A host of politicians are fostering the illusion that McAllen, Texas, is at the epicenter of a border crime wave. Police Chief Victor Rodriguez is ready to enlighten anyone who is interested in the reality.
As fearmongers depict the southern border as a region made lawless by invading hordes, Police Chief Victor Rodriguez of McAllen, Texas, has presided over a 12th straight year of crime reduction.In fact, crime in his border city of 145,000 is at the lowest level going back to 1985 when stats began to be accurately recorded.
In New York, during what is called “the bad old days,” a squad specializing in multiple perpetrator robberies in the subway was able to reduce them from 1,200 a year to 12. Rodriguez was able to achieve a comparable result with cops who specialize in auto thefts. Some 2,100 cars were stolen a year in McAllen in the 1990s. The number in the last few years has dropped to around 50.
“We have a good community, we have a peaceful community,” Rodriguez said. “We have a law abiding community, and that translates to less what we call violent crimes.” “We’re going great,” he said. “We could be doing maybe greater, I think, if we didn't have to overcome the perception. It is something we contend with on a regular basis.”