In a span of five days, three vehicles in West University Place were broken into and burglarized — including a city vehicle.
All three burglaries happened overnight or in the early hours of the morning. In all three cases, items from inside the vehicle were stolen.
The first two burglaries took place on March 20.
The aforementioned city vehicle was discovered by a city employee who quickly alerted authorities. The second burglary took place near the 4100 block of Coleridge. The last car was burglarized in the 3100 block of Carnegie.
In all instances, information was gathered and processed.
Vehicle burglaries wasn’t the only theft that occurred in West U.
On March 23, an officer responded to a report of theft, fraud, and incident of trespass at the 3500 block of University. Further investigation yielded the news that a known subject entered the victim’s property, took the victim’s dog and possibly used the victim’s credit card without permission.
Completely agree - why isn’t anyone in outrage at how poorly the police are protecting West U? Crime is a joke in this area.
Ted Ferguson says
I’m surprised at how often I see open garages while driving or walking our neighborhood. Lots of bikes, tools, etc. in them. You’ll also notice that in this story, and in almost all of the others that you see on this site, that the thefts occur from a vehicle, at night, parked on the street. If you’ve got a garage, please put your car in there and close the door. I don’t park mine on the street just for the dings and mirror damage. This is an affluent area, and if expensive items are left in vehicles parked on a dark street, it’s going to be hard to stop criminals from coming to our city to go shopping, regardless of how many cops are on patrol.
Ted Ferguson says
“The police chief is responsible for our safety.”
No. YOU are responsible for your safety. I believe that kind of attitude is exactly the problem. We’re only ~ 15 minutes away from several dodgy neighborhoods via 59 and Westpark. If memory serves, Sharpstown was listed as the highest crime area for Houston in 2013. Get on the internet and map travel time from there to us. Until we build a giant wall around the city, you’ll have to use some common sense and quit leaving expensive items in your car, parked in the street, overnight. If you actually talk to your neighbors, encourage them to do the same. Pick up newspapers from your lawn, and get an alarm system. As Houston gets more and more populated, I can reasonably expect that some unsavory types will find their way to us, as well. I doubt this problem will get better.
Ted Ferguson says
“Anonymous”, it’s clear that you have an issue with the city. Since you haven’t spared the rest of us from your routine, and in my opinion, excessive diatribe, I’m assuming you’ve pestered everyone on city staff with your grievances, and have come up empty, too? I’m starting to wonder if you’re the person that shows up to every city meeting and makes a spectacle of themselves? Don’t be “that person”. You’re wasting everyone’s time, and you’re clearly not gaining an inch of ground. Grow up and move on.
The police MAY come across a criminal in the act, and I know for a fact that the response time is DEFINTELY fast when reported to them, but it’s hard for them to see someone kicking in the back door of a house, or on the curb side of a car in the street at night. Taking common sense steps to avoid laying out a welcome mat to criminals is not “putting all of the responsibility on the citizens”, it’s advocating common sense steps to make crime in our area less attractive. Crime is up all over Houston, as is the population (look at license plates next time your stuck in traffic), and I suspect that our crime is increasing, accordingly. I’ll wait to see what the police department has to say about this, but in the meantime, make yourself less attractive to criminals, and report sketchy looking people a.s.a.p.
Ted Ferguson says
From W.U.P.D.’s Facebook page:
http://www.urbachletter.com/Archive/Safety_1003_BurglaryPrevention.htm
Ted Ferguson says
Dear Anonymous,
Since you have such a comprehensive understanding of criminology, why don’t you spend some of the free time that you have patrolling the mean streets of West U.? You probably already have the orange reflective sash in your closet. As close as you watch the budget (and the comments posted here), I’d bet you’d make an excellent citizen officer. Who says you shouldn’t be responsible for your own safety? Make it your responsibility! Heck, you can be responsible for EVERYONE’s safety! The city can’t deny you services when you’re providing your own, right? You don’t even need a gun. If you catch someone breaking into a car, simply go into one of your 12 paragraph rants, until their eyes glaze over, giving the West U. police plenty of time to apprehend them. It’s a win for everyone - except the criminals. Officer Anonymous, reporting for duty?
Anonymous says
Ted, WUP citizens pay for police protection. As said, it is the mission of the police to protect us. If the police were doing their job, maybe you wouldn’t feel so strongly that the police need my help? I wonder if you believe everyone should be guarding their homes? Someone must pay for the police to drive around the city and interview crime victims. I wonder if the woman who was assaulted in her garage, or the family who had their home broken into with armed thugs thought someone other than the police are responsible for their safety? Maybe we should give the police a free pass when these crimes occur a couple of blockers from the police station. After all, WUP may be off helping Bellaire or another community.