ABC13’s Neighborhood Safety Tracker breaks down HPD findings in 2022 comparing previous years

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — ABC13’s data team has been closely watching major crimes across the city, using information provided directly by the Houston police Department.

Here are some of the major takeaways from 2022:

This year, HPD reported 420 homicides, averaging about eight a week.

The neighborhood around Sunnyside experienced one of the highest homicide rates in the city with 16 this year.

And on the west side of town, the Briar Forest area saw an uptick in homicides with seven so far this year, compared to just four last year, and two in 2019.

The city’s overall homicide rate is down compared to 2021 when 433 were reported, but still higher than pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, Houston averaged five homicides a week.

And when it comes to burglaries in 2022, you were more likely to be burglarized in the NRG/Astrodome area, which reported 371 burglaries.

Or in Houston’s East End, where 55 burglaries were reported, but with less population, they have the highest rate of burglary in the city.

Houston police reported a total of 14,256 burglaries so far this year.

On average, 274 burglaries are committed each week in the city, and this crime is trending lower over the past three years.

In 2019, Houston averaged 325 burglaries each week.

For theft, the most prominent crime we tracked, it’s more likely to happen in Midtown, where more than a 1,000 thefts were reported this year, or in the Galleria area, where more than 2,400 were reported this year.

Houston police reported a total of 73,410 thefts so far in 2022.

That’s a weekly average of 1,412 and is slightly higher than 2019’s weekly average of 1,407.

Sex assaults were most highly concentrated around the Texas Medical Center, Hermann Park, and the Zoo with 42 reported so far this year.

HPD reported a total of 1,563 so far this year.

That’s about 30 sex assaults a week in 2022, and is trending down compared to 2019 when there were 35 a week.

You can go through this data and more by clicking on the ABC 13 Neighborhood Safety Tracker here.

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