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Subscribe to RSSWhile numerous U.S. officials have said violence along the U.S.-Mexico border fueled by drug trafficking poses an increasing threat to Americans, a review of data from more than 1,600 local and federal law enforcement agencies from California to Texas indicates that the violent crime has been declining for years.
USA Today reported in Thursday's editions that a review of more than a decade of crime data for border communities in the four states that abut Mexico – California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas -- indicated that violent crime rates have been declining for years – even before the current U.S. security buildup began. The newspaper also found that U.S. border cities were statistically safer on average than other cities in their respective states, and had maintained lower crime rates than the rest of the nation.
Numerous elected and law enforcement officials along the U.S. border have maintained that violence associated with Mexican drug cartels, which has claimed at least 30,000 lives south of the border, is increasingly creeping into the U.S.
Most notably, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said in April 2010 that border violence has gotten so bad there have been beheadings out in the Arizona desert – a statement she was later forced to recant.
And Texas Rep. Michael McCaul said during a recent congressional hearing. "It is not secure and it has never been more violent or dangerous than it is today. Anyone who lives down there will tell you that."
Other news reports focusing on specific cities or communities have anecdotally challenged those assertions, but the USA Today analysis is believed to be the first comprehensive review of the crime data along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
Reporters Alan Gomez, Jack Gillum and Kevin Johnson spent four months reporting the story.
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yeah sure...I believe that. Was there a separate category for decapitations?
How many decaps happened on the border?
How many happened to any American's, any at all?
absolutely, ...
NO VALUE!
Do they think were stupid???
Then why did BHO and the feds close off a huge area near the border near Nogales? HMMMMMMMM?
I think all the "analysts" should move there. I mean since it so safe and all. Please walk around at night bring the wife, the kids, the pets. What could possibly go wrong?
All the dead victims from the violence should rest in peace easier knowing the violence isn't as bad as we were earlier led to believe, from the same reports which said the violence was bad. :P
What will the story be tomorrow?
Hmmmmm..........REALLY???? I'm going out on a limb here in saying that the family of that Arizona rancher shot to death by a criminal illegal alien would disagree with that 'analysis' in a BIG way.
I guess if you compare the border to Detroit or St Louis the border is no more violent then these areas. Actually, yes it is. It is a lot more violent. Do they really thing that webelieve the pulp coming from Homeland Security?
This report neglect to factor in kidnapping on this side of the border that are not reported. Cartel crimes against Mexican and American Nationals that are not reported for fear of retribution.
To the Taxpayer - Are you serious? How about one decapitation recently in a Chandler, AZ apartment. Both suspects are believed to have returned to Mexico.
Or, how about an American college student partying in Mexico had the top of his head macheted off just so a drug chieftain could show off the kids brains as a display of power to his colleagues.
Also...one rancher south of Tucson notoriously murdered on his own property, tracks of the unknown assailant leading back south.
Drug hitmen ambushed a pregnant US Consulate employee and her family. She, her husband, and another conuslate worker were murdered. Three children, one an infant, were wounded.
An Americancouple fishing from a boat in a shared body of water with Mexico were attacked by gunmen on jet skis. The husband was shot dead, his wife barely escaped.
You might do well to remember that not every incident makes headlines in your local paper if you're 2000 miles away. It's a different story living with it.
I guess this means we should ease up on border security; let's even things up a little.
The same study( by the same idiots) also showed that Bull Manure was cheaper than ever and didn't smell nearly as bad as it did 5 years ago.
 apparently they weren't looking at the right border
Holly Cow! What kind of super weed are these idiots smoking?! Maybe we can send them down to test the new "safe" cities.
Looks like some people like it when they hear what they want to, not so much though when the the truth flies in the face of the sensationalism the've been spoon fed. It's truth when they tell you what you want to hear!
Better go find a different website quick! This is just lies!!! Decaps happened in the interior.
LOL. I went to Tijuana twice in the last 2 months and there is nothing dangerous about Mexico as far as I can tell. I was the same as everyone else listening to this propaganda and scared as hell to go. Thought I would get kidnapped and held for ransom, etc. Couldn't have been more wrong. Had the time of my life with money to spare and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Paranoid ass people should try going to the places they talk smack about. Most people on commenting on this probably live in the Canadian border.
Not sure where they live, but, I'll bet in the last 10 years there has been a noticeable increase in their local population of people who don't look like them. And, that is shock to their system. Too bad they didn't get out in the world a little bit before the world came to them.
Take 5 steps outside the tourist areas and have fun being murdered, raped, kidnapped, or just arrested by the corrupt police force on trumped up charges.
Of course you had a good time where all the tourists hang out. The Mexican government isn't stupid, nor are the cartels that truly run the country. They can't rightfully sell drugs or make money if American tourists are afraid to hit the hotspots. It's all about business. Go hang out in downtown Mexico City and see how long it takes to get a feeling that you need to leave immediately. This is coming from a man who married a woman who grew up in Mexico City.
Take a cruise to Tijuana, tell everyone how great Mexico is.
