A new study performed by five criminologists has conclusively shown that the crime waves blamed on evacuated Hurricane Katrina victims was a fabrication. The Katrina evacuees were taken to Phoenix, Houston and San Antonio. Experts found only a modest increase in murder rates from Phoenix and murder and robbery rates in Houston during this period. San Antonio experienced no crime increases at all. There were no increases in any city for assault, car theft and other crimes that the relocated victims would have been likely to participate in.
“What we found in Houston was there appears to be an increase in some categories of crime, in particular murder and robbery, during the Katrina time period when the evacuees came to Houston. There was no significant change in rape, aggravated assault, burglary or auto theft,“ said lead author Sean P. Varano.
The study was completed in an attempt to confirm or deny anecdotal stories from the public and the media regarding the behavior of the refugees. The research showed there was a small initial spike in crime, but it soon faded, meaning the fabled “Katrina crime wave” was little more than talk.
San Antonio criminal attorneys believe the crime wave myths were merely a way for locals to help blame their existing crime problems on a temporary, transient group of people.
To read more on the issue, see the article in the Houston Chronicle. Image via Ely Online [Flickr].
Texas has long had a reputation for imprisoning, even executing, convicts at a much higher rate than other states. But long prison sentences don’t come cheap to the tax payer, as a result, the state has scaled back on sentencing convicts to prison time and instead has been increasingly reliant on alternative programs to help with the offender’s mental, drug and alcohol problems.
Chief Harold Hurtt says he cannot get funding to start processing DNA for non-violent crimes such as burglaries, auto thefts and drug crimes. The city’s crime lab is already understaffed and underfunded, meaning even DNA tests for violent crimes such as rapes go untested until necessary. “I’m so frustrated with this whole process,” Hurtt said Friday. “We find a problem, we find a solution, and … everybody says, ‘This is important. We have to do it.’ However, it doesn’t seem to be a priority. And we’re not going to be able to do this for free.”