Crime In The Heights

[dbigtex56]

in the same vein, but entirely different: i often tell my husband that i am going to fashion some sort of portable speed bump that will involve a rope, a hot glue gun, and a crap load of nails. as i walk the dog or the baby around the hood, i will simply throw it out, lasso style, in front of offending cars. betcha i make the news!

"How many of them hormones you takin', honey?"

[Porchman]

have you guys seen the cardboard cut outs of kids? some guy in ohio started making them for his street and is now selling them on line. they're actual, lifesized pics of kids running. he put one on his street to slow the cars down (looks like their running in to the road) and now has a full fledged business selling them!

i

Somewhat disturbing. When I left Ohio 12 years ago, the big rage in yard art (and, trust me, Ohio has cornered the market on yard art) was THE silhouette cutout. They were all black, life-size, 2D figures (example: guy leaning, smoking a pipe) which people would lean against a tree or a post. It appears they've come a long way, baby.

in the same vein, but entirely different: i often tell my husband that i am going to fashion some sort of portable speed bump that will involve a rope, a hot glue gun, and a crap load of nails. as i walk the dog or the baby around the hood, i will simply throw it out, lasso style, in front of offending cars. betcha i make the news!

No more uzi action.....please.

Edited May 22, 2008 by Porchman

[TheNiche]

Very brave, to admit being the author of that pap.

I know, I know...perhaps you haven't had the advantages I've had.

Indeed it is brave, even heroic. I could very well be excommunicated from polite society for such blasphemy.

[jgs1419]

There was a house being moved off a lot at 14th and Harvard the same night the C-130 was circling the neighborhood. Maybe the builder had called in heavy air support to protect himself from the Heights Association?!

[houstonmacbro]

Anyone else notice the C-130 circling fairly low overhead last night? I got home at 6 and it was still doing laps at 10 pm....

Outrageous consipiracy speculation encouraged.

What part of the city was this?

[Tiko]

What part of the city was this?

A 2-3 mile circle centered around I-45 just N of downtown, probably around 5,000 ft altitude. My theory is that it's some kind of ozone or other air quality survey similar to this:

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=106725

[Htowngirl]

Last night about 9:30 on the Shepherd side of the Soma parking lot, there were about 10-15 cop cars, an ambulance (that drove away without lights...), and a "Crime Scene Unit" SUV roping off the parking lot with crime scene tape... Anyone know what happened?

I looked on chron.com and khou.com, but couldn't find anything...

[west20th]

Somewhat disturbing. When I left Ohio 12 years ago, the big rage in yard art (and, trust me, Ohio has cornered the market on yard art) was THE silhouette cutout. They were all black, life-size, 2D figures (example: guy leaning, smoking a pipe) which people would lean against a tree or a post. It appears they've come a long way, baby.

Ohio? Cleveland/Parma by any chance? The adopted home of the plastic pink flamingo's and chrome balls.

Edited June 3, 2008 by west20th

[WTT]

The Fri. and Sat. night speedtraps must be a new thing. Both nights they were setup running radar in the Sawyer area.

On Friday on the way to the Corkscrew, I counted 5 cruisers in a parking lot with 3 cars pulled over. A couple of blocks down on the other side of the street was a cop standing on the sidewalk shooting radar. I left the Corkscrew at midnight and they were still shooting radar on Washington and a couple of blocks later I saw a driver on the sidewalk getting a sobriety check.

I pretty much the same thing Sat. night too. So remember folks, it's 30 MPH on Washington. Stay alert, stay alive, and hopefully out of jail too.

Good tip!! I know for a fact that my husband and I both go flying down washington. I never go under 40, that's for sure. Personally I don't mind that police there to monitor the drunk driving, as long as I remember to slow down myself!

I went to Specs on Smith near Midtown earlier this week and saw at the very minimum 7 po-pos! I'm still not used to seeing that kind of security presence in our area. It's change that I'm glad to see though.

[samiamj]

Last night about 10:45, one of our neighbors was walking his dogs in our block and was hit with a pellet to his shoulder/chest area. He went to his neighbor across the street, who called for an ambulance. He was taken to the hospital to have pellet removed. Police did not find any evidence or anyone who did this.

Alert neighbors who are out at night.

Mary Schoellkopf 6500 Kury

6500 Kury Ln. is at Ella Blvd. south of W.18th and north of Sinclair Elementary School.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/crime/stori...g.578d34b4.html

[samiamj]

Check this website to locate areas of crime in our part of Houston. The maps, graphs and tables available below are generated from crime data published by the Houston Police Department (HPD).

http://www.ericcarlson.net/crimestats/

It is frightening when you realize how close violent crime is to your home.

