Well, Duh!

http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2006/08/14/ap2948377.html<BR>

Katrina Victims Blamed for Houston Crime

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.


I just realized there isn't a "Current Events" category on here~

hey, peach- I'm in clear lake, and we've seen a rise in crime down this way, too....same for Galveston, Texas City, League City....

I'm in Sugar Land and it's scary about all the crimes you watch on the news. Houston wasn't crime-free, but it just seems that every suspect they talk about is somehow linked to New Orleans these days. We were hospitable to take them and give them financial aid above and beyond what FEMA was providing and we get sucker punched with their gangs as well.

I can't believe that yall actually believe what the news really reports,

Who else is the news going to put it on if not the outsiders, they are not going to say the residents of houston is doing the crime because they don't want houston to look like a high crime area because it will give houston a bad name

No different than DC, media claims over 100 people killed in the month of July this year, but tourist continue to flock to DC inspite of the enoumous death rate. Hell I live here and it does not scare me nor do I beieve 100% of what the media says.

That is no different then the news constantly reporting that the high drug/crime and homeless rate is high for black and low for whites or any other race. And that is only because they are just reporting on the blacks. duh

The media is always going to make the lower class, sometimes middle class and since the katrina incident, I have heard nothing but bad things, about the people that live there, What happen to them was an act of mother nature and nothing else, and the media should be reporting on the good of those humans and how they have struggle to survive and start there life over beit in houston, DC or any other state but you don't hear that.

ScorpionLady, I agree with you in the sense that media posts negativity. I for one helped out at Reliant Stadium, Astrodome, and the local Blue Cross when the unfortunate souls lost everything and the city opened our doors to help out any way we could.

What I don't condone are gangs coming into the city and that is what that article was about. Before the evacuation, Houston had the highest crime rate in the state of Texas, but did not rank in the top 10 of major U.S. cities. Last I read was that Houston ranked 6th.

I own a condo on the SW part of town and rented out (at a deeply discounted rent) it out to a family from New Orleans, but not after I did a background check (as I have done in the past with any renter, regardless of race or income-class). Although their backgrounds came back clear, when they left (5 months ago), I had to have walls repaired from holes. Two of the interior doors were off almost off their hinges, they apparently had children which they did not tell me about because there was crayon marks on the walls...all of these repairs will cost me nearly $ 6,000.

I also asked for a "beat report" for that area and found that my rental address had a total of 8 calls for officers, with 2 of those calls resulting in some form of arrest - whether it was one of the tenants on my lease or a visitor, it still is discerning to find that information out.

Crime is everywhere, no doubt. And I have no problem helping out for the greater good, but one cannot help but be a little cynical when there is no denying that there are others who take advantage of hospitality to the extreme that it affects a person or a city.

"I had to have walls repaired from holes. Two of the interior doors were off almost off their hinges, they apparently had children which they did not tell me about because there was crayon marks on the walls...all of these repairs will cost me nearly $ 6,000."

That is a chance that everyone takes when they rent apartment that is why they have security deposit not to just cover rent when they don't pay but for expenses of wear and tear of apt which I know some people leave cleaner and neater than others.

But I can just about bet that the people that where living in your building probably had other family members that needed a place to stay also and you got to expect that also in a situation like that.


Crime is everywhere, no doubt. And I have no problem helping out for the greater good, but one cannot help but be a little cynical when there is no denying that there are others who take advantage of hospitality to the extreme that it affects a person or a city.

True that also but what I'm saying, do the media have to really have to blame these people for the high crime rate that is already in houston, is what they are doing


Also, some of the people will be affected by this for the rest of there lives and it just bothers me that the media would put out such negative news versus the positive.

That is why I rarely watch the news that crap is so depressnig sometime I never hear anything good, and if I do it is not a lot.

"I can't believe that yall actually believe what the news really reports,"

We don't have to have it reported by the news...we see it and live with the changes every day!

Scoprionlady- what part of houston do you live in? What has your experience been like? I will say that we have aqcuired some good eggs, as well as bad...We have several new employees at the University I work for who were forced to relocate, and they are absolute gems. Unfortunatley, the people like that aren't going to make the news.