'Crime in Texas' report shows rise in murders, overall decrease in crime
SAN ANTONIO (KABB/WOAI) - The Texas Department of of Public Safety has released its "Crime in Texas" report for 2020.
The numbers show overall crime dropped by nearly three percent from 2019, but the number of murders across the state increased by 37 percent.
San Antonio criminology experts say the trends here in Texas mirror national crime numbers and the decline could be several factors working together.
"Populations are getting older, lifestyle is changing, Internet and technology are becoming more popular and keeping people indoors more often," says Dr. Alexander Testa, a criminal justice and criminology professor with UTSA. "Then there are changes in policing tactics or criminal justice policies."
Compared to 2019, San Antonio's overall crime dropped 16 percent, but like the statewide statistics show our murders increased.
There were 126 murders in 2020 and 105 in 2019.
Dr. Testa says last year's increase in firearm purchases could be one reason for the increase in violent crime along with an uptick in another trend.
"This was the highest year that we’ve had for drug overdoses, which indicates that substance use may have been increasing so those are both to risk factors for crime."
The numbers are new and there hasn't been time to analyze why the trends are moving exactly the way they are, but aside from Covid, last year's protests might have had an impact on crime numbers as well.
"Police are more hesitant to step in for criminal activity for fear of repercussions and then on the citizen standpoint, this might affect your trust in police their willingness to turn to police," says Testa.
According to DPS' report, San Antonio was the only city among the state's four most populated to see the total number of reported crimes drop from 2019.
What crime decreased the most in San Antonio in 2020?
Home burglaries, auto thefts and rape.
"People have been home more often so it’s harder to steal, it’s harder to burglarize somebody’s house when their typical 9-to-5 schedule is disrupted."
We reached out to SAPD and BCSO to get comment on their thoughts on the report and to see how they are continuing to fight violent crime in the community.
We received this comment from SAPD on behalf of Chief McManus:
The decrease in the overall crime numbers is a testament of the strong relationship between SAPD and the community we serve. Crime thrives when residents don’t trust their police department. We will continue to collaborate with residents to ensure that we are preventing and solving crimes so that we can continue to ensure San Antonio is a safe city for all.