Call me paranoid, but this seems like some sort of ploy to trivialize the situation on the boarder. All of Mexico is most certainly -not- like the tourist traps like Tj and Cancun.
Well at least they did some research into what is going on. If it is as dangerous as we have good reason to believe it is, then we need to understand why the crime rate reporting within all those cities do not reflect it.
Very sketchy information here. First of all which "border cities" are they studying? Is San Fran a border city? Santa Barbara? Newport Beach, CA? Also, they vacillate between saying that border areas are "safer" and that they have "lower crime rates." What crimes are we counting? Do illegally crossing the border, driving without a license, lying to obtain food stamps and subsidized housing, identity theft, and payroll and income tax avoidance constitute crimes for the purposes of this so-called study?
I admit not having been to TJ since the seventies, but I'll never forget how much like a sewer that little piece of dung smelled like, even before we pulled up to the city limits. Cesspools stink just as bad as Tijuana, Mexico.
You got lucky. Keep pushing it and your family might get your head in the mail. Homeland Security is a joke.
This article is pure propaganda! Obviously designed to boost Barack Hussein Obama's border (or lack there of) image. Even now, the DHS is refusing to admit Hezbollah and some of the drug cartels are now cooperating together. Thus, the use of car bombs, etc. Even with video and witness, DHS is hiding the truth. Also, BHO and Congress are briefed quarterly about "who" is caught crossing our borders. Fact: 30% of those that cross illegally are not of Hispanic origin. They comes from countries such as Syria, Iran, China, etc. Don't tell me our borders are secure or terrorists could not cross into America from Mexico.
This article is the answer to the propaganda, this is the hard evidence that the whole problem is a fabrication designed to distract you from the real issues hurting this country. You have been fed a picture that plays on traditional prejudices against Mexicans and other aliens to distract you while the middle class of this country is systematically destroyed by a wealthy elite. Terrorism is a red herring to blind you with fear so you don't notice that your job is gone, your 401k is gone, your home is gone, your kids school is falling apart, and your future is waning. I mean get serious the terrorists attacking this country can't successfully light their underwear on fire, I've known middle-schoolers who could build a better bomb than the guy in times square. And yet we spend trillions enriching the well connected( Haliburton, Blackwater, and other Billionare companies ) who are more than happy to take advantage of our fears.
Wow, hard eveidence??? The ahrd evedence has been 40,000 people killed ain the drug wars since they started. 40,000. How about the Americans that have been shot along the border? Lake Falcon, DEA agent ring any bells?
it blows me away how obvious the the media will throw propoganda out there at the drop of a hat. A stun gun gets on board a plane and two days later they start saying how the TSA is doing a great job and how they catch people all the time. And now this. The media is bought and paid for by BHO. Not only do we have to get the politicains out but the media must go too.
Sherrie, you are correct; I agree with you completely. The article is vague when it comes to actual details. It's making a statement without supporting facts.
True brain stem users, blame the results on the poll or the author, ignore the facts in favor of nit witty brief stupid right wing wacko. Tis the war on those who have not. Mexico doens't want your ice cream they have flat screens, deal with the issue not the effects of neglect , educate yourself an enjoy your 10,000 vacation in Maui, I will spend six months on the beach at Bar de Navida for what many pay for a month., in Maui
There isn't more violence just more hate mongering politicians (R)
There isn't more violence because the violence is already at an all time high. Pandering politicians (D)
You mean the ones currently pandering to the military-industrial complex? (R)
The violence is in the interior of the country, directed to the mexican people or, a single missionary and his wife, in his SUV.
Politicians we can't blame for screwing everything up use an (L).
Time to publish another "Oh, it's not that bad" article to calm the fears of those hysterics that want our laws enforced.
"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?"
"Five."
"If the government says it's four, then how many fingers is it?"
"Five."
--- SMACK ---
Someone answer this for me then. If the border area is so safe, why is a friend of mine that is a Border Patrol Agent adamant that I go nowhere near the Mexican Border. Before any of you go crying racism on his part, he is of Mexican descent so stick that card in your pipe and smoke it. This analysis is brought to us by the same Bozos that gave us Operation Fast and Furious.
He'd like a long career and a nice government retirement package! And we will give it to him, if thing's don't change!
Probably to stay away from all the crazed, pipe-smoking, Mexican-descent Border Patrol Agents! =)
I go over the border a lot of times. I have some friends there and we have a good time...playing sports, drinking, camping, etc. Some are white Americans living in Baja, others are Mexicans. My Spanish is poor; their English is pretty good. A bunch of us go down there, sometimes they come up here. The point is: the violence along the border may be happening, but that doesn't mean it's happening along the entire border. The Mexicans I know are good people. To listen to some of you paint their country & their culture with such broad, ignorant strokes not only makes me sad for Americans, but also pisses me off. Your angry, little politicians have really got you running scared.
Bill, talk about painting with broad, ignorant strokes. The violence along the border IS happening, it is just happening on the border towns in Mexico. And you are correct most Mexicans are good people, just like most American's are good people, but you have the riff raff who ruins it for everyone. If you are comfortable going to Mexico, more power to you. The average American citizen isn't going to have any trouble, but for those who have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, I am sure if given the chance and they had lived they might have decided against visting Mexico. The drug cartels know no boundries and they don't care who gets shot in their war.
