Operation Linebacker | 1 year later

Border crime down; many still fear immigrants targeted

By Brandi Grissom and Louie Gilot / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 02/25/2007 12:00:00 AM MST

Flash Graphic: Operation Linebacker Crime Rates

Related: State money helped smaller counties most

AUSTIN -- Crime in Texas border counties dropped overall in the first year of Gov. Rick Perry's state-led border security operations, but increased in some of the border's most populated and violent regions.

Crime dropped in the 16 Texas-Mexico border counties by 8.2 percent on average between 2005 to 2006, two years of crime report data the El Paso Times analyzed show.

"This is clear evidence that our state-led border security initiatives are having a sustained impact and are making all Texans safer," Perry said through a spokeswoman.

State officials say the borderwide statistics show that security operations are meeting their intended goal: preventing and reducing crime. The numbers, Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw said, contradict critics' complaints that Perry's efforts are little more than a disguised strategy to round up undocumented immigrants.