New FBI data shows Houston violent crime numbers drop, but still high compared to other U.S. cities
HOUSTON - Violent crime is on the rise across the United States, according to an annual estimate report released by the FBI Wednesday.
Their data shows murders, rape, and crimes against seniors are spiking. Fox News reports the FBI acknowledges crime is at the very least matching the high levels seen in 2020, which surged nearly 30% over 2019. Murders increased 4.3% in 2021, rising from 22,000 to 29,000.
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In Texas, there were 113,672 violent crime incidents and 131,188 offenses reported in 2021 - an increase from 94,373 incidents and 107,723 offenses reported in 2020.
Texas has already adopted the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) used by the Bureau in the newest reports, but experts say the new data fails to show the whole picture.
Major metro areas like New York and Los Angeles Police Departments are not included in the new calculations.
"We want to have good answers, we want to have good data, but the sad reality is, that this year's FBI report is not something that I think we can rely on to get a real sense of where things are," says Rafael Mangual of the Manhattan Institute to Fox News.
Houston numbers show a decline in the number of violent-crime incidents reported between 2021 (28,325) and 2020 (29,474).
The number of reported incidents cleared dropped - 7,464 in 2021 compared to 8,172 in 2020.
Prior to Wednesday's FBI data, FOX 26 spoke with Houston leaders at the latest National Night Out event about the crime numbers.
"I would say is way too high," says Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. "We've approached the early 1990's numbers...so I don't look at a month-by-month decline, I look at long-range trends. We're way up - murder rate and DWIs. We have to curb drunk driving, we have to curb domestic violence. I think by working with our communities, increasing awareness, and trying to get more people to report, we can do that.