U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar has released a compilation of the latest statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that show a lower murder rate in cities along the Texas-Mexico border than in other major cities across the nation and the state of Texas. The numbers are from 2014.
The FBI crime rates also show that the number of robberies, assaults, and rapes is significantly lower in border cities than the major metropolitan cities in Texas.
“Many people, both in the political arena and out, mischaracterize the southern border region as very unsafe,” Cuellar said. “But today’s numbers, for yet another year, paint a very different picture.”
The latest FBI crime statistics include:
•The murder rates in Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Houston are more than twice the murder rates in McAllen, Brownsville, and El Paso, respectively
•In 2014, there were 242 murders in Houston and 116 in Dallas, compared to 14 murders in Laredo, six in McAllen, and five in Brownsville
•In 2014, there were 10,186 robberies in Houston and 4,202 robberies in Dallas, compared to 415 in El Paso, 196 in Laredo, 138 in Brownsville, and 68 in McAllen.