Surprise: FBI Figures Show Border Cities Less Violent than Rest of U.S.

[The Straight Story]

Surprise: FBI Figures Show Border Cities Less Violent than Rest of U.S.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Surprise: FBI Figures Show Border Cities Less Violent than Rest of U.S.

Is the United States’ side of the border with Mexico a region of dwindling crime and violence, or an exploding threat to American national security? Statistics would say it’s the former, but political rhetoric the latter.

A report from the FBI reportedly shows that the four largest American cities with the lowest violent crime rates are located in border states: San Diego, CA; Phoenix, AZ; and El Paso and Austin, TX.

In Arizona, home of the much-debated state immigration law, violent crime rates fell markedly from 2002 to 2008, by 19.5%, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Nationally, the rate dropped 7.9%.

Also, a Customs and Border Protection study obtained by the Associated Press revealed only 3% of Border Patrol agents and officers were assaulted in 2009—compared to 11% for police officers and sheriff’s deputies in the country as a whole. In fact, last year marked the first time in seven years that violent attacks against border patrol agents declined. This year, assaults are up slightly so far.

“The border is safer now than it’s ever been,” Customs and Border Protection spokesman Lloyd Easterling told the Associated Press.

But that hasn’t stopped Democrats and Republicans in Congress who represent districts near the border from making alarmist claims. “Violence in the vicinity of the U.S.-Mexico border continues to increase at an alarming rate. We believe that this violence represents a serious threat to the national security of the United States as well as a serious threat to U.S. citizens that live along the 1,969-mile long border,” wrote a dozen lawmakers in a letter to President Barack Obama.

http://www.allgov.com/Controversies/ViewNews/Surprise__FBI_Figures_Show_Border_Cities_Less_Violent_than_Rest_of_US_100610

[davidinalameda]

1. I wouldn't call Austin a border town

nor Phoenix

[atreides1]

2. You're Right

Not geographically, both Austin and Phoenix are large cities where most illegals will head to, because of the better chances of finding work, and the popullation, which they can blend into.

El Paso is the big surprise considering that criminal activity in the domestic metropolitan area of Juárez has increased dramatically since the rise of maquiladoras and especially following the establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, two factors which attracted both international commerce and many younger women and their families to Juárez in search of better economic opportunities.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Bad headline. Text refers more accurately to cities in border states

Other data and the experience of local law enforcement shows crime has not increased in BORDER TOWNS. In Arizona, for example:


Mexico crime flares, but here, only flickers
by Dennis Wagner - May. 2, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

NOGALES, Ariz. - Assistant Police Chief Roy
Bermudez shakes his head and smiles when
he hears politicians and pundits declaring
that Mexican cartel violence is overrunning
his Arizona border town.

"We have not, thank God, witnessed any
spillover violence from Mexico," Bermudez
says emphatically. "You can look at the crime
stats. I think Nogales, Arizona, is one of the
safest places to live in all of America."

FBI Uniform Crime Reports and statistics
provided by police agencies, in fact, show
that the crime rates in Nogales, Douglas,
Yuma and other Arizona border towns have
remained essentially flat for the past decade,
even as drug-related violence has spiraled
out of control on the other side of the
international line. Statewide, rates of violent
crime also are down.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/05/02/20100502arizona-border-violence-mexico.html

[davidinalameda]

9. nothing like facts to get in the way of a good OMGism

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. K&R

[UTUSN]

5. K&R #2 for, shhhhhh, don't let the 'baggers & other hysterics hear n/t

[seabeyond]

6. i have in laws living in el paso and surprised how low crime is there. i hear ya. but

right on the other side of border is whole other story

[WolverineDG]

11. Juarez is truly the Old Wild West where anything goes

I was visiting El Paso a few years ago & they took me across the bridge for drinks in Juarez. Nothing happened, but I didn't like the feeling of the place & we practically ran back across the bridge a couple of hours later. And that's saying a lot because I'm a life-long "Hey, let's go to Mexico for dinner" type person.

dg

[dorkulon]

7. Yeah, but one illegal immigrant killed somebody once, or something

so we have to build a mile-high wall with machine gun turrets! Right?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. Austin is more than 200 miles from the border it's not really a good example

I have an elderly distant relative living in Laredo, a real border town. He still crosses the border everyday to go have a few cervezas and play cards with his cronies in Nueveo Laredo 6-days a week. Which is not an issue. He can tell you some stories though, but they're nothing like the crap that people who live away from the borders are spreading. According to him it was worse between 2003 and 2006. He's pretty upset how all of a sudden the media decides pick up on it 4-years after things have tapered off, and when they do they decide to try and twist it all around into an immigration issue.

There are issues in some border towns with drug cartels and drug trafficking. It has not one thing to do with immigration or the color of a persons skin like the media would have you believe. It does have everything to do with this country's appetite for illegal drugs and those looking to exploit that appetite for a profit. We're not talking individual mules trudging across the border with a couple of kilos of pot, but real organized crime with big money and well placed connections using all that hype as a cover. Guess what? They don't want to immigrate to the US. They're making a fine living as it is and don't want a different job.

Immigrants are not now, nor were they ever, a factor in increased crime rates in the US. But for some reason we love to have some immigrant to hate. Be they Scotts, Italians, Irish or whoever the flavor of the month is. Throughout history Americans have picked a group of immigrants to attack.

[WolverineDG]

12. Well they weren't lying about the cartel shoot out at the bridge

a couple of months ago. We figure someone was trying to cross something into the US at Bridge 1 that they weren't supposed to & a fight between cartels ensued from Bridge 1 all along Colosio Blvd (which follows the river). The 911 calls from that night are pretty horrific.

dg

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. Well, yeah, that's what I'm saying, actually

The real problem is the illegal drug trade and the cartels. It's not a racial thing, nor is it an immigration thing, but an illegal drug thing. Sorry, I've never been easy to follow with they way I wander around a thought. :P

[WolverineDG]

14. Happens to us all

:P

dg

[WolverineDG]

10. Learn something new every day

Austin is a border city? :wow: :spray: :rofl:

Anyway, from this real LIVE border town (as in Mexico is a mile from my house), we've got a lot of petty crime (cars, beer thefts, etc), but murders etc are few & tend to be limited to those who somehow cross the cartels (recent exception of the 14 year old girl stabbed to death by her fuckwad step-father)

dg