Katrina victims blamed for Houston crime

[Herman Munster]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Katrina_Houston_Crime.html

"I don't think Texas really knows what they got," Martin said. Katrina sent a lot of bad guys to Texas, as Houston is finding out.

Houston took in 150,000 evacuees - the most of any U.S. city - after Katrina struck on Aug. 29. Houston police believe the evacuees are partly responsible for a nearly 17.5 percent increase in homicides so far this year over the same period in 2005.

About 21 percent of Houston's 232 homicides through July 25 involved an evacuee as either a suspect or a victim, according to police, who attribute much of the bloodshed to fighting among rival New Orleans gang members.

"New Orleans allowed a lot of these guys to stay on the street for whatever reason or be picked up and released after 60 days," said Capt. Dale Brown, who oversees Houston's homicide division. "Texas law, I don't want to say it's tougher, but we take these offenses very seriously."

[rudy23]

1. The swiftboating of New Orleans continues

This is so you don't get all weepy watching those Katrina anniversary specials.

Remember, New Orleanians deserved to drown, and Bush was doing this country a favor by letting them meet their watery graves.

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

12. Whaaaaaaat?

It's a simple statistical regularity. The evacuees went primarily to Houston proper, which has about 1.5 million people. Katrina essentially added 10% to the population at once, some of whom have committed crimes. Since I doubt many of the evacuees went right to HPD, I don't think peacekeeping forces could adequately handle the increase. Are you irritated because you think people are saying that the evacuees are causing a disproportionate amount of the crimes?

Just trying to make some sense of your second sentence.

[KamaAina]

16. Methinks he forgot the sarcasm smilie

Just trying to make some sense of your second sentence.

That sentence probably should've been followed by one (or more) of these:

:sarcasm:

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

20. Even with the proviso, the post is sort of all over the logical place

[ReadTomPaine]

2. Blame the victim

A game the whole country can play

[sweetheart]

3. It must be the poor

who else can't defend themselves.

Who else has long ago found another way to survive given that the only person lookin' out for number 1 is...

[INDIA]

4. The statistics are hard to ignore

Just about my whole family lives in Houston, and although they haven't been affected directly by the increase in crime, others haven't been so lucky. New Orleans had a LOT of bad people living there, and many of them have relocated to Houston for good.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Igel]

17. Actually, adding some

umph to the stats, was the change in criminality from the 2nd quarter '05 to the last quarter '05 to the first quarter '06.

The murder rate (and rates for some other crimes) soared in the weeks right after Katrina, and then they tapered off a bit at the end of the year; at the same time, the NOLA crime rate ticked up.

Some of them went home.

[Rosemary2205]

6. Some trouble in Atlanta too.

South of the city one county's schools are having violence problems specifically with Katrina teenagers. They are trying to get more community social support to the kids and their families to help them adjust better instead of acting out violently. I am so glad the community is reacting this way instead of just writing the kids off as "criminals".

[tanyev]

7. But Barbara Bush donated money for Neil's educational software

to go to Houston schools for all the Katrina victims. What more do they want? Look how well it's worked out for them.

[jsamuel]

8. strange that they combine the "victims" with the "suspects" like that

Anyone who is guilty should suffer the consequences, but I think we need to be careful with the stereotypes.

[MrCoffee]

15. So you can't be both?

I don't get it. How is it stereotyping to arrest a murderer, regardless of where they come from? Do Katrina victims/New Orleans evacuees get a free pass to commit crime?

[Igel]

18. It's not strange.

A lot of it apparently has been gang fights. The 'victim' isn't necessarily complete innocent in the altercation; the victim is merely the loser.

The lack of innocence may be pissing off some rival the day or week before, or attacking him and losing.

In some cases--note that the incidence of NOLA-ness is lower than the uptick in crime rate--it's just because many of the evacuees (here 'evacuee' sensu stricto) were dirt poor and settled in some very poor, very black, and very nasty neighborhoods. Some of them were simple victims, not complicit in their fate apart from where they wound up living.

