Fort Worth sees fewest murders since 1963

[TXCharlie]

And this in a city where almost everyone has a gun in their home, no gun registration is required, the State has "MUST ISSUE" Concealed Handgun permits, and it's legal to carry a loaded shotgun or rifle in your car, even without a permit...

But Fort Worth does have a 2,600-member Citizens on Patrol force... Hmmm.
http://www.fortworthpd.com/policingcop.htm

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...e.51fe7be.html

04:37 PM CST on Wednesday, January 3, 2007
By JEFF MOSIER and DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News

Fort Worth is proving why it’s been named one of the safest big cities in the country.

Police officials announced this week that the 51 murders in 2006 was the lowest number since 1963. Back then, Fort Worth was only half its current size.

Support from our citizens along with the diligent efforts of our department and the support of city government has been the formula for fighting crime in Fort Worth, said Lt. Gene Jones, a police spokesman.

He specifically mentioned Ministers Against Crime, Citizens on Patrol and Clergy and Police Alliance as groups that have helped patrol neighborhoods and provided support for crime victims.

In the past decade, the number of murders in Fort Worth dropped dramatically and mostly leveled off in recent years. The city was averaging more than 100 murders annually during the early 1990s.

By 2002, that number dropped into the 50s and stayed there for four of the next five years. Murders spiked upward to 62 in 2005.

On Tuesday in Dallas, city officials announced that the number of murders was down from 198 in 2005 to 187 in 2006 the fewest number of murders since 1967, when 133 were recorded.

In neighboring Arlington, the police department also recorded a drop in murders. The total for 2006 was 14, down from 24 a year earlier.

The 2005 murder tally was much higher than in any other year in the past decade.

Christy Gilfour, an Arlington police spokeswoman, said it’s not clear what caused the spike in killings or the drop last year. She said that most of the murders involved two people who knew each other and centered on drug deals, domestic disputes and other arguments that escalated.

Only two appeared to be stranger-on-stranger crimes,Ms. Gilfour said.

Both of those cases are still open.

[BEB]

But guns make you less safe! They sneak up on you in the dark and attack. Really, it must be true, politicians allude to such dangers all the time.

Good to hear, Charlie. The Citizens on Patrol and other support from the the community is refreshing.

[10-42Adam]

Congrats to the city of Fort Worth!