Crime
Houston's murder rate ranked 46th of U.S. cities with a population over 250,000 in 2005 (per capita rate of 16.3 murders per 100,000 population). In 2010, the city's murder rate (per capita rate of 11.8 murders per 100,000 population) was ranked sixth among U.S. cities with a population of over 750,000 (behind New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles) according to the FBI.
Murders fell by 37 percent from January to June 2011, compared with the same period in 2010. Houston's total crime rate including violent and nonviolent crimes decreased by 11 percent.
Houston is a significant hub for trafficking of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, MDMA, and methamphetamine due to its size and proximity to major illegal drug exporting nations.
In the early 1970s, Houston, Pasadena and several coastal towns were the site of the Houston Mass Murders, which at the time were the deadliest case of serial killing in American history.
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Famous quotes containing the word crime:
“Remember that it’s never a crime in the face of humanity and enlightenment to distribute the works of the great humanists among the merchants and moneychangers of this godforsaken country... You better slip me the dough.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“After all, crime is only a lefthanded form of human endeavor.”
—John Huston (1906–1987)
“You punish crimes committed, with us the thought of crime is a sin; you fear the voice of witness, we the sole voice of conscience.”
—Marcus Minucius Felix (2nd or 3rd cen. A.D.)