We hear a lot about rising murder rates and dangerous cities in Texas, but the headlines can sometimes skew the true picture.
Although there are more killings in Dallas and Houston than Fort Worth, these are bigger cities so it doesn’t mean your chances of becoming a statistic are higher.
In 2015, cities in west Texas emerged as the most dangerous places in the state with Odessa taking the top spot.
Homicide Rates & Most Dangerous Cities In TexasA report in Texas Monthly said Odessa’s violent crime rate of 806 incidents per 100,000 was by far the highest in Texas. The second most dangerous city was Lubbock with a violent crime rate of 658 incidents per 100,000.
Different cities can score more highly for different violent offenses. Lubbock’s crime rate is slanted toward robbery, while there are more aggravated assault cases in Odessa, 645 cases per 100,000 people.
While Amarillo was the sixth dangerous city in the state, according to FBI statistics, it had the highest rate of reported rapes in Texas, at 84.9 per 100,000. As a crime, rapes tend to go underreported.
Houston has both the highest raw number of violent crimes and the highest rate of violent crime in Texas. However, the city does not have the highest murder rate. That unenviable distinction belongs to nearby Beaumont which also has a high level of rapes.
The FBI survey noted a difference in the prevalent violent crimes in the west of the state compared to the east.
While Odessa and Lubbock have high numbers of assault crimes, Houston’s robbery rate, at 233 per 100,000, is nearly double that of the top violent crime cities on the list. Its murder rate is 5.9 per 100,000.
The Dallas/Fort Worth area was 17th highest on the list, with robbery rates fairly high and the murder rate, at 4.4, in the middle of the table. However, since 2014 there has been a steady increase in violent crimes in Dallas as well as many other cities nationwide.
In cities that have high or rapidly rising levels of crime, law enforcement officers often come under greater pressure to get results. This means they may take excessive action or use dubious means to get results. At The Medlin Law Firm, we have provided a staunch criminal defense to assault and other violent crime charges for decades.
Call us for a free consultation today if you have been charged with a violent crime at (682) 204-4066.
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