One in three Harris County, Texas residents experience victimization: report

A new study from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research finds that nearly 50 percent of Harris County residents reported being the victim of a crime or legal incident at some point in their lives, and that one in three people in the county feel targeted. because of their race, ethnicity, gender, or any other protected class. However, most of these people said they never reported these cases to the police.

The report was released today, providing for the first time a glimpse into Houstonians’ experiences with crime. Among people reporting a crime or incident they believed was motivated by bias against a protected class, 22% said they thought race was the motivator, 19% thought color skin was the reason and 18% thought their sex or gender. this is why they were targeted.

Among nearly half of the population who experienced a crime or related incident, they most commonly reported verbal abuse (30%), harassment or other intimidating behavior (30%), and property damage (24%).

While 73% of those who experienced a bias-motivated crime or incident reported it to someone, only 31% reported it to the police and 27% did not report it. the incident at all. The most commonly cited reason for not reporting a bias-motivated crime or incident to anyone was the belief that nothing would be done (66%). The second most common explanation from respondents was their lack of trust in the police (24%).

Daniel Potter, director of the Kinder Institute’s Houston Population Research Center and principal investigator of the report, said the findings have important implications when it comes to supporting crime victims in Houston and Harris County. (The Houston Police Department and Harris County have information online about what to do if you think you have been the victim of a hate crime.)

“Crime is a persistent concern in Harris County, particularly that motivated by race, skin color and gender,” Potter said. “Many of the people we interviewed share details of the incident with friends and family, but they may not have the resources or training to help them respond properly.”

In the survey, “crimes” were defined as threats with the intent to cause pain, injury or damage; physical assault; or property damage. “Incidents” were defined as harassment or abusive, annoying or intimidating behavior; verbal abuse; or online abuse or cyberbullying. The survey did not ask when the crime or incident occurred. The results were collected in the summer of 2023 as part of a larger survey conducted by the Greater Houston Community Panel.

Potter emphasized that underreporting of crimes is a national concern. In 2022, 32% of property crimes and 42% of violent crimes were reported to police, suggesting that the majority of criminal acts are never reported, according to surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice. When it comes to hate crimes, federal estimates suggest that only 1 in 31 incidents are actually reported to authorities.

Between 2018 and 2023, the Houston Police Department reported an average of about 39 hate crimes per year in its 2023 annual hate crimes report. According to data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, from 2019 to 2022, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office reported an average of about 15 hate crimes each year. And last year, the Texas Tribune revealed that 82 percent of law enforcement agencies across the state reported no hate crimes that year — a fact attributed to underreporting, lack of awareness and to other factors.