Reply #36: Interesting theory... [View All]

[SteveM]

Austin, Texas, home of the best-paid police department in Texas, and a city council which can't say "no" to more police-funding, the crime rate has gone up, while the national trend is down. Like San Antonio, Austin is located on Interstate 35, the big arterial for smuggling drugs, people and cash (the other way) between Mexico and the U.S. interior. There is speculation that the drug gangs, while establishing wider and stronger control of U.S. markets, is recruiting in cities along this route, and with gang wannabees in ample supply, "initiations" into thug life are increasing. Looking for anomalies or counter trends to the falling crime rates might reveal a pattern.

Within the last 2 years, San Marcos, TX, a college-town of modest size below Austin, has had two home invasions of student-area housing which resulted in the deaths of at least some of the invaders, in both instances. Some of these school drop-outs are so arrogant in their ignorance, they forget that Central Texas is home to some of the best bird and deer hunting on the planet.