Thanks to President Trump’s crime crackdown, crime numbers are down across the country. But what about here in Houston?
“Violent crime in the city is dropping, as we get more officers on the street” said Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, “Teen violence has been on the rise, and it’s been on the rise for awhile.”
The numbers show that across the U.S., violent crime numbers have dropped almost 40%. But, Houston really does have a problem with teenagers. In June at Discovery Green, a large gathering of 500 to 600 teens at the downtown park drew a response from over 100 police units, resulting in temporary park closures and canceled weekend events.
“Teen crime is up, but overall crime is down” Griffith told KTRH, “So, we have to find some way to deal with the issues that we have now with these juveniles, younger and younger people getting charged with robbery, shootings. And we see so many social media outlets glorifying this.”
It’s also worth nothing that the crime numbers do vary depending on the area. Another issue that Houston has, is breaking into cars.
“They can do it time and time again and they’re not going to get prison time for it, they’re going to get a slap on the wrist and get back out there doing the same thing they were doing” noted Griffith, “So that’s something we have to work on.”
In the latest ‘Most Dangerous Cities’ in the U.S., Houston is still in the Top 10.