This article refers to crime in the
American state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
.
State statistics
In 2014 there were 923,348 crimes reported in Texas, including 1,184 murders and 8,236 rapes.
Policing
In 2008, Texas had 1,913 state and local law enforcement agencies.
Those agencies employed a total of 96,116 staff.
Of the total staff, 59,219 were sworn officers (defined as those with general arrest powers).
Police ratio
In 2008, Texas had 244 police officers per 100,000 residents.
According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE), the state average for police officers per 100,000 residents in Texas is 241 as of 2021. However, the ratio can vary among different cities and counties in Texas.
Capital punishment laws
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
is applied under Texas state law for capital murder if the perpetrator is 18 years of age and older and the prosecutor seeks the death penalty.
Death Row Facts
" Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...
. Retrieved on June 9, 2016.
The federal death penalty
Capital punishment is a legal penalty under the criminal justice system of the United States federal government. It can be imposed for treason, espionage, murder, large-scale drug trafficking, or attempted murder of a witness, juror, or court ...
may also be used in certain circumstances.
Incarceration
In 1974 the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC), since merged into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...
(TDCJ), had about 17,000 prisoners; 44% were black, 39% were non-Hispanic white, 16% were Hispanic and Latino, and 1% were of other races. 96% were male and 4% were female. At the time all 14 prison units of the TDC were in Southeast Texas
Southeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the U.S. state of Texas, bordering Southwest Louisiana and its greater Acadiana region to the east. Being a part of East Texas, the region is geographically centered on the Greater Houston ...
.["Behind Bars in Texas: Not All Prisons, Are the Same." '']Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
''. Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is an American media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Emmis, based on the Hebrew word for Truth (Emet) was founded by Jeff Smulyan in 1980. Emmis has owned many radio stations, including KPWR and WQHT, which h ...
, March 1974. Volume 2, No. 3. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p
42
CITED: p
42
In 1974 the Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
(BOP) operated four federal prisons in Texas: FCI Texarkana, FCI Seagoville, FPC Bryan (for women), and FCI La Tuna. These prisons had a combined population of about 2,300.[
]
See also
*Crime in the United States
Crime in the United States has been recorded since its founding. Crime rates have varied over time, with a sharp rise after 1900 and reaching a broad bulging peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates began to fall year by ye ...
*Crime in Houston
Houston's murder rate in 2005 ranked 46th of U.S. cities with a population over 250,000 in 2005 (per capita rate of 16.3 murders per 100,000 population). In 2010, the city's murder rate (per capita rate of 11.8 murders per 100,000 population) was r ...
*Law of Texas
The law of Texas is derived from the ''Constitution of Texas'' and consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local laws and regulations.
Sources
The Constitution of Texas is t ...
References
Further reading
*Harnsberger, R. Scott
''A Guide to Sources of Texas Criminal Justice Statistics''
orth Texas Crime and Criminal Justice Series, no.6 Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2011.
{{CrimeUS