Crime In The Heights

[Zippy]

I emailed Sheila Jackson office about this time frame. He says they are working around her schedule.

Ah.. I wasn't aware she did anything..

Send some minutes along.. Maybe something useful might come out of this..

[kylejack]

Does she really? Honest question - I'd always assumed it's just a matter of time until a good Hispanic candidate knocked her out.

Maaaaybe if they try and clip her in the primary, but no way does a Republican win in that district. Even in a primary I doubt anyone can beat her, because she has some strong loyalists in the community, which is baffling.

Favorite Sheila Jackson-Lee moments:

1. The time she complained about the "lily-white" names given to hurricanes and said that hurricanes should have blacker names.

2. The time she was at Jet Propulsion Laboratories with some other Congresspersons after the Mars Rover landed and asked the technicians if the Rover had located the flag that had been planted by the astronauts.

[RedScare]

Ah.. I wasn't aware she did anything..

Send some minutes along.. Maybe something useful might come out of this..

Am I reading this correctly? You mock Sheila Jackson Lee for not doing anything, but you cannot be bothered to attend the meeting that her office set up?

[kylejack]

Am I reading this correctly? You mock Sheila Jackson Lee for not doing anything, but you cannot be bothered to attend the meeting that her office set up?

People who work until 5 can't attend a meeting that starts at 5. It has to start at 5, however, or SJL will not get her media face-time on the 6 o clock news.

[RedScare]

People who work until 5 can't attend a meeting that starts at 5. It has to start at 5, however, or SJL will not get her media face-time on the 6 o clock news.

While I appreciate your attempt at covering for a fellow Lee basher, this is the Heights, not the Woodlands. Most people here can leave at 4:45 to attend. Certainly something as allegedly important as crime in one's neighborhood would allow one to sneak out of work 15 minutes early, with the promise to make it up on Tuesday.

[kylejack]

While I appreciate your attempt at covering for a fellow Lee basher, this is the Heights, not the Woodlands. Most people here can leave at 4:45 to attend. Certainly something as allegedly important as crime in one's neighborhood would allow one to sneak out of work 15 minutes early, with the promise to make it up on Tuesday.

Or, Sheila Jackson-Lee could put the best time for the community ahead of the best time for her to get media face time. But as previously mentioned, Sheila Jackson-Lee craves media attention.

[RedScare]

Or, Sheila Jackson-Lee could put the best time for the community ahead of the best time for her to get media face time. But as previously mentioned, Sheila Jackson-Lee craves media attention.

A tactic that appears to have served her well, as she is currently serving in her 7th term.

[kylejack]

A tactic that appears to have served her well, as she is currently serving in her 7th term.

I doubt that has much, if anything, to do with it. But anyway, that's precisely my point. Sheila Jackson-Lee's priorities are what serves her well, not what serves the community well.

[RedScare]

I think organizing a neighborhood meeting to address crime issues, and securing the attendance of every top law enforcement official in our area is serving my community well. I am trying to think of the last time anyone, elected official or not, was able to pull in the Sheriff, the Police Chief and the Constable for a meeting to address crime in my neighborhood. I cannot remember any such time. Perhaps because I think this is a good example of serving the community, this is why Ms. Lee keeps getting reelected. Because, after all, I live in Ms. Lee's district, and I do not believe that you do. So, if I am impressed enough to vote for her, she wins regardless what a non-resident thinks of her PR abilities.

Now, as I have wasted enough time dealing with non-neighbor opinions of my neighborhood's congresswoman, I will return to the topic, which is a meeting on crime in the Heights. Coincidentally, since I go to work at 8 pm, 5 pm for this meeting is perfect for me, and I will try to make it. I only hope that it is actually helpful, as opposed to one of those meetings where each resident insists on engaging in a contest to see who can create the most fearful hyperbole. If they only let Chief Hurtt and Sheriff Garcia speak, that would be preferable.

Edited for spelling, with apologies to Chief Hurtt.

Edited January 30, 2009 by RedScare

[kylejack]

I think organizing a neighborhood meeting to address crime issues, and securing the attendance of every top law enforcement official in our area is serving my community well. I am trying to think of the last time anyone, elected official or not, was able to pull in the Sheriff, the Police Chief and the Constable for a meeting to address crime in my neighborhood. I cannot remember any such time. Perhaps because I think this is a good example of serving the community, this is why Ms. Lee keeps getting reelected. Because, after all, I live in Ms. Lee's district, and I do not believe that you do. So, if I am impressed enough to vote for her, she wins regardless what a non-resident thinks of her PR abilities.

