The Briefing Room
General Category => Editorial/Opinion/Blogs => Topic started by: Elderberry on February 11, 2019, 12:38:27 pm
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Houston Chronicle 2/10/2019
When the president steps foot in El Paso this morning, it’ll be the seventh time he’s visited Texas for a campaign rally. He’s been here to look things over after Hurricane Harvey, to campaign for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and he’s been in and out of the state for fundraisers.
Is it too much to hope that this time he’ll learn something about the Lone Star State?
“El Paso, Texas used to have extremely high rates of violent crime — one of the highest in the entire country, and considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities,†Trump said during his State of the Union address last week. “Now, immediately upon its [the fence’s] building, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of the safest cities in our country.â€
That’s unequivocally wrong. All Texans know that El Paso lies directly across the border from Juarez, where murder and kidnappings have at times overwhelmed local authorities. We also know that El Paso itself has for decades been universally considered one of the safest cities in America.
The border fence completed in 2009 didn’t make that so. The crime rate, and especially the rate of violent crimes, had been falling for nearly 20 years before that fence was completed.
That El Paso has been safe for decades is borne out by more than FBI stats. Elected officials from both parties have called out Trump’s falsehood repeatedly in recent days.
“El Paso was NEVER one of the MOST dangerous cities in the U.S,†Mayor Dee Margo, a Republican, said on Twitter last week. “We’ve had a fence for 10 years and it has impacted illegal immigration and curbed criminal activity. It is NOT the sole deterrent. Law enforcement in our community continues to keep us safe.â€
More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Welcome-Mr-President-Here-s-the-truth-about-13605577.php (https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Welcome-Mr-President-Here-s-the-truth-about-13605577.php)
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjOhKHf4LPgAhUM5oMKHSZyBR4QFjABegQIChAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.governing.com%2Fgov-data%2Fsafety-justice%2Fpolice-officers-per-capita-rates-employment-for-city-departments.html&usg=AOvVaw3NkqJ5bAVXJZjRniiSzSy9 (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjOhKHf4LPgAhUM5oMKHSZyBR4QFjABegQIChAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.governing.com%2Fgov-data%2Fsafety-justice%2Fpolice-officers-per-capita-rates-employment-for-city-departments.html&usg=AOvVaw3NkqJ5bAVXJZjRniiSzSy9)
Police Employment, Officers Per Capita Rates for U.S. Cities
2016 data comprehensive list at the link
El Paso, Texas 14.7/10k
Officers per 10,000k people
Atlantic City, New Jersey 70.9
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 68.7
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia 55.1
Chicago, Illinois 43.9
New York, New York 42.3
Miami Beach, Florida 42.3
Wilmington, Delaware 41.8
Baltimore, Maryland 40.6
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https://realestate.usnews.com/places/texas/el-paso/crime (https://realestate.usnews.com/places/texas/el-paso/crime)
How safe is El Paso, TX?
Many people assume that El Paso is a dangerous place to live based on its proximity to Juarez, Mexico, which has a reputation for gang violence. Just like any major metropolitan area, El Paso does experience crime. But the region's rate of violent crime is lower than the national average and the rate of property crime is significantly lower.