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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Michael Hagerty

Michael Hagerty

Senior Producer, Houston Matters

Michael Hagerty is the senior producer for Houston Matters. He's spent more than 20 years in public radio and television and dabbled in minor league baseball, spending four seasons as the public address announcer for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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