Gov. Rick Perry's border security programs are showing mixed results in their first year of operation.

The El Paso time reports that crime has decreased about an average of eight percent in border counties but increased by as much as 38 percent in some of the region's more populated counties.

The newspaper analyzed two years of crime data and found that violent crimes including murder, rape, robbery, and assault dropped an average of 14.7 percent in the state's 16 border counties in the year after Perry's operations began.

During the same period, property crime decreased by nearly seven percent.

Perry's initiatives to fight border crime began in September 2005.

He has since spent more than $24 million in state and federal dollars, primarily in border counties.

But some state lawmakers and civil rights advocates have said they fear some local officers are using grants meant to combat drug-related and violent crimes to target illegal immigrants.

The newspaper also found that crime increased in four of the 16 border counties.

Webb County, which includes the city of Laredo, experienced the biggest jump with a 38 percent increase in overall crime.

El Paso County also saw a 2.9 percent increase overall, as property crimes rose and violent crimes dropped.

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