Now, as I have wasted enough time dealing with non-neighbor opinions of my neighborhood's congresswoman, I will return to the topic, which is a meeting on crime in the Heights. Coincidentally, since I go to work at 8 pm, 5 pm for this meeting is perfect for me, and I will try to make it. I only hope that it is actually helpful, as opposed to one of those meetings where each resident insists on engaging in a contest to see who can create the most fearful hyperbole. If they only let Chief Hurtt and Sheriff Garcia speak, that would be preferable.

Edited for spelling, with apologies to Chief Hurtt.

I beg your pardon, but I live in Sheila Jackson-Lee's district, and there's more crime here in the Third Ward than there is in the Heights, even with this recent spike. Around here, bodies are regularly dumped, like the unknown body recently posted up for identification by editor and the Medical Examiner's office. Around here a police officer was shot directly in front of my house a couple months ago when he tried to confront a man shoving a shotgun down his pants. Its nice that SJL can scare up some officials for a meeting for all the frightened Heights citizens, but your crime spike is the Third Ward's everyday reality.

Maybe Sheila Jackson-Lee has already written off the Third Ward as a lock for votes.

Edited January 30, 2009 by kylejack

[RedScare]

Its nice that SJL can scare up some officials for a meeting for all the frightened Heights citizens, but your crime spike is the Third Ward's everyday reality.

FWIW, I am not the least bit convinced of a spike in crime in the Heights. Anecdotal evidence of one burglary, plus another knock on a door that frightened a resident, and a third sighting of a stranger who may have been a meter reader, has not caused me to rush out and hire 24 hour security. Even the garage burglary on my street did not bother me, as the facts suggested a disgruntled employee broke in to grab equipment belonging to a contractor. The homeowner's belongings were not even touched. Frankly, I am interested in hearing Chief Hurtt precisely because I'd like to hear whether crime has increased. I suspect it is the same as it has been.

But, I will admit to having far more excitable neighbors than you do. Squeaky wheels get greased, and right now, the squeaky wheel is in the Heights. I imagine that if you start howling over in the 3rd Ward, you could get a face-to-face as well.

[Tiko]

Now, as I have wasted enough time dealing with non-neighbor opinions of my neighborhood's congresswoman, I will return to the topic, which is a meeting on crime in the Heights. Coincidentally, since I go to work at 8 pm, 5 pm for this meeting is perfect for me, and I will try to make it.

Well, glad that works out for you RS, but I suspect you're the outlier here. Personally, I've never had a job that would get me home in 15 minutes - and I don't get off at 5 anyway.

[samiamj]

I attended the PIP meeting with Captain Holloway, who oversees the Central Division, on Tuesday. On one of my threads in the Heights forum, I relayed the minutes of the meeting. These came from the Captain himself.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...showtopic=19070

"THERE HAVE BEEN 4 HOME INVASIONS (ROBBERY) IN THE HEIGHTS AREA SINCE THE START OF THE YEAR. All by different individuals. Addresses include 27, Beauchamp, E 12, and Alston

These home invasions happened while the homeowner was at home.

CURRENTLY THE HEIGHTS IS UNDER HIGH PRIORITY. CURRENTLY MORE PATROL CARS/UNMARKED POLICE CARS ARE PATROLLING IN THE GREATER HEIGHTS."

These are not anecdotal stories. The captain did poll the audience if we should hold a forum. The response was split. They will not share any detail about the specific cases.

Here is my viewpoint: Unlike other areas in Houston, Heights residents are active community members. At this PIP meeting (meeting the cops who patrol our area), over sixty concerned residents showed up. We care about our community and will do whatever is necessary to keep ourselves safe. If you remember this, Eighteen months ago, there was a rash of storefront shooting on 19th Street. The community held a townhall meeting at a local church on Pecore St and the perpretrators were eventually arrested due to good detectivework and community outreach. Though hot air may be blown at this meeting, I expect some good will come out of it. Residents will look out for each other and let it known that the Heights area is not to be trampled upon. Though I can't attend the meeting due to work, many of my neighbors are concerned. I'm glad that they have reached this state. They will not be complacent and will not permit senseless killing/robbery in my community.

I did email Sheila Jackson Lee office to delay the start time. However, the response from Michael Halpin was "We have to work according to my boss's schedule." I was hoping that boss's schedule meant, the CONSTITUENCY, but no.