(I'll note that I've lived in the same complex for two years, the complex was racially balanced black/white/other; a month after Katrine there started being a fair amount of broken glass on the sidewalks, loud gatherings at all hours, and the management put out notices saying that the lease required that we have renters insurance. A week later, another notice was put out saying to make sure the doors and windows were locked, even if we were home. We saw a few patios where the patio doors had just been prised open. The notices repeated every month or two until March-April, by which time many of the cars that had borne Louisiana license plates vanished. The broken glass and 4 am parties also went away.)

[MrCoffee]

9. What is your objection to this story?

I lived in Houston last summer, and crime caused by New Orleans evacuees was a HUGE problem. I substitute taught in a suburban school district, and the "New Orleans" kids almost universally throughout the schools I was in stayed apart from the local kids. There were dozens of incidents of gang-related crime linked to New Orleans evacuees, ESPECIALLY in the schools.

Does that mean that all New Orleans evacuees are criminals. Of course not. Does it mean that you should be suspect because of your residence? Of course not. Does it mean that New Orleans had no crime before Katrina? Of course not.

But it's foolish to believe that the criminal element in New Orleans stayed behind. Of course they left. Where did they go? All over the country. Houston simply got the biggest influx of all the evacuees. Consequently, by the law of averages, Houston got the biggest influx of New Orleans' criminals.

So how exactly is it blaming the victim by noting that "About 21 percent of Houston's 232 homicides through July 25 involved an evacuee as either a suspect or a victim, according to police, who attribute much of the bloodshed to fighting among rival New Orleans gang members"?

[lies and propaganda]

10. Houston was super safe to begin with.

maybe its cause the economy blows there.

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

11. So you're saying...

...that since it wasn't crime-free before, a little more isn't hurting anyone?

Is that it?

[lies and propaganda]

24. nope, not at all.

Just dont act like your city was sparkly fresh when it was nowehre near it.

and I love you 76 post confidence, bwahahah

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

25. trust me, I don't and never did

And I don't need 1000 posts under my belt to speak with confidence about things that I've studied.

Lots of posts <> actual intelligence.

[lies and propaganda]

26. By confidence I meant to come in playing devils advocate.

It was clear that my only point was that Bush has fucked Texas and the economy blows there.

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

29. Oh, that's different, then. My apologies. n/t

[meisje]

13. Oh sure, blame the criminals

[elehhhhna]

21. LOL. That's appropriate. Thread closed!

[Reciprocity]

14. This is just more Texas bashing. n/t

[Igel]

19. How so?

Some parts of Houston deserve their rep.

[Jacobin]

22. Katrina kids are segregated from Houston kids in schools in Houston

The gangs from both places are in WWIII. The schools have been forced to do so in order to keep a semblance of peace.

It is bad there. Very bad. We can all debate the reasons and what caused it and how awful it all is, but Houston ended up with a lot of hard core multi generational poor people a percentage of whom consider violence as an ok solution to problems.

[RB TexLa]

23. Anyone who thinks New Orleans didn't have a hardcore criminal element

doesn't know New Orleans and Louisiana very well. Violence, particularly murder is part of our culture. People move by their own decision or by something as horrible as what happened with Katrina but they are still the same people.

[Swamp Rat]

30. Murder is a phenomena that occurs in ALL societies.

Mardi Gras, muffalattas, jazz, boiled crawfish, creole food, zydeco, and a laissez faire attitude toward life are a "part of our culture."

[lonestarnot]

31. There are dickwads in every crew. Why would you want to castigate

the good people of NO for their particular dickwads?

[porphyrian]

27. I guess Clinton wasn't around... - n/t

[pitohui]

28. well houston sent us some too

how about the horrible predator from houston who killed the police officer in st. john and home invaded/held hostage an old man in kenner before he was done?

half the trash in the country thinks new orleans is the place to go, in fact, our sunday newspaper reported that capture of fugitives has doubled

by the way the above predator from houston was white, low class trashy killers come in all colors from what i've noticed
(i'm editing to say i prob. didn't need to point out the obvious on DU, but i was recently on a so-called mixed board where it was obvious that bitching abt katrina criminals in houston was their not very cloaked way of bitching abt black people moving into their apartment complex -- that sort of attitude gets tired)