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Inside Today: How much do good schools drive real estate success? • Page 3B
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SATURDAY | August 24, 2013 | Vol. 59 | No. 43 | www.theleadernews.com | @heightsleader
A LEADER SPECIAL REPORT
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THE INDEX.
Public Safety Hipstrict Topics Obituaries Coupons Puzzles Sports Classifieds
2A 3A 6A 7B 6B 9B 9B 6A
by Jonathan McElvy jonathan@theleadernews.com
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here’s nothing conspicuous about Brinkman Street. Flooding has rotted its edges, but that’s the norm in these parts. Fresh Newport butts and parched bottles of Old English 800 decorate the Johnson grass sprouting from the curbs – again, not atypical. Brinkman Street, in and of itself, is not a hazard to anyone. But for eight blocks in North Houston, starting from the south at Curtin Street ending at Pinemont Drive to the north, and bordered by N. Shepherd Drive to the east, Brinkman is a continental divide. It is a partition between burgeoning neighborhoods to the west and a culture of crime to the east. Stuck in the middle? The city-owned Shepherd Park and an elementary school, Durham, desperate to recoup its reputation. Alan Rosen, the constable for Precinct 1, knows the area well. “It’s been on my radar since Day 1.” He’s been in office since Jan. 1, 2013. Why is such a seemingly small area in Rosen’s district on his radar? Why would he take the time to drive the side streets off Brinkman to get another first-hand look at the concerns? Some statistics would help.
Inside the rectangle
If you draw a border around this specific area of North Houston, you’ll find Census Tract 5309, Block Group 1. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, this rectangle (which is .28 square miles) has a total population of 1,152 people. That includes two mobile home communities and at least two apartment complexes. The Leader, through an Open Records Request, asked the Houston Police Department to identify the number of times HPD had been called to any street inside this area over the past year. HPD was only able to gather 11 months of data – August 2012 - June 2013 (July 2013 stats were not available) – and they did not have data for Woodcrest Drive, where Richard Cruz, 31, was gunned down in his home on July 29. In the 11 months provided, HPD had been called to addresses in this area 1,920 times. Of course, not all of those calls resulted in arrests, but if those numbers are annualized over 12 months, that means HPD was called to this .28-square-mile area 2,094 times in the past year. With a population of 1,152, that means there were 1.82 calls per person last year. To put that number in perspective, HPD made about 1.1 million calls across the entire city in 2012, and there are 2.1 million people in the city of Houston, which translates to .48 calls per person in the city. That means the number of calls off Brinkman is 379 percent higher than the rest of the city.
If you drill down even further into those numbers, and look at actual offenses recorded by HPD, the numbers are staggering. In the past year, police reported: • 1 murder • 3 forcible rapes • 5 prostitution and commercial vice arrests • 24 aggravated assaults • 83 other assaults • 48 fraud cases • 55 robberies • 61 thefts (auto) • 418 thefts (non-auto) • 202 burglaries At one address in this area, 720 Thornton Drive, HPD has been called 43 times in one year alone. That is the address of Oak Crest Mobile Home Community, and the Harris County Attorneys office said they would “look into” that property.
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Pinemont Dr. S
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Lehman
CANDLELIGHT PLAZA
Shepherd Park Durham Elementary
Shepherd Park
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Janisch Rd.
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One street separates crime from concern Brinkman Street
For more than three weeks, we’ve told you about our Readers’ Choice Awards, being voted on by everybody but you. Well, this is the last week of voting before we begin calculating all the ballots. So far, we’ve had more than 1,000 votes cast for specific businesses. Have you taken the few minutes to support the restaurant or doctor or school or church you like most? If not, turn to Page 9B of today’s Leader and fill out the ballot. Or, if you’re of the digital persuasion, log on to our website. www. theleadernews. com and click the Readers’ Choice ballot on the right side of the page.
Martin St.
Crime, by the Numbers
Woodcrest Dr.
In the area shown at right, Houston Police report that 2,094* calls for service were made in the past year. With 1,152 people living in this ‘rectangle,’ that means there were 1.8 calls for every person. The average in the city of Houston in 2012 was .48 per person.
Thornton Rd.
Curtin
* HPD provided 11 months of data. The number of calls is annualized to 12 months for the sake of comparison
Curtin St.
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Each mark indicates the last known address for registered sex offenders in this area.
More than statistics
The concern over this small area of North Houston isn’t just about the number of times police have been called to potential problems. It’s about the impact such an area has on those living in and around it. On Christmas Eve 2010, Jonathan Foster, 12, was killed in a duplex on Oak Street. Mona Nelson was charged with the murder after video captured her dumping the burned body of Foster in a ditch off the Hardy Toll Road. Coincidentally, as of press time, Nelson’s trial was still ongoing before District Judge Jeannine Barr. As perviously noted, Richard Cruz was found shot to death in his home at 906 Woodcrest Drive on the night of July 29. According to neighbors, Cruz was wheelchair-bound and two men allegedly entered his home and shot him. Police have not arrested suspects in that case. Then there’s the fear that struck teachers at Durham Elementary School last year. According to Lorraine Cole, a mother and former teacher at Durham, students were being dismissed from school, and Cole was in the walker line, helping students to their rides home. Suddenly, Cole said a panic overtook teachers and administrators at Durham. “A parent noticed a man walking down Brinkman with a shotgun,” Cole said. “It was too late to do anything. We couldn’t get all the kids back into the school.” Cole said a parent followed the man down Brinkman and watched him turn onto Lehman Street. Police were called, and the incident proved to be nothing more than a scare. But a scare it was.
see Brinkman • Page 4A
Crime statistics in the area just east of Brinkman Street are 379 times higher than the rest of Houston, on average. Last week, HPD made an arrest outside of apartments on Oak Street. (Photos by Jonathan McElvy; Graphic by Jake Dukate)
Continued Coverage Inside Page Crime, statistics and overgrown properties are one thing. It’s the IMPACT to people 4A who live in and around this area that matters most. Page When you have these sorts of problems, there has to be a SOLUTION. We talk to of5A ficials and residents for their ideas on improvement. Page Not so long ago, a neighborhood near Bellaire – Braeswood Place – faced the same 5A situation. Read how the community completely changed the area. Page Stories like these are never easy to tell. Good, law-abiding people get grouped into 6A the wrong crowd, and that’s not fair. But we believe the story is important.