A Better East Texas: Violent Crime

EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - Sadly, we have seen multiple headlines recently informing us about high-profile murder trials right here in East Texas.

We’d always like to think that Texas and even East Texas are immune or somehow insulated from violent crime, but that is not the case.

While the overall crime rate in Texas decreased from 2019 to 2020, the violent crime rate increased by more than 6 percent. And even more disturbing is that the murder rate in Texas increased by a staggering 36 percent. Nearly two thousand people lost their lives at the hands of others last year. That is too many.

There are no doubt numerous causes, the impact of COVID-19 isolation surely contributed to the numbers but drug overdose stats also increased dramatically. Adding to that may have been a change in the way some urban law enforcement practices have been revised – reduced – due to funding cuts. Whatever the cause, the decision by one individual to injure another using deadly force is a matter of the heart.

Some of these perpetrators had in their mind that violence is a solution, that violence resulting in death is somehow justified. And nothing could be farther from the truth. Taking someone’s life is indeed a matter of the heart and as Texans, we must work to reset that.

We need leaders that address prevention with policy. We need families that intervene when mental health issues are known. We need schools that don’t hesitate to act when threats appear. We need violent crime to decrease – Texas deserves that – and that will make for a Better East Texas.

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