Edited January 31, 2009 by samiamj

[RedScare]

Thanks for the update, sam. Now, I can skip the drama on Monday.

[crunchtastic]

Are 4 residential robberies in one month a crime spike for the greater Heights area?

It would be a very unsettling trend in my neighborhood, but then again we're a lot smaller.

[musicman]

Here is my viewpoint: Unlike other areas in Houston, Heights residents are active community members. At this PIP meeting (meeting the cops who patrol our area), over sixty concerned residents showed up.

60 out of how many?

[samiamj]

I think what has Heights people up in arms is robbery. Burglaries (taking of property when no one is there) is something you expect living in an urban area. However robbery (taking of property by force on someone) is an uncommon occurance in the Heights. With 4 robberies in one month, it makes people a little testy. The one robbery when the thug shot at the father with his baby was probably the one that pushed people to act. I know it made me more alert of my surroundings and property.

Musicman: At prior PIP meetings, no more than twenty people ever show up. This time, all the seats were filled and tons of people were standing along the wall. They even had to change the topic at the very last minute to Heights robbery because of public outcry.

BTW: I included the original flyer that I received. Talk about self promotion of SJL once you see it. That is why I sort of edited it because I didn't know how to convert an adobe to word document.

Heights_Town_Hall_Meeting_flyers_02.02.09.pdf

Edited January 31, 2009 by samiamj

[RedScare]

July and August were much bigger months for Robbery in the Heights beat, with 21 during those two months. In contrast, there were 23 robberies during September through December combined. If only 4 robberies occurred during January, it would actually be below the six month average of 7.3 per month. However, the one on 12 1/2 St. got much more publicity, causing much more concern. The method of robbery causes more fear as well. And lastly, the location. A disproportionate number of robberies in this area occur in the Shepherd/Durham corridor, along the North Loop feeder or a blobk off of it, and along North Main. The 27th Street and Beauchamp robberies may fall into this category. The 12 1/2 St and Alston robberies do not.

There are other issues involved that I will not discuss. I have found over the years that people just do not want to hear some things, and it has been reinforced on this forum. Chief Hurtt and Sheriff Garcia know better than to do so, either. But, I am sure they will give some good general advice to those who show up.

EDIT: Oh, crunch, the Heights Super Neighborhood contains about 17,000 homes and 41,000 people. The Heights police beat covers about 2/3 of this area.

Edited January 31, 2009 by RedScare

[kylejack]

I think what has Heights people up in arms is robbery. Burglaries (taking of property when no one is there) is something you expect living in an urban area. However robbery (taking of property by force on someone) is an uncommon occurance in the Heights. With 4 robberies in one month, it makes people a little testy. The one robbery when the thug shot at the father with his baby was probably the one that pushed people to act. I know it made me more alert of my surroundings and property.

Musicman: At prior PIP meetings, no more than twenty people ever show up. This time, all the seats were filled and tons of people were standing along the wall. They even had to change the topic at the very last minute to Heights robbery because of public outcry.

BTW: I included the original flyer that I received. Talk about self promotion of SJL once you see it. That is why I sort of edited it because I didn't know how to convert an adobe to word document.

Amazing. The biggest thing on that PDF is Sheila Jackson-Lee's name. And just in case you didn't know she was the one who brought this all to you, she added a note at the bottom, "Prepared by the Office of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Labor donated".

[heights]

I feel a bit safer since I installed security cameras around my house. The system is set up to send me an e-mail (with a snapshot) if it detects motion on certain cameras and I got a nice pic the other day of someone coming in the front gate. I reviewed the recorded data and found it was the meter reader. After watching the incident from several angles, it appeared that he left with a black bag that he did not have when he arrived. I checked my back yard to see if anything was missing from the pile of stuff I've accumulated for heavy trash, but apparently it was just another part of his meter-reading apparatus that was out of view when he came in.

Just for grins, I'm attaching a snapshot of him coming into my front yard and then leaving with the "black bag". From the other angles, I could see he still had one item strapped to his right leg, so the "bag" must have come from under his left arm.

For those that are interested, my system is computer based with 8 cameras and cost about $650 (self installed). The quality is not excellent, but you get what you pay for. I have pretty bad vision without my contacts in so if I hear a "bump" in the night, it's a lot easier for me to just pull up the cameras on my computer than to search around for my glasses or peek out the blinds while simultaneously using my fingers to "squint" my eyes into better focus.

