and thanks for posting the stats I was too lazy to look up, even though somebody here already posted an article pointing out Houston's higher crime rate. Now we get to hear Houstonian conspiracy theories that the stats are biased against us!!!!

Originally Posted by Zhang Fei

Houston is more dangerous than LA and New York City. (Note that this is a reference to the cities proper, not their suburbs or metro areas). I've provided links to the city data pages that provide crime stats for these cities. On a per capita basis, New York is safer in every category than Houston, whereas Los Angeles is worse only in the category of arsons. I think Houston is significantly under-resourced in terms of police coverage per capita, relative to the other two cities. I suspect bringing the number of cops per capita up to LA's figures would help bring the crime rate down significantly.

But to do that would cost hundreds of millions a year, not counting the pension obligations. Say Houston adds 2000 cops at a fully-burdened cost (i.e. including benefits, office space, equipment, training, air conditioning, patrol car, gas) of $120K a year each. That would mean an additional cost of $240m a year. Divided up over Houston's 718,000 households, that would mean an average property tax increase of about $334 a year. How many people would pay that much money for a safer Houston? I suspect many would prefer to take their chances. and keep their hard-earned cash.

[TheStupid]

Originally Posted by radiodude84

pay for it with a tax on fast food. I suspect the demand curve for junk food is completely inelastic here given the size of Houstonian's waistlines!!!

Oh and thanks for posting the stats I was too lazy to look up, even though somebody here already posted an article pointing out Houston's higher crime rate. Now we get to hear Houstonian conspiracy theories that the stats are biased against us!!!!

An easy solution to address crime problem is simply to make each convicted criminal to serve the full sentence. Should the criminal have any personal property, it should be all confiscated to pay for prison cost.

If you want to be even better, make it 25 years no parole on any crime committed with a firearm. If the criminal has prior felony and touches any firearm or ammo, it's automatically life sentence. Same life sentence should apply if the said criminal commits any felony with any weapon.

Require all prisoners to do hard labor. Farming or highway construction etc. All income can go towards more prisons.

Oh, get rid of all illegal immigrants by simply requiring all banks and financial firms to verify legal status before any money that can be sent out. There's no need to involve Home Land Security and no deportation is needed either.