Katrina's Crime Costs Documented by SHSU Researcher

The relocation of people from New Orleans to Texas after Hurricane Katrina has had a major impact on crime and the cost of policing in Texas, according to a study by Sam Houston State University's Police Research Center.

"The areas that were hit the hardest and had most of the evacuations were the poverty-stricken districts abundant with gang activity and persons with criminal records," said researcher Mark Pullin. "This is in no way suggesting that all of the persons evacuated were criminals, but the areas flooded had been plagued with criminal activity for many years."

Even before they were evacuated, the hurricane victims turned to looting, exchanging gunshots between rival gang members, and even shooting at National Guardsmen attempting rescue efforts.

When the evacuees were housed in large buildings such as the Astrodome in Houston, tempers flared. Efforts began immediately to disperse them throughout the state and nation. Pullin had information from 52 Texas police agencies about the results of these displacements.

"Increases in crime in the sheltering cities was inevitable," said Pullin, who found that other states were concerned about possible crime increases as well.

South Carolina reported that out of 457 evacuees on whom law enforcement performed background checks, 301 came back with criminal histories. West Virginia reported that half of the 350 evacuees they checked came back with criminal histories, and 22 had a history of violent crime.

"With New Orleans having a dismal 28 percent of its population below the poverty level and a homicide rate that is 10 times that of the national average," said Pullin, "it is evident and understandable that many of the persons displaced from the hurricane had a criminal history."

Of the Texas agencies contacted, 88 percent said they had received at least a few evacuees. The highest number, more than 175,000, was in Houston. By April 2006, 79 percent of the agencies reported they still had countable numbers of evacuees within their jurisdictions.

The number of evacuees remaining included 153,000 in Houston, 10,000 in Dallas, 3,000 in Plano, 2,500 in Fort Worth, 2,450 in Arlington, and 1,500 in Baytown and College Station. From 100-500 were reported in Montgomery County, North Richland Hills, El Paso and Pasadena.

Almost three-fourths of the agencies (73 percent) said they had documented expenditures due to the evacuees, and many spent substantial amounts, led by Houston with a reported $4.7 million.

Other costs listed included Arlington ($580,000), Bexar County ($400,000), Garland ($91,200), Waco ($40,000), Abilene ($25,800), Duncanville ($16,350), and Baytown ($12,800).

The survey also collected data on arrests of Katrina victims six months after their evacuation.
Houston reported 472 total offenses, including 160 drug offenses, 48 property offenses, 121 petty offenses and 116 violent offenses, including 14 held in homicide investigations.

Pullin said that police agencies have begun to plan for such future events, because more and more of the U. S. population is living in coastal areas that will surely be hit by future disasters. Fifty-four percent of the agencies surveyed say they now have contingency plans to deal with arrivals of evacuees either from natural or man-made disasters.

Just how many of the evacuees will go back to New Orleans is uncertain. In a Houston Chronicle survey among those in Houston, 69 percent said they will not return.

"The assimilation of many of the evacuees into the communities where they sought shelter is necessary," said Pullin. "The social habits and tendencies they brought with them, both good and bad, are sure to have an impact in many areas of the community."

Pullin's study was a joint effort of Sam Houston State University's Police Research Center and Bill Blackwood
Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Feb. 13, 2007
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