The cities of Irving and Farmers Branch have made national headlines with their attempts to deal with illegal immigration. But what impact have those efforts had on crime?
News 8 has been looking at the statistics, and results are surprising.
It's been almost four years since marchers filled the streets of Farmers Branch, protesting the city's plans to get tough on illegal immigration. For City Council member David Koch, cutting crime was one major inspiration for the fight.
We had a drive-by shooting in 2006 where a two-year-old girl was killed by two illegal immigrants who were driving by and shot up a house, he said.
Citizens cheered when the Farmers Branch City Council voted to send a jailer to get special federal training so he could check the immigration status of arrested people.
Farmers Branch police spokesman Cpl. Chad Taylor says the crackdown has paid off. Since 2006 there have been 1,600 detainers placed on subjects for possible deportation, he said.
But in fighting crime, the results are mixed at best.
By 2009 the last full year where statistics are available in the seven major crimes reported to the state, crime went up in Farmers Branch by 31 percent, much of it blamed on shoplifting at a single big box store.
Factor that out, and crime was still up almost 8 percent.
That compares to a 3 percent increase in neighboring Carrollton and a 19 percent drop in Coppell.
Police can't say if the immigration enforcement had any impact.
To say they have been the sole responsibility for reducing or increasing crime, I dont think you could answer that, Taylor said.
However, this year there has been a sudden, 30 percent drop in Farmers Branch crime, along with a 33 percent reduction in wrecks caused by uninsured motorists.
In 2007 ... 33 percent of the accidents involved uninsured motorists, Koch said. That's the time frame when we really started ramping up on the illegal immigration ordinance. In 2010, right now, those incidents are down to 4 percent.
Contrast the Farmers Branch experience with Irving also the scene of massive protests triggered by the city's24/7 Capprogram, where police get federal immigration officials to screen, by phone, every person they arrest.
They've tagged almost 6,000 immigrants for possible deportation.Since the crackdown began, crime rates in Irving have plummeted.
Over the last five years, we've seen about a 30 percent reduction in violent crimes; about 16 percent in othewise lesser offenses, said irving Mayor Herb Gears.
The mayor believes the success stems from the fact that two out of three people who Irving police arrest have been in jail before. Of the thousands sent out of the country, not a single one has returned and been caught commiting a crime here.
When you remove so many repeat offenders from your jail whether they be immigrants or whether they be from Mars your crime rates are going to drop, Gears said.
Irving has done it without passing a law or facing a single lawsuit.
In Farmers Branch, attempts to stop landlords from renting to illegal immigrants have been stalled by the courts, and the legal bills now top $3 million. Was it worth it?
I think so; I think the citizens agree with that, Council member Koch said. They continue to re-elect the group of officials that have promoted it.
Both cities try to send the same message to illegal immigrants. It's getting though in Irving, and Farmers Branch officials hope its finally catching on there as well.
E-mail greaves@wfaa.com
