Safety and Injury
Homicide
Homicide is an intentional injury. Intentional injuries are avoidable. Homicide is the second leading cause of death for young persons aged 15 to 24 years and the leading cause of death for African Americans in this age group36. In Texas, homicide is the 8th leading cause of death in the Hispanic and African American populations. Many factors that contribute to injuries also are closely associated with violent and abusive behavior, such as low income, discrimination, lack of education, and lack of employment opportunities. Males are most often the victims and the perpetrators of homicides. African Americans are more than five times as likely as whites to be murdered. There has been a decline in the homicide of intimates, including spouses, partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends, over the past decade, but this problem remains significant37. Homicide is a sentinel event, these events should not occur. Their occurrence in the community is a signal that other tensions are smoldering and/or building in the community. Community involvement may be a way to help build social cohesion and trust.
Age-adjusted mortality for homicide
Over the past 12 years the age-adjusted death rates due to homicide have declined in Texas, and Bexar and Harris Counties. The homicide mortality rates in Bexar County is 6.7 deaths per 100,000, compared to a statewide average of 6.1 deaths per 100,000 people, Harris County is somewhat higher with a rate of 9.4 per 100,000.
Within Bexar County, the homicide mortality rate is 3 times higher in the southern part of the county than in the north. The highest rate is in the West sector with 14 deaths per 100,000 residents due to homicide. The East sector with 13 per 100,000 deaths, and the South with 10 deaths per 100,000 residents closely follow this pattern. The homicide rates in the three northern sectors are between 3 and 4 deaths per 100,000 population. There is little doubt that social and environmental stressors play a role in the higher rates of violence in the south side of Bexar County.
Years of potential life lost (YPLL) due to homicide
Of the 101 homicides in Bexar County in 2004, 95 of them occurred to people younger than 65 years of age. This resulted in the loss of 2,662 years of life or an average of 31 years of live lost for every death. This results in an YPLL rate for homicide of 221 years lost per 100,000 people living in Bexar County. There has been a very notable decline in years of potential life lost rates across Texas since 1992. In Harris and Bexar County the rates have been cut by 48 percent and 72 percent respectively. This good news should be encouragement to continue efforts that have been successful and find new ways to reduce violence in our communities.
The impact of the chart for years of potential life lost by sector is dramatic. The rates of years of potential life lost within Bexar County are 4.7 times as high in the South (375 YPLL/100,000) as in the North (79 YPLL/100,000). Often economic deprivation leads to stresses that result in violence. Family incomes in the south are less than half those of the northern sectors. The poverty rates are double those of the north, levels of education are much lower. Social and economic barriers create circumstances that increase social stress and result in increased violence. Children who grow up in this environment learn the culture of poverty and violence and have little chance of escaping it. Better ways of dealing with these concerns are needed.
