From Chi-Town To Houston, America is literally under the “Gun” – Houston police on pace for another busy year of homicides

 

Houston police on pace for another busy year of homicides

Houston police are on pace for another busy year of homicides, which have already reached 53 killings as of March 3.

Houston ended 2016 with a preliminary count of 302 homicides, just under the 303 murders recorded in 2015, but far lower than what had been predicted for Houston based on trends recorded earlier in 2016, according to the Houston Police Department (HPD).

“We responded with an aggressive plan that involved an extra 2 million U.S. dollars for overtime, the deployment of 175 officers from desk jobs to beat patrols, more park rangers and a new patrol division dedicated to the Central Business District,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner.

In the most recent homicide, Earl Donnell Riley, 25, was fatally shot by Houston police after he shot two police officers on Feb. 28. Riley, who had gang ties and a laundry list of prior convictions, had been released from prison just ten months earlier.

HPD homicide investigators said that Riley opened fire on Officers Ronny Cortez and Jose Munoz with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. Munoz, a 10-year HPD veteran, was shot in the foot. Cortez, a 24-year veteran of the force, was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center with a bullet lodged near his spine.

For homicide victims, the emotional toll seems to never end. Just ask Misha Ferguson, a Houston land development consultant who lost her childhood friend to gun violence. Ferguson said she almost spilled her cup of coffee when she read about her friend’s death in morning paper.

The victim, Dedra Jefferson, was fatally stabbed by her son on Dec. 16, 2016, at their Houston-area home. The family had recently worried about the mental health of the suspect, 22-year-old Blake Jefferson.

The victim was a school trustee with Alief Independent School District. Alief is a residential suburb located 21 miles southwest of Houston.

“I hardly ever read the news now because it’s (violence) so disturbing to my spirit,” said Ferguson, a mother of four. “It’s so sad because it sounds like a lot of the homicides that I hear about involve mentally ill people.

“Many (killings) are not so much random robberies, but more of mentally ill people acting out mostly with people they know,” she said.

Andy Kahan, a Houston victim rights advocate, agreed that the emotional cost of losing a family member or friend to homicide is devastating.

“For each family, your lives are shattered permanently and everything’s changed,” said Kahan, a board member of the nonprofit Parents of Murdered Children. “All of a sudden you’re thrust into a whole new world not just dealing with the loss of a loved one, but dealing with the criminal justice system.

“Your life is forever changed and basically you’ve been given a life sentence,” he said. “Whatever happens to the offender, you have to live with the loss of your family member forever. There is no such thing as closure.”

Houston police are taking a proactive approach to lowering the number of murders, according to the Houston Mayor’s Office.

The increased focus on the problem included strategy sessions with HPD’s command staff and weekly updates to the mayor. Local hip hop artists, ministers, Houston Texans football players and other community leaders also stepped up to help reduce tensions in violence-prone Houston neighborhoods.

“There is a still a lot of work to do on decreasing all violent crimes, but getting a handle on murders is a good start,” Mayor Turner said.

Houston’s murder count is considered unofficial at this time because HPD is waiting on the Harris County Medical Examiner to provide rulings on some deaths that occurred during the last week of the year.

The mayor said that even if the final tally rises a little, Houston is still faring better than other cities like Chicago, which experienced 762 murders in 2016, the most in 19 years.

Xinhua

 

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