I also noticed that Costco seems to have a number of systems on their website that are DVR based but network accessible.

And for the person that said they didn't think a person fleeing from a dog would try to close the gate behind them, you should see the video capture of the mailman fleeing from my dog one day -- he pulled the gate shut just in the nick of time

Edit: Some people were asking about my cameras, specifically the night vision capability, so I'm posting a pic from the same camera at night. As you can see the quality is not all that great, but you get what you pay for -- With the other cameras I can easily see the stray cat that is trespassing at night and causing my dog so much grief.

Edited February 4, 2009 by heights

[heightsfan]

Hello,

Hope your week goes well!

I was sitting around at Onion Creek for drinks and over heard some group of people

discussing this type of equipment for their homes in the Heights.

Most of their conversation was about rising crime in the Heights and their

plans to build tall iron gates around their home, security cameras, and several large dogs.

Wow . . . is this what the Heights is coming to?

[Teak13]

I got my electric bill yesterday - The meter was read last Saturday.

[heights_yankee]

Hello,

Hope your week goes well!

I was sitting around at Onion Creek for drinks and over heard some group of people

discussing this type of equipment for their homes in the Heights.

Most of their conversation was about rising crime in the Heights and their

plans to build tall iron gates around their home, security cameras, and several large dogs.

Wow . . . is this what the Heights is coming to?

you are always so very skeptical about the heights. i often wonder why it was you even moved here?

anyway, to get on point, i think the funny thing about the iron fences is almost all the "horror stories we have been hearing the last few weeks involved people jumping fences or coming in to fenced yards. oh, the irony!

additionally, and NOT AT ALL to discount what the family went through, but people do need to keep in mind the robbery of the home with the child involved an unlocked door.

[20thStDad]

you are always so very skeptical about the heights. i often wonder why it was you even moved here?

anyway, to get on point, i think the funny thing about the iron fences is almost all the "horror stories we have been hearing the last few weeks involved people jumping fences or coming in to fenced yards. oh, the irony!

additionally, and NOT AT ALL to discount what the family went through, but people do need to keep in mind the robbery of the home with the child involved an unlocked door.

I do like my fence, but we live a pretty busy street, not all tucked away in the middle of the neighborhood. Although I do agree with you - the only time we've been affected "all of the crime around here" was when we left something open. Hell we've even accidentally left our garage door open all night and nothing was taken. People just need to stay vigilant, and above all else look out for each other.

[Mack Tripper]

Did the guy look like this?

[dancelvr]

Would somebody who attended the meeting please share with those of us who work past 5 pm what was said? Thanks

[samiamj]

I got this email from Bill White and I am totally impressed that he responded to my email!

: )

[DICTATED BUT NOT PROOFREAD

"Dear Sam, one of your neighbors passed along the email that you sent concerning crime in your neighborhood.

Violent crime in your police district was down by 6.4% last year, and all crimes, including burglary, theft, and auto theft, were down by 21.7%. However, that is not an attempt to excuse or to neglect what happened last Saturday morning. I have asked the Police Chief about patterns of crime in this police beat. Thank you for sharing these concerns.

BILL WHITE

MAYOR

Debra Dunlap

Secretary to the Mayor

832-393-1011 "

Edited February 3, 2009 by samiamj

[Porchman]

Would somebody who attended the meeting please share with those of us who work past 5 pm what was said? Thanks

I saw the report on the 10PM news. Apparently, we're all going to be vigilant - all of the residents, HPD, HCSD, the Constables, Sheila Jackson Lee, and the man who rides his bike around the Heights wearing a sun dress.

BTW, Channel 13 mentioned the meeting right after the story about the three, recent home invasions in Pearland.

[heights]

I live in the Heights and I enjoy voting for whomever is running against SJL in every election. I wouldn't care if the Republicans put an actual elephant on the ticket: I'd vote for the elephant.

The only person that could ever compete with SJL for news-camera time was that truck enforcement guy from HPD, and I heard he got fired a while back so now she's unopposed.

[kylejack]

I live in the Heights and I enjoy voting for whomever is running against SJL in every election. I wouldn't care if the Republicans put an actual elephant on the ticket: I'd vote for the elephant.

I volunteered for the Libertarian who ran against her a while back, Brent Sullivan. That was one of the many years that the Republicans didn't run anyone against her. It was a fun experience, and we watched election returns at his house.