KGBT: Rep. Cuellar: FBI stats show border communities have fewer murders than bigger cities

by Ashly Custer

Posted: 11.18.2014 at 10:07 PM

Statistics released by the FBI show that there are fewer murders in border towns than in other bigger cities in Texas.

While that may surprise some in the community, legislatures and law enforcement say they aren't.

The top ten cities with the highest murder rate do not include a single city along the US-Mexico border.

"There's a lot of mischaracterizations and misinformation that people who are running for statewide office or federal office are always talkign about the border,"said Congressman Henry Cuellar.

He said while border cities get a bad representation, they are actually safer than most realize.  Cuellar said newly release statistics from the FBI prove it.

"The national rate if 4.5 murders per 100,000. This is a lot lower on the border a lot lower. Washington D.C. where I work it’s almost 16 murders per 100,000," added the congressman.

In fact, the murder rates in Washington DC, Dallas, and Houston are more than six times higher than that of McAllen, Laredo and Brownsville.

"This is simply not Mexico, this is South Texas. This is the USA. Our crime in our border cities is much better," said McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.

Last year, McAllen only had two murders compared to the 214 in Houston and 143 in Dallas. While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the disparity, ChiefRodriguez said border regions like the Rio Grande Valley have benefited from the extra manpower and boots on the ground from Border Patrol, DPS, and NationalGuard.

"For us, we fear-I'll be straight up with you, the moment they start removing some of the law enforcement and additional assets that we have here-it’s time to saddle up here. We're going to see increases in criminal activity," said Chief Rodriguez.

"I want to thank the state, local, and federal law enforcement that do a good job. We still have problems and challenges, but it’s nothing the way people characterize the border," said Congressman Cuellar.

This year, the McAllen had 4 more murders than last year, but the population of city residents has also grown exponentially. Chief Rodriguez said the rate of crimes has dropped consecutively now for the last 5 years making it the lowest it’s ever been in the last 24 years.

http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=1124956#.VGzIqvnF_kc