Murder rate up 25 percent this year

Well, here's something to be proud of: Houston's 2006 homicide rate is on track to be the highest in more than 10 years. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 16, HPD recorded 316 homicides, up 25 percent over the same period last year — an increase police blame in part on Katrina evacuees:

"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."

HPD backs up the evacuee story with a comparison of murders between Sept. 1, 2004, and Oct. 16, 2005, and between Sept. 1, 2005, and Oct. 16 of this year — roughly the amount of time evacuees have been in Houston. Between Sept. 1, 2004, and Oct. 16, 2005, there were 344 homicides in Houston; since Sept. 1 of last year, there have been 445, 83 of them involving evacuees, an increase of 29 percent. So far this year, 65 of the 316 murders have been Katrina-related, meaning the victim, the suspect or both were evacuees — that's roughly one of every five homicides in 2006. Interesting statistics, but we're not sure they prove conclusively that evacuees are responsible for the increase in homicides. After all, couldn't the murder rate have spiked 20 percent even without the evacuees? Sure — but that wouldn't really be good PR for the police department.

Even with the increase in the murder rate, though, police seem sort of nonchalant:

"The homicide rate has been much higher in years past, especially the 1980s,'' Ready said. "Even if the number ... for 2006 hits 400 it's not a bleak picture for Houston.''

Unless, of course, you're one of those 400.