The Katrina contribution to Houston's murder rate

Houston Chronicle:

With more than 300 homicides since January, Houston is on pace to record nearly 400 slayings for the year - which would be the highest number of killings the city has seen in more than a decade.

As of Oct. 16, the city had recorded 316 homicides, up 25 percent from the 252 slayings at this time last year. The Houston Police Department said an uptick in homicides by Hurricane Katrina evacuees has contributed to that increase.

``We recognize that the homicide rate is up as far as raw numbers and as well as percentages relative to the population,'' said Capt. Dwayne Ready. ``We also recognize that Katrina evacuees continue to have an impact on the murder rate.''

Though overall crime is slightly down for the year, the police department has had a difficult time reining in the rising homicide rate. But it's still not time to panic, police said.

...

The continuing cycle of violence among evacuees appears to be one of the biggest contributors to the city's homicide rate, police said.

Authorities first spotted increases in 2005. By year's end, the city had recorded 334 homicides.

During the previous 10 years, homicide rates never topped the 316 slayings in 1995.

``The Katrina population has certainly impacted the murder rate,'' said Houston Police spokesman John Cannon.

One recent example was Aug. 28, when police said evacuee James Hubbard, 26, was gunned down as he stood at a cashier's window in southwest Houston.

Police soon learned that the man accused of shooting him, Ralph Michael Anderson, 23, also was from New Orleans. On Wednesday, police arrested Anderson in Tyler; he has been charged with murder.

Hubbard's slaying was the 65th in 2006 classified as Katrina-related, meaning either the victim, suspect or both evacuated to Houston after Katrina.

In trying to offer a snapshot of how homicides in Houston have increased, police compared a 13-month span starting about a year before the arrival of Katrina evacuees to the past 13 months.

Between Sept. 1, 2004, and Oct. 16, 2005, there were 344 homicides in Houston. From Sept. 1, 2005, through Oct. 16, there were a total of 445 slayings, 83 involving Katrina evacuees, an increase of roughly 29 percent.

...

It would appear that those who thought Kinky Friedman was being racist for discussing the criminal element in the Katrina evacuees owe him an apology. A 30 percent increase in homicides is not a fluke. It has to do with the drugs and murder culture that also evacuated New Orleans with the victims of the storm. It should be pointed out that the victims in these additional murders were very likely blacks so the race baiters who think it is racism to criticize these killers need to quit making excuses for murder. It is not racist to be critical of murders.