LA official warned HPD chief about increase in gang crime

(1/18/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- We're just 18 days into 2006, and Houston's murder rate is skyrocketing. According to Chief Harold Hurtt, 21 homicides were reported in the first 17 days of the year. Last year during the same period, the total stood at 14. That's a 50 percent increase.

Even now, five months after Hurricane Katrina, law enforcement officials in Houston are still trying to identify the criminal element from New Orleans -- more specifically, gang members.

It's a segment of the population that Chief Hurtt was warned about early on. The warning came months ago from Louisiana's lieutenant governor.

"When he was here visiting people at the Dome, he stated that gangs would be a problem," recalled Chief Hurtt. "Gangs from New Orleans would be problem in the future here in Houston."

But tracking gangs from New Orleans in Houston hasn't been easy. What information the department does have is limited. Chief Hurtt says many of the records from New Orleans were lost in the wake of Katrina. HPD certainly doesn't need them to know there's a problem.

HPD Captain Dale Brown said, "Are they starting to show up in the crime? Yes."

Captain Brown heads up the new gang murder squad. It's a team of investigators who will handle nothing but gang related murders, whether they involve Katrina evacuees or Houston's local gangs.

"We have to get better at identifying these individuals, identifying these crimes, and linking them together earlier in the process in hopes that we can reduce the amount of crimes they actually commit," said Captain Brown.

In 2005, 47 of the 336 murders in Houston were gang related. Compare that with 2004, where 29 of the 272 murders were gang related. Those statistics are already affecting the way people live.

Resident Ashley Jones said, "We just stay to ourselves and we don't fool with too many people. Don't nobody know us and we don't know nobody."

And in the parts of town where gang violence has increased...

"The new task force will be a great help if they could do something with the crime that's been going up in the area," said resident Narish Rangwani.

From now on, to find out who's committing the crimes and who's being victimized, the Houston Police Department will now identify and track those individuals from New Orleans. They'll compile that information and hope to use it to convince FEMA for reimbursement.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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