Thursday, January 05, 2006
Katrina Evacuees Will Kill You
Before you become enraged at that headline, please know that it's very much tongue-in-cheek. That said, it is the impression that media outlets across the globe, but especially here in Texas, are working hard to push.
A number of media reports, especially newspaper reports, are trying to make a connection between the influx of Katrina evacuees into Houston and the rise in that city's murder rate. It's a connection being pushed so hard that the city's mayor wants FEMA to help pay for police protection.
If a reader takes the time to get past misleading headlines and emotional quotes from crime victims, one mathematical fact will stand out: only eight of the more than 325 violent deaths this year have involved storm-displaced people. That was one point made (finally) by the Houston Chronicle in a December 27 editorial.
Do the math. In a city with a 25% increase in the homicide rate, nearly 98% of those murders are being committed by people not displaced by Katrina. The press needs to calm the hell down.
If math isn't enough for you, consider the following. As is being reported by the Dallas Morning News,"Dallas police announced this afternoon that, for the first time in more than a decade, crime was down last year in all major categories in Dallas - led by a double-digit drop in murder." That city, like Houston, has also become home to thousands of Katrina evacuees.
A number of media reports, especially newspaper reports, are trying to make a connection between the influx of Katrina evacuees into Houston and the rise in that city's murder rate. It's a connection being pushed so hard that the city's mayor wants FEMA to help pay for police protection.
If a reader takes the time to get past misleading headlines and emotional quotes from crime victims, one mathematical fact will stand out: only eight of the more than 325 violent deaths this year have involved storm-displaced people. That was one point made (finally) by the Houston Chronicle in a December 27 editorial.
Do the math. In a city with a 25% increase in the homicide rate, nearly 98% of those murders are being committed by people not displaced by Katrina. The press needs to calm the hell down.
If math isn't enough for you, consider the following. As is being reported by the Dallas Morning News,"Dallas police announced this afternoon that, for the first time in more than a decade, crime was down last year in all major categories in Dallas - led by a double-digit drop in murder." That city, like Houston, has also become home to thousands of Katrina evacuees.