2A10 Beat Moody Park Area

2A20 Beat North Main/Cavalcade Area

2A30 Beat Houston Heights/Proctor Plaza/Woodland Heights

2A40 Beat Eastern Washington Corridor from I-45 to Studemont

2A50 Beat Western Washington Corridor from Studemont to Westcott

2A60 Beat Shady Acres, Timbergrove

Edited June 8, 2008 by samiamj

[cosmic08]

This thread is old, but I have an update:

The signs are down . I wonder what happened...maybe either:

the owner was forced to take them down or

all the hookers and poo ceased??

Does anybody know?

Edited June 25, 2008 by cosmic08

[HeightsGuy]

Funny, after reading this last week I saw a Chinook buzzing through the Heights on Sunday. Did anyone else see it? I've never see one of these in Houston so was kinda surprised by it as it's not your runofthemill traffic copter (three times the size with dual rotors).

[Porchman]

Funny, after reading this last week I saw a Chinook buzzing through the Heights on Sunday. Did anyone else see it? I've never see one of these in Houston so was kinda surprised by it as it's not your runofthemill traffic copter (three times the size with dual rotors).

Not on Sunday, but I have before - usually flying straight west or straight east. There are often 2 or more of them together.

I did see three apaches flying low, westbound on Saturday morning. One of my neighbors suggested alternate plans in the works for 1-20-09.

[HeightsGuy]

Not on Sunday, but I have before - usually flying straight west or straight east. There are often 2 or more of them together.

I did see three apaches flying low, westbound on Saturday morning. One of my neighbors suggested alternate plans in the works for 1-20-09.

I've got a neighbor like that too- a little unkempt, tin foil hat......

[TJones]

Not on Sunday, but I have before - usually flying straight west or straight east. There are often 2 or more of them together.

I did see three apaches flying low, westbound on Saturday morning. One of my neighbors suggested alternate plans in the works for 1-20-09.

No No No, the Apaches are flying in preparation for crowd control at WRESTLEMANIA 25 ! Didn't you see Triple H's announcement ?! Geez.

[Talbot]

Funny, after reading this last week I saw a Chinook buzzing through the Heights on Sunday. Did anyone else see it? I've never see one of these in Houston so was kinda surprised by it as it's not your runofthemill traffic copter (three times the size with dual rotors).

A couple of months ago I saw (3) Chinooks flying westbound over katy. It was pretty cool, not something you see very often.

[goastros]

When we had our new garage built, hubby dug a trench and buried wire out to the garage to hook the alarm up to it. We have a motion detector in the garage that is hooked into the house alarm system. We had a few false alarms one weekend when a gecko thought they would make a home out the motion sensor. We put tape over the opening and haven't had a problem or break in since. We have Cujo in the house so during the day we can program the motion sensor in the house off and leave the one in the garage on. Don't think anyone would consider breaking into the house once Cujo jumps on the door. He works great for door to door salesman and the UPS man as well--they've been known to knock on the door and then take off running and screaming like little girls when they see his teeth in the window. I've had people run out of the yard and wait on the other side of the front fence for me to open the door because they were terrified of the dog. Black dogs are great for this--they make the white teeth really stand out and give that imposing look.

[Vertigo58]

Great (graphic) pup description.

I always loved the way some developers build the garage at an angle facing away (sideways) from street views. Perfect! You can have the door open and have privacy from curious on lookers. Never let your guard down though of course, but these sideway deals are awesome.

Cujo's are a great addtion as well.

[heights_yankee]

Cujo's are a great addtion as well.

a house in Timbergrove was robbed recently. They have a German Shepherd. When the dog went after the robbers, they hit it in the head with a crow bar. People, this is the kind of world we are living in....

[goastros]

That's really sad about the dog--hope he was ok.

We don't rely totally on the dog. We still have window and door sensors on. The dogs are just back-up. It's amazing that I'm surrounded by people that stay home during the day but every time we've gotten things stolen (even in broad daylight) nobody sees a thing. I'm always glancing out my windows and door at the street and neighbors houses when I walk by. I always watch if I see an unfamiliar car at the neighbors house to see if they knock on the door or try to get inside if the neighbors aren't home. Wish the neighbors took it upon themselves to help keep a watch out for the neighborhood.

[darva]

That's really sad about the dog--hope he was ok.

We don't rely totally on the dog. We still have window and door sensors on. The dogs are just back-up. It's amazing that I'm surrounded by people that stay home during the day but every time we've gotten things stolen (even in broad daylight) nobody sees a thing. I'm always glancing out my windows and door at the street and neighbors houses when I walk by. I always watch if I see an unfamiliar car at the neighbors house to see if they knock on the door or try to get inside if the neighbors aren't home. Wish the neighbors took it upon themselves to help keep a watch out for the neighborhood.

