CRIME IN TEXAS: A LOOK AT THE LATEST STATISTICS

The 2004 Texas crime stats are out. While crime overall remains
stable, some categories are showing significant change.

Murder rates continue to plummet from all-time highs a decade ago,
but drug and alcohol-related crimes are increasing. The good news is
that overall crime has fallen significantly since the early 1990s.

During that period, Texas invested heavily in new jails. This has
reduced the rate of inmates being released early, which is important
because 30 percent re-arrest rate for paroled offenders out three
years (based on a Legislative Budget Board report last January).

Arguing against that link is the fact that Texas' crime statistics
reasonably reflect national trends. The state crime statistics are
reported under the Uniform Crime Report, using a standardized formula
that allows comparison with national figures from the Federal Bureau
of Investigations (FBI). A glance at the numbers show Texas is well
in line with those statistics.

In 2004, for example, violent crime decreased by 2 percent nationally
and 2.1 percent in Texas. The statistics show two pictures: the
number of crimes and the crime rate, adjusted for population and
reflecting the number of crimes per 100,000 persons.

Unless otherwise noted, all numbers in this story reflect only the crime rate.

In 2004, there were 5,032 crimes per 100,000 persons. Rates for six
of the seven major categories of non-drug or alcohol-related crime
decreased over the past year, except for rape, which rose 3.6 percent.

Murders declined by 6.3 percent.

Statistically, one in five Texans was arrested for a crime in 2004 --
a total of 1,128,131. A large number of these incidents were repeat
arrests for minor crimes such as public intoxication.

Violent Crimes: Decreasing

The 1,359 murders that occurred in 2004 represent a staggering 48.7
percent drop from the 1991 high of 2651, for a murder rate of 6 per
100,000, compared with 14 per 100,000. Most of that decrease took
place from 1992-97. Although the numbers have shown a modest rise
since 2000, the rate is statistically the same due to population growth.

Rapes peaked in 1993 at 9,923, for a rate of 55, before falling to
36.1 in 2003. The next year, there was a slight increase to 37.4. Of
murders committed in 2004, 66 percent involved firearms -- slightly
above the historical average.

Knives were used in 15 percent of reported cases. Seventy-nine
percent of firearms used in murders were handguns.

The largest number of murders, 470, resulted from arguments. The next
largest category, 140, occurred during robberies.

Only two shootings were identified as gang shootings.

Those numbers may be higher, because 398 murders are classified as
"unknown circumstances." For the first time since Texas began
reporting the statistic, more felons were killed in justifiable
homicides by private citizens than by police officers acting in the
line of duty: 31 to 23.

The number of justified shootings by private citizens has not
increased as much; rather, the number of shootings by police officers
has gone down. Three officers were killed in the line of duty in
2004, and 4,899 were assaulted.

Property Crimes: Decreasing

The biggest improvement has been in motor vehicle theft rates.

While most crime categories have decreased substantially, the drop in
auto thefts has been unusually impressive -- from 163,837 in 1991 to
93,844 in 2004, in spite of population increases. The drop in the
crime rate was 55.8 percent. What goes on here? In 1991, the 72nd
Legislature established the Help End Auto Theft (HEAT) program, which
allows vehicle owners to purchase window stickers that can be placed
on their cars to instigate a title check if the vehicle tries to
cross the border into Mexico. The biggest crime category in the state
is larceny-theft, accounting for 61 percent of all crimes. Although
theft itself is down slightly over the last year and decade, the
value of property taken has nearly doubled, from about $320 million
in 1991 to $580 million in 2004. Theft offenses total 696,220, for an
average property loss of $833. Theft from motor vehicles is the most
common type.

Drugs/Alcohol Arrests: Increasing

In 2004, 93,349 Texans were arrested for driving under the influence
of alcohol (DUI), an increase of 5.8 percent since 2003. Twelve
percent of those arrested were below the legal drinking age of 21.
While violent crimes and many property crimes are indexed by the
number of incidents, drug and alcohol crimes are indexed by the
number of arrests -- a lower figure number than that of actual incidents.

Because the stats are based on arrestees, demographic statistics are also kept.

The demographics show that Anglos are far likelier to be arrested for
DUI than other races, African-Americans half as likely.

Hispanics are less likely to be arrested than other races.

Of course, Anglos own and operate vehicles at a higher rate than
minorities. This could account for some of the variation.

Drug crimes, however, show a different picture. Here,
African-Americans, who were estimated in 2003 to make up 11.3 percent
of the population, accounted for 27 percent of arrestees.

Hispanics, who are at least 32 percent of the population, account for
only 22 percent of drug arrests. Total drug-related arrests were
126,886, or 564 for every 100,000 Texans: up 11.6 percent over 2003.
Possession of drugs increased by 11.1 percent, and arrests for sale
or manufacturing of drugs by 15.3 percent (though this is a smaller
number than possession). The race-related statistics show no
significant difference between sale and possession.

One difference in the two categories, however, has to do with the
types of drugs involved.

The most common drug involved in most possession-related cases is
marijuana, which represents 56 percent of all cases.

Just 7 percent of the possession cases are related to synthetic
narcotics (including methamphetamines), which nevertheless account
for 44 percent of the drug sales and manufacturing arrests. During
2004, Texas law enforcement agencies seized 576 drug labs -- 567 of
them used to produce methamphetamines. One was manufacturing
amphetamines, and eight were manufacturing crack cocaine.

One reason for these skewed statistics is the complexity of the drugs
involved: methamphetamines are very difficult to produce without
raising suspicion, whereas marijuana, the predominant drug in
possession cases, can be grown easily and without detection.

Who Is Committing Crime In Texas?

Every major crime category shows a large spike in the number of
arrestees in two age categories: 15-19 and 20-24. Although DUI
arrests fall in a gradual curve from that point, every other crime
shows a dramatic drop at age 25 and beyond.

This trend has been consistent for the past decade. Most arrestees
are male (77 percent). Twelve percent of arrestees are younger than
17, with assaults being the most common offense.

African-Americans, at 11.5 percent of the population, represent 22.25
percent of arrests, while whites (excluding Hispanics) represent 41
percent and Hispanics 35 percent.

Most individual crimes have similar percentages, though blacks are
arrested in 41 percent of burglaries and whites (non-Hispanic) are
arrested in a disproportionate 64 percent of fraud cases.