Some Hyde Park-area residents in
Montrose say the city isn't doing
enough about an increase in home
burglaries.
Houston police say the incidence of
home burglary in the area varies by
individual neighborhoods, with some
neighborhoods up and others down.
Regardless of how statistics are
compiled, Hyde Park resident Stephen
Marchione said he and many neighbors
are increasingly concerned.
Marchione, deed restrictions
chairman for the Hyde Park United
Civic Association, said Wednesday he
had learned of five new burglaries
since Aug. 1 — in the 1100 to 1600
blocks of Gray, Welch, Bomar and
Vermont Streets.
Capt. Mark S. Holloway of the
Houston Police Department said
officers are doing as much as they
can about a recent spike in a
two-square-block area bounded by
Willard and Bomar Streets, Waugh
Drive and Montrose Boulevard.
Within the two square blocks, six
home break-ins and one burglary of a
nonresidential building were
reported between June 1 and July 27,
compared with no burglaries in the
same period last year, Holloway
said.
The recent seven burglaries yielded
no viable clues, he said.
"There was no pattern or suspect
information that we could follow up
on," he said.
Meanwhile, residents are fearful,
said Marchione, deed restrictions
chairman for the Hyde Park United
Civic Association.
"The frustration and fear have risen
just because of how bad it's
gotten," Marchione said. "It's not
like people haven't been asking for
help."
Holloway said he had spoken with
Marchione, and representatives of
the Neartown storefront police
station at 802 Westheimer had
visited Marchione's home.
On July 28, officers walked the
two-square-block area and passed out
176 pamphlets detailing how to
prevent residential burglaries,
Holloway said. Also, police gave a
presentation on burglary prevention
at the Hyde Park civic association's
Aug. 2 monthly meeting.
The Hyde Park United Civic
Association represents the area
bordered roughly by Westheimer Road
on the south, Commonwealth Street on
the west, Gray Street on the north
and Montrose Boulevard on the east.
For crime analysis, the police
department divides the Hyde Park
United geographic area into three
neighborhoods: Hyde Park,
Montrose-Westmoreland and Westover.
In the period between Jan. 1, 2009,
and Aug. 5, two of the three
neighborhoods saw decreases in
residential burglary, while one
neighborhood and the area as a whole
saw increases.
For the area overall, the number of
home burglaries increased by 8.5
percent - from 94 between Jan. 1,
2009, and Aug. 5, 2009, compared
with 102 in the same seven months
this year.
In the Westover neighborhood (which
includes the two square blocks with
the recent spike), burglaries went
up from eight between Jan. 1, 2009,
and Aug. 5, 2009, to 23 in the same
period this year, for a 187-percent
increase.
However, in the Hyde Park
neighborhood, the number of
burglaries in the seven months
between Jan. 1 and Aug. 5 went down
from 51 last year to 50 this year.
And in Montrose-Westmoreland, the
number decreased from 35 in the
first seven months of last year to
29 in the same period this year, for
a 17-percent decrease.
Most people at the Aug. 2 civic
association meeting said they were
pleased with the police response and
thanked the officers for their
efforts, Holloway said.
"We're dedicating all the resources
we can to get these burglaries under
control, given the fact that we
don't have any leads," he said.
Marchione said that answer was
unacceptable.
"Maybe their 'all they can' tactics
don't work," he said. "Try some new
tactics. Figure out a way to get the
burglars off the street."
Janice Evans, spokeswoman for
Houston Mayor Annise Parker, said
the mayor's standard response to
questions about crime control is to
defer to the police department.
"Not having the background or
details on what HPD is doing or not
doing, our standard practice on
police matters is to defer to the
source," Evans said.