Crime In Texas Medical Center

[Highrise Tower]

I recently had my car rummaged through.  I don't leave anything valuable in my car. I thought a pair of sunglasses would be safe! Woke up and noticed my glove box was open and my sunglasses swiped.  Terrible!

I know the hospitals have an issue with car break ins and harassment.  My friends at Anderson always tell me the latest parking garage drama. Other than that I don't particular notice a lot of crime in the TMC area. 

Riding the METRORail Redline can be an issue depending on the passengers.  That's not crime per se, but it's something worth noting.

When I had my sunglasses stolen, I left my car doors unlocked. I've heard in high crime areas (in every big city) it's a good idea to leave your doors unlocked, so they do not smash your window.  Fast forward 5 days and one of my neighbors had their car window smashed! Maybe it was a smart idea I had at the time.

[editor]

On 7/29/2023 at 7:36 PM, Highrise Tower said:

I recently had my car rummaged through.  I don't leave anything valuable in my car. I thought a pair of sunglasses would be safe! Woke up and noticed my glove box was open and my sunglasses swiped.  Terrible!

I know the hospitals have an issue with car break ins and harassment.  My friends at Anderson always tell me the latest parking garage drama. Other than that I don't particular notice a lot of crime in the TMC area. 

Riding the METRORail Redline can be an issue depending on the passengers.  That's not crime per se, but it's something worth noting.

When I had my sunglasses stolen, I left my car doors unlocked. I've heard in high crime areas (in every big city) it's a good idea to leave your doors unlocked, so they do not smash your window.  Fast forward 5 days and one of my neighbors had their car window smashed! Maybe it was a smart idea I had at the time.

I had my car rummaged through three times in Las Vegas.  The last time, they took my dashboard hula girl, and my sunglasses.  While I miss the hula girl, the joke's on them because the sunglasses were prescription.

Always lock your car doors.  Crime of the type you describe is a "crime of opportunity."  Some bored person or teen-ager walking by tests all the door handles, and if one is open — they look around to see what's inside.  Like you, I never keep anything in my car more valuable than a first aid kit.

The Red Line can look scary, but of the few hundred times I've used it, only once have I ever thought it was a problem.  There was a guy flipping out shouting at invisible people.  I think Metro could improve safety simply by putting more fare inspectors on the trains.  People behave themselves more when they're on board, and they can get in touch with a real cop almost immediately by radio.  I've seen them call for a cop of their radio, and there's officers waiting at the next station.  If an ordinary person like me calls the Metro police number, by the time you get in touch with someone, you're six stops farther on, and probably done with your ride.

The Red Line suffers from the same perception problem as downtown Houston — people think it's gross and unsafe because of the ratio of drug addicts to regular people.  If you use it during shift changes at the Medical Center, it looks perfectly normal like any other train.  But once the medical people get where they're going, the ratio changes, and it feels worse. 

Too bad Metro can't give the Jehova's Witnesses permission to carry out their positive loitering on Metro trains.  Whenever they set up on a street corner, the druggies and vagrants go elsewhere.

On a related note — I've started riding Metro's buses a little bit.  They're absolutely fine.  Perfectly normal people so far.  Better than the trains, even.