Melz Has Thoughts About “Killeen Dangerous Cities” List

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or values of Townsquare Media or its affiliates.

Just about every year, a law firm out of Houston publishes THEIR OWN study on crime in Texas and compiles this "Most Dangerous Cities" list and Killeen almost always ends up in the Top 10 or hovers in the area around it.

As is our job here, we report the good and the bad about our community in an effort to keep you informed. But apparently this isn't good enough for some folks because as per normal in these times of social media, people just want to spout off their OPINION even if its not necessarily based on any FACTS and would prefer that we DON'T say anything negative about our community. Let me remind you all what the definition of an OPINION is....

a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

I highlighted that second line for a reason. Because one thing THIS AUTHOR never tolerates is a JUDGEMENT formed without knowing any of the facts. So let me address the FACTS about this story.

Most of the "FBI crime data" numbers about Killeen doesn't factor in the population of Fort Hood, which puts our population well above the 140,000 range. With so many residents that are transient and moving all the time in our community, and a YOUNGER demographic which tends to commit more crime than the older half of the population, you can quickly see how these numbers can get skewed. Let me be clear, I'm not implying that Fort Hood is the problem, I'm simply stating that YOUTH is the problem.

Let's not forget that this is based on crimes that local departments REPORT TO THE FBI, in most cases in larger cities, some of these crimes can be overlooked or not reported at all to the FBI which in turn could also make these numbers seem screwy. How do you explain a city with 140,000 people (according to these numbers) not having more than 20 murders in a single year.

Killeen is one of the 20 largest cities in Texas so it should be EXPECTED that when it comes to crime we will land somewhere in that range anyway. But of course folks want to spout off and blame any and anything including US at the RADIO STATION for reporting it....case in point.

Clearly Dan doesn't "Jam On The Job" with me because if he did, he would have known the following:

1. I NEVER talk bad about our community because I LIVE IN KILLEEN and if I felt Killeen was as bad as the "perception" is, I would have left a LOOOOONG time ago. Contrary to what you may think or believe, I'm very happy living here!

2. I have a DAILY segment called "What's Really Good In Central Texas" that airs at 1:40 that shares the POSITIVE events in our community.

3. I attended the STOP THE VIOLENCE rally just this past weekend and we work very closely with many community and city leaders to make sure that our platforms are utilized to share that information with our community. Kiss Community Connections With Phyllis Jones is one of those platforms.

4. We have strong community leadership that is PROACTIVE in addressing issues in our city before the CITY GOVERNMENT even gets involved.

So you see, before you jump into our comments on Facebook, give us a listen and see what's going on in our community because we REALLY are OUT in our community and focused on the POSITIVE energy in it. We would never disrespect our community and know that SERVICE is what we are here to do...

In other words, just get the facts before you form your opinion or shut up.