Ditto. If we would all look out for each other, we'd have a much safer neighborhood. I do the same now, but I grew up in that type of neighborhood. Moving into the Heights has been a huge transition for me for this reason... I couldn't even tell you my neighbors names, they aren't very friendly at all!

[tmariar]

Ditto. If we would all look out for each other, we'd have a much safer neighborhood. I do the same now, but I grew up in that type of neighborhood. Moving into the Heights has been a huge transition for me for this reason... I couldn't even tell you my neighbors names, they aren't very friendly at all!

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear your block isn't that friendly. One of my neighbors collected info from our part of the block (residents, cars, pets, phone numbers) and distributed it to all of us for reference. I think it helped everyone to get to know each other, in addition to helping us look out for each other. Maybe you could try doing something similar?

[Porchman]

Ditto. If we would all look out for each other, we'd have a much safer neighborhood. I do the same now, but I grew up in that type of neighborhood. Moving into the Heights has been a huge transition for me for this reason... I couldn't even tell you my neighbors names, they aren't very friendly at all!

One of my neighbors collected info from our part of the block (residents, cars, pets, phone numbers) and distributed it to all of us for reference. I think it helped everyone to get to know each other, in addition to helping us look out for each other. Maybe you could try doing something similar?

Knowing your neighbors is good, and so is having contact information. We mostly know each other on my block - if not by name, then by face, house, vehicle, and pet (sometimes the pets name). We did a National Night Out party in the middle of the street last year (and probably will this year, too) and exchanged info.

Another important thing you can do: Take care of the things that are red flags indicating your neighbor is late coming home or away for an extended time. Some of the things we do in our hood:

• Getting The Chronicle, The Leader, or a USPS hang tag to a more inconspicuous place (or just tossing The Leader altogether )
  
• Taking a trash can in (part-way up the drive, at least)
  
• Putting an away neighbor's trash can out.
  

Of course, all of this is really facilitated by knowing your neighbors in the first place.

[tanith27]

Karen Derr is also working on a Constable program for the Heights that will result in an increased police presence in the area. It requires a certain number of people to contribute money, although it is voluntary and once the minimum is attained, all neighbors would benefit by this increase in patrols. Those that contribute would get the added benefit of an HPD officer doing drive by's on your house during times you're away on vacation.

[musicman]

Karen Derr is also working on a Constable program for the Heights that will result in an increased police presence in the area. It requires a certain number of people to contribute money, although it is voluntary and once the minimum is attained, all neighbors would benefit by this increase in patrols. Those that contribute would get the added benefit of an HPD officer doing drive by's on your house during times you're away on vacation.

the county commissioners have been getting complaints from areas in the county that have no patrols in favor of those who are paying for extra. they had a story recently on this and a few want the entire program reevaluated.

Edited July 10, 2008 by musicman

[poyea]

On the topic of getting to know your neighbors, we were in a similar situation with not knowing most of the neighbors on the block. So, we (ok, my wife) made flyers, and planned a block party. We shut off the street with trash cans, had everyone sign up to bring food, drinks, desserts, etc (beer, wine too). And we had name tags for name and address so that everyone would know who they were and where they lived. And we made a contact list so that everyone could get in touch with each other if necessary. We had just about 100% attend. Games and sidewalk chalk for the kids, bbq grills, etc.

It was a great time really. Just an idea.

[20thStDad]

We have done a similar thing - our entire block all have an email list for each other, and back in April we did an alley party that went really well. Just knowing those around you will go a long way to helping feel safer. You start to watch out for each other better. We have a very diverse group but have gotten along great in the year that I've been there.

[poyea]

Well, crap! Go figure. I make the posting about having a street function, and then we wake up to a car alarm at 4:00am this morning. Didn't notice anything unusual on the street, so back to bed. Out to get the morning paper, and then notice the glass in the street, and our car window laying on the steering wheel. At least we did have one neighbor who hopped out of bed in time to see them, only to think that it was US....yeah, we're ALWAYS out digging around in the car at 4am. No harm. Company car. And nothing stolen due to the car alarm. Next time, I think I'll go "Joe Horn" on their little arses.

[goastros]

Aw, that sucks! It's still more of an inconvenience than anything. Those thugs are really fast.

We had our $400 bicycle cable locked on the front porch and they came in the middle of the night with their bolt cutters and took off on the bike. Hubby heard the lock hit the porch (our bedroom window is right there) but by the time he jumped out of bed and looked out the window, they were already gone. They left their crappy bike in our yard. The cops came out but didn't do anything.