Violent crime is surging in Houston. HPD is suffering from a manpower crisis. It’s also in the midst of a leadership crisis, brought on by a soft-on-crime chief and the mayor who continues to support him. And we have an increased criminal element among the New Orleans evacuees who now reside in Houston.
The Chronicle‘s Editorial LiveJournalists, though, have a handle on the problem:
Whatever the causes, more crimes are being committed with illicit guns. Keeping those guns from illegal re-sellers, straw buyers or convicted felons must be a national priority. Two rational steps include requiring gun-show dealers to conduct buyer background checks and limiting the number of gun purchases to one per person per month.
Here’s a thought — more crimes are being committed in Houston by criminals! How about we boost HPD staffing, and empower our officers to go after the bad guys (instead of banning our officers from giving chase). And if Chief Hurtt isn’t the leader for the task, how about we arrange for him to remain in Phoenix permanently after one of his weekends there and we find a chief of police who will take on the bad guys.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation, Live from the (upper) Texas Gulf Coast.
