January 19, 2012 - Houston police officers with the Westside Patrol Division, together with Houston City Council Member Al Hoang, today (Jan. 19) went door-to-door to educate residents on crime prevention.
Many of the residents in the Crown Colony West subdivision speak either Vietnamese or Chinese as their primary language. HPD officers, fluent in both languages, as well as Spanish, participated in the education initiative, which highlighted ways in which residents could help prevent being victimized by car and home burglaries as well as violent crime.
The neighborhood was selected for the education initiative after it saw an increased crime rate in 2011. Importantly, significant crime reduction progress has already been made. In the last 90 days, violent crime is down 22% and non-violent crime is down 19%.
“We noticed the upward trend in this area and have made great strides in lowering the crime rate, but are always looking at ways to do things better,” said Westside Patrol Captain Michael Skillern. “That is why we have representatives here from patrol, who try and stop crime from happening, as well as from the investigative divisions who solve them after the fact,” he added.
“The other large piece of the puzzle is teaching the residents to be ‘harder targets’ for the criminals, thus forcing them to look elsewhere to commit crimes,” said Captain Skillern. “That is one of the main purposes of our effort today.”
As many of the neighborhood’s residents prepare to celebrate the Asian Lunar New Year on Monday (Jan. 23), HPD hopes this effort can help to make the coming year a safe and happy one.
HPD Officer Gives Safety Tips to Westside Resident
HPD Officers Encourage Resident to Report Crime
Councilmember Al Hoang & HPD Officers Go Door-to-Door
KJS/JFC 1-19-12
For additional information, please contact the HPD Public Affairs Division at 713-308-3200.
