Houston Matters

Why Are Murder Rates Up in 2015?

Back in March, following a stretch of several murders in just over a day, a sergeant with the Houston Police Department’s homicide division told the Houston Chronicle he was expecting “a heavy summer” for homicides. That comment prompted the Houston Matters team to wonder how much murder rates correspond to the seasons here – are […]

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Back in March, following a stretch of several murders in just over a day, a sergeant with the Houston Police Department’s homicide division told the Houston Chronicle he was expecting “a heavy summer” for homicides.

That comment prompted the Houston Matters team to wonder how much murder rates correspond to the seasons here – are there more or fewer homicides when it’s really hot out? And what, if anything, can we do about it?

We talk with two guests: Mitchel Roth, a professor of criminal justice and criminology at Sam Houston State University; and Luis Salinas, a professor of sociology at the University of Houston.

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