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Addressing crime and public safety in Houston
Another deputy has lost his life in an off-duty shooting. There have been more than 100 homicides in Houston in the first 3 months of 2022. Last week, a computer glitch released almost 300 mostly non-violent misdemeanor defendants from the Harris County jail.
HOUSTON - 2022 has been a tragic time for law enforcement officers, and according to some troubling numbers, Texas accounts for nearly a quarter of officer deaths so far.
DEADLY 2022: Houston leads Chicago, NYC, and LA in homicides so far this year
The report shows numbers provided by Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP), a nonprofit dedicated to honoring fallen officers across the country.
Based on a tweet from the Houston Police Officer's Union, five law enforcement officers alone, have been killed in the last 70 days in Harris County.
"This trend cannot continue," HPOU said in their tweet.
These numbers come after two officers in the Greater Houston area were killed this week, one of whom was off-duty confronting thieves trying to steal catalytic converters from his truck outside a grocery store, while the second was killed by a drunk driver.
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FULL INTERVIEW: Exclusive interview with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner
FOX 26 Anchor Jonathan Martin talks with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner about Houston's $44 million initiative to fight crime.
Crime has been particularly noticeable in Houston, where statistics show the city leading ahead of other major cities in homicide rates.
RELATED: 'No more excuses,' Houston PD Chief Troy Finner calls for more action against gun violence
When it comes to law enforcement across the country, however, the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) counted more than 100 officers shot in the line of duty as of April 1, including 17 fatally, so far in 2022.
In their findings, the FOP noticed a 43 percent increase in slain officers compared to 2021 and a 63% increase compared to 2020.
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High crime in Houston - Back then and today
Although murder rates were high in 2021, they weren’t nearly as high as they were in 1981 and 1991. Those numbers were in the 700 range! Two former Houston PD officers are on the Factor to talk about what worked back then to quell the numbers and give their take on current crime initiatives.