Chief Hurtt Asks Northside Area to "Keep Houston Safe"

February 26, 2008 - Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt, along with several other dignitaries, announced the kick-off today (Feb. 26) of another phase of the “Keep Houston Safe” public safety campaign in the Northside area during a news conference at Moody Park, at 3725 Fulton.

Photos of the news conference are attached to this news release.

The “Keep Houston Safe” strategy is to further develop a stronger partnership between law enforcement, businesses and residents to rally together by enhancing public awareness and involvement to prevent crime. This collaborative effort between residential, business partners, area schools, churches and local law enforcement agencies will send a strong message to the criminal element. The main focus of the campaign is crime prevention and the implementation of proactive crime prevention efforts and measures aimed at the elimination of criminal incidents, rather than responding to them after they have occurred.

”Crime prevention begins with each one of us and if we all do our part to fight crime and make it hard as possible for criminals to identify a crime victim or location, we are helping to Keep Houston Safe,” said Chief Hurtt.

He added, “We are getting back to the basics of an active and informed community working cooperatively with their public safety professionals to identify and solve problems. We want the community to be our eyes and ears in the neighborhood.”

Citizens can do their part by helping “Keep Houston Safe” by calling 713-247-GANG (4264) to report gang-related criminal activity or by going to the HPD Web site at www.houstonpolice.org and clicking on the “report gang activity” link on the left side of the page. In addition, any citizen can remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS if he or she has information on individuals responsible for committing felony crimes.

For additional information, please contact the HPD Public Affairs Division at 713-308-3200.