Tag: crime statistics
It can be tough to put things into perspective when violent crimes dominate news headlines. According to the Pew Research Center, the public perception of crime rates in the U.S. is dramatically different than the reality. Crime has dropped by double digits since 2008, however, most people believe crime is actually getting worse. Here are…
Having a criminal record can severely impact your life by barring you from jobs and accolades, even years after a conviction. This was graphically illustrated when a beauty queen in Texas was stripped of her crown after her criminal record came to light. KHOU reported on how Miss Corpus Christi Latina Caitlin Cifuentes, will have…
Texas has an unenviable record for wrongful convictions. When a defendant is wrongfully jailed he or she is not the only one to lose out. A report this month reveals the state has paid 101 men and women who were wrongfully jailed $93.6 million over the last 25 years. That’s money that could have been…
If you are convicted of a DWI in Texas you will face a massive financial headache. Recently TxDOT said on a billboard you will likely end up paying as much as $17,000 for the offense. Some of the costs you will face are controversial, in particular the program that requires drivers who have been convicted…
Texas is seeing a spike in crimes committed with imitation weapons, partly because offenders believe they will receive a lesser sentence if they are caught. It’s a perception that’s false in Texas. If the victim of a crime believes the weapon that’s pointed at them is real it’s sufficient to warrant a first-degree felony charge…
Dallas Police Chief David Brown has boasted in the past about historically low murder rates in the city. It’s a good news message that hasn’t been heard much in recent months as Dallas has experienced a spike in homicides of more than 70 percent year on year. The Dallas Morning News reported how two more…
Arguments that a convicted killer who shot a city code officer dead in 2005, suffered from severe mental illness, failed to stop Texas from executing another death row inmate this month. Adam Ward, 33, became the fifth prisoner to be executed this year on March 22. He was sentenced to death for the killing of…
We often associate rising crime levels with big cities such as Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, but newly released statistics for 2015 point to increased violent offending in many of the suburban areas of northern Texas. Statistics for 2015 for North Texas cities with a population of at least 100,000 people reveal “the suburbs are…
When the Dallas Morning News recently featured the case of Khristopher Hood it highlighted one of the most disturbing aspects of Texas’s criminal justice system. Hood was locked up when he was just 11-years-old and hasn’t seen freedom since. That’s about to change next year when he will be released in his 30s. The article…
Bite marks have been used for decades by forensic scientists in criminal cases to help establish the identity of offenders. But the fact it is a tried and tested method, does not mean it’s a reliable one. Now Texas is leading the way in developing guidelines on whether this evidence should be admissible at all…