Patinwy, you would do well to listen to your Border Patrol agent friend, they know alittle bit more about the border then the people posting on here, however our wonderful gov't would never allow them to share their knowledge.
If the boarder is less violent it's because the violence has moved North.
It's spelled border, the other is someone renting a room.
Where ... is North? Do you mean north?
Correcting ones spelling with out actually contributing to the discussion? Makes you a bottom dweller with no real insight or thought to the subject. It is sad you are so desperate to be a part of something, yet don't know how to be..
You are in my prayers.
Of course it is safer, with Chinese and UN troops setting up camp and employing Drug Cartel Members as part of the invasion force to occupy America after the August 2011 Debt Ceiling collapse and subsequent declaration of Martial Law by Obama and his NWO socialist progressives.
I know the middle class will recover, the banks will never fail, and the government loves us and only wants the best for us.......Yaada Yaaada Yaaaaaaada!
No, no, you got it all wrong. It's North Korean troops. They'll invade and it'll take bands of American guerrilla fighters named after school mascots to keep them at bay. It happened before when the Soviet Union and Cuba invaded around 1984. Wish they'd leave well enough alone. Why re-do a classic like "Red Dawn"?
Liars figure and figures lie. How come certain National Parks near the border are closed to us - because of crime and drug smuggling???? This USA story is full of it.
Where is Chuck Norris when we need him?
Please name the national parks closed.
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
About 3,500 acres of southern Arizona along the Mexican border is closed to U.S. citizens due to increased violence in the region.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/16/closes-park-land-mexico-border-americans/#ixzz1T8QUngF2
I for one believe this ... I mean after the past 10 years of violence along the border where as many as 15, 000 Mexicans have killed each other ...times ten years there is nobody left t o kill.....they are all DEAD or the ran like helll so they wouldn't be killed. I'll bet there are 1000s of shacks along the border you could pick up for just a few pescos. as far as the Amercian side, our good government aka Obama adim put up sihgns 5 miles in on our border asyimng that the area between the sign and the border is a very dangerous place and to enter at your our risk ... which tranlated from Spanish to English ...means drug trafficers own that area ....DON"T GO THERE !!! Humm...I guess violence woudl go down if noody will go there as we allow the MEXICANmCARTELS to run it !!!
I"ve lived on the border for 65 years.Today is the most violant time i've ever seen. I read this propaganda and say
Bullsh#t. The govt. doesn't want to spend the money it would take to secure the border. The govt. is trying to convince us that its safe.
Crime is down nationwide because.............People are not using crack cocaine so much anymore.
Small towns all over the US have low crime rates. In my town most people don't even lock their doors. One guy sold weed that he kept in his refrigerator. "Just go in, take what you want, and leave the cash in the cereal box." That lasted for a surprisingly long time until someone was tempted and broke the honor system.
I used to go to Mexico quite a bit. Not anymore.
if the US just stopped trying to enforce drug laws and spending unreal amounts of money trying to do it. Which hate to break the news to everyone, the DEA doesn't work and will never be able to stop smuggling, you can anywhere in the sates and get whatever you want. i watched a very interesting tv show about the war on drugs, and every person that has studied and is a professional said "if our government realized what making drugs illegal has caused they would have never done it." buy the demand of these drugs is what makes them insanely expensive and is what makes the cartels, mafia's enormesly rich. crack and meth were discovered because all the other drugs only the upper class could afford. crime happens from drugs because of the cost. If there were these drugs readily available they would be cheap, exactly what has been happening with pot over the last few year. People will do drugs period, no matter the cost. Take a good look at the people who do these drugs now, has everything to do with how you were raised.
Tell that one to the Border Patrol. MSNBC with half truths and flat out lies.
Let's see...the media commonly reports cartel related deaths at 40,000 and rising. To soften this number, this article reports deaths at over 30,000.
I think the intent of the author would be much clearer it it were phrased, "while there may have been deaths that were cartel related, the increase in homicides in Mexico has occurred during a period of global warming and only a tax on carbon based fuels can save innocent children from slaughter by greedy corporations.
Real question here, do you live near the border?
Does anyone here that's calling BS on this study actually live near the border?
I call BS on this and I live in El Paso, TX. 12 dead in Juarez this week.
The danger won't be published until it affects wealthy white folk. As long as the crimes remain Hispanic on Hispanic, you won't hear about it. They even downplay it on our local news.
Makes me sad. I spent many years enjoying good times, and made many friends across the border when I was younger. Now it's a warzone over there.
BULL!!!!!!!!!
Ask the people whose offices are along the border between El Paso and Juarez if they feel safer; when their buildings get shot at on a monthly basis, due to the drug activity on the border. Ask the dead rancher in Arizona if he feels safer now that this "study" says the violence has declined. Any person who "invades" the U.S. by walking across a border without the express permission of our government, deserves to be shot on sight. That will stop the "violence" coming in from Mexico, especially if we reduce their population by a few million each year.