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And the numbers don't look good in parts of Texas. Here is an article from the December 18 Houston Chronicle.

Bottom line is that, overall, violent crime is up nationwide. Robberies up by almost 10 percent, killings by 1.4 percent.

The crime rates in Dallas, El Paso, and Lubbock remained essentially flat when compared to 2005, but Dallas already had the dubious distinction of having the highest crime rate per capita of the 10 largest cities in 2005. (See an AP story from last September.)

In Houston, we're faring worse. Violent crime here has increased at almost twice the national levels comparing the first half of 2006 to the same period in 2005. Killings increased by a startling 28 percent. Violent crime overall is up 5.9 percent. Houston Police Department Captain Dwayne Ready pointed specifically to the population increase that resulted from the influx of Katrina evacuees, and to strained resources and lack of personnel.

If you want to dig into the detailed data, you can explore the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports Webpage.

Stay alert out there, folks.

Don't worry about Dallas. Laura Miller is making sure DPD keeps the streets safe from toy guns.

Most of us in or around Houston like to blame Katrina.

KBCraig wrote:Don't worry about Dallas. Laura Miller is making sure DPD keeps the streets safe from toy guns.

I stumbled on a Website Houstonians may find interesting. Written by a programmer named Eric Carlson, it's a compilation of 2005 and first-half 2006 Houston crime statistics, some showing trending graphically, some simple charts of information, and some--these are kinda cool--showing occurances mapped over Google Maps geo-locators.

http://home.houston.rr.com/ecarlson/crimestats/

The number one location for murders and violent crimes in general? Apartment parking lots.

Looking at the "Top 20 Houston Type I Crime Locations":

http://home.houston.rr.com/ecarlson/cri ... 00606.html


It's pretty interesting that parking lots and road/street/sidewalk "Type I Crimes" are so common.

For instance, there are 899 crimes reported in Convenience Store Parking Lots, but only 616 inside Convenience Store's. There are 563 crimes in Bar / Night Club Parking Lots, but only 464 inside Bar / Night Clubs.

The moral of the story seems to be, don't let your guard down in the parking lot.

Actually, that makes perfect sense to me. Think about it through the predator's eyes. Admittedly, I do think about how I'd go about executing attacks on a regular basis. After I think up the plan, I think through the weaknesses my attack plan exploits and how to stop that attack.

For the purpose of this discussion, the inside of an establishment generally means more witnesses and security personell who may be close by. It also usually mean only one or two exits that can easily be closed off. There are even entry ways specifically designed to trap people in a "box" at the door. They are more commonly seen in banks but I've seen the same set up in at least one night club. A parking lot by comparison usually means you can scope out the "lone weakling" away from the crowd and therefore, away from witnesses. The parking lot also represents more escape routes than cannot be easily blocked by witnesses, fleeing bystanders or responding security and police.

I know we like to think criminals are all idiots. But the reality is, there are a lot of "professional" criminals out there and they have thought out their tactics. Paladin, you are right about not letting your guard down in the parking lot. You really shouldn't let your guard down at anytime. I'm not saying you should live in fear of being attacked 24/7 but certainly be prepared and able to shift gears rather being stuck like a deer in headlights.