Crime in Houston — Why is the crime rate so high? 

Crime is everywhere. This includes the city of Houston.

Houston may be beautiful, but it has a crime index of 3, with 100 being the safest. This is not a place where you should forget to lock the doors. 

But why is this so?

Why does Houston have so much crime? 

Poverty, financial strain, gangs, and drugs are all major causes of Houston’s crime rate and its recent upticks. 

The population of Houston is getting bigger too. Criminals like areas where strangers are plentiful, and police can’t see new faces as readily. 

What’s more, crime will inevitably occur in towns where the economy has cycles of feast and famine. 

The growing wealth gaps in society only add to this. When we can see the disparity between those with and those without, unrest tends to rise. 

Texas has a relatively weak social safety net, to add to this. If you are poor in Texas, you suffer from the absence of social safety nets that may exist elsewhere. 

In light of provable evidence that anti-poverty programs reduce crime, one would think Texas would have learned that lesson decades ago. Unfortunately, there has been no change. 

Additionally, Houston has a serious gang and drug problem. Many drug addicts resort to joining a gang to feed their drug addiction. 

As a result, a majority of these people turn to committing crimes just to survive. Houston’s lack of drug treatment centers doesn’t make this problem easier, either. 

Some criticize the Houston police for their poor performance as well. Some allege that criminals quickly find out that the Houston Police Department isn’t very effective and use that to their advantage.

Houston Crime Rate Statistics

Here are a few stats of current crime statistics in Houston. 

*All crime rate statistics are taken from a worldwide neighborhood database neighborhoodscout.com that gathers intel in real-time* 

How is Houston combating the rise in crime? 

With initiatives such as One Safe Houston and Harris County Safe, millions of dollars have been donated to Houston city and county to combat violent crime. 

Moreover, a new program to address crime from a broader perspective is in the works. Gangs and organized crime will be targeted by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and other criminal defense organizations.

It is no secret that Houston battles violent crime every day, and these gangs are viewed as a modern-day crime in the city. Most of the arrests made related to them have been individual ones, however.

Hence, rather than simply putting people in handcuffs for a few days, authorities now want to build cases for the entire organization and put an end to this modern-day mafia. 

Part of the goal is to develop strong cases where defendants possessing significant risk to the community are arrested, not released on bond, and sentenced to substantial prison terms.  

A $2 million grant is also being given to Houston and Harris County by the Department of Justice. The funds will support victims, prevent and intervene in crime, and assist local authorities.