Most Progressives watched the crime fraud the mainstream media (MSM), GOP operatives, & blue-dog Democrats were trying to get Houstonians to believe. Sadly, the pushback was too minimal.
Mainstream media was complicit in misleading Houstonians.
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Republicans throughout the country were intent on making crime a significant issue. One should always take crime seriously, but misleading citizens and putting them in fear is unforgivable. That is what the MSM, GOP, and appeasingly weak Democrats did throughout the country, specifically in Houston.
Well, the numbers are out now. And I hope the MSM will report it accurately.
Crime in Houston has been a hot topic this year and played a key role in high-profile elections during the midterms. The Houston Chronicle looked at data from 2022 to find out which crimes were most commonly responded to by Houston Police this year.
Overall crime in Houston has remained relatively steady since 2018
Offenses reported by HPD, 3-month rolling average*, July 2018 – Oct. 2022
Source: Houston Police Department NIBRS data • *Rolling averages smooths anomalous spikes in monthly offense counts. HPD NIBRS data begins in July 2018; 3-month averages begin in September 2018. As of publishing, the latest available data is from October 2022.
Chart: Brendon Derr
Selected Houston Crimes from mid-2018 to present
Offenses reported by HPD, 3-month rolling average*, July 2018 – Oct. 2022
Source: Houston Police Department NIBRS data • *Rolling averages smooths anomalous spikes in monthly offense counts. HPD NIBRS data begins in July 2018; 3-month averages begin in September 2018. As of publishing, the latest available data is from October 2022.
Charts: Brendon Derr
Even as crimes in the aggregate have been flat, some crimes are up, and some are down. And the type of crime tells a story for those who want to see it.
Broad crime summaries like this can help us understand a part of what is going on in our community. However, there is a lot to keep in mind when looking at crime data on the city-level. Though it seems obvious, it’s important to remember that not all crime is equal in terms of “societal harm” according to Jeff Asher, a New Orleans based criminologist. Specificity is critical – saying crime is up, down, or flat doesn’t mean too much until you look at specific crimes or types of crime.
With the more harmful crimes broken out, a different story unfolds: murder, aggravated assault and motor vehicle theft are trending up and rape, robbery and burglary are trending down. However, this data encompasses only crimes that HPD responds to and writes up in an official incident report.
Note that gun crimes are up. Our Republican legislature in Austin has unleashed guns into the streets of Houston. It is malpractice that all Democrats fail to point out that both gun crimes and bail are ultimately the purviews of lawmakers.
Progressives and Democrats must never cede their moral positions and policies to the bloviation and misinformation of Republicans, their media, their operatives, and others.
Republicans have total control of the Texas state government.. Any blame for crime is at their doorstep.
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