KHOU-11’s Janice Williamson reports that Northline residents are the latest to feel the effects of HPD’s manpower woes:
People in the Northline community, just north of downtown Houston, accuse the department of leaving them to fend for themselves. They said the officers are out and the crime is in.
Some unwelcome changes have the community very concerned.
On Houston’s north side, graffiti covers signs and buildings.
Grover Oliver didn’t expect to see a spray-painted message on the front door of Bethany Lutheran Church. “That’s graffiti to me. We wouldn’t have done anything like that. None of our members would have done anything like that,” he said.
“I’m just really, really sad. Things aren’t very well around here, we have a lot of crime,” said Claudia Landin, north side resident.
There is still glass in the church parking lot from a car thief who struck during Sunday services. Even the landscaping can’t escape the crime wave, which residents said began last fall.
“We had an article that was written about us in the “Leader” for having a rally here, that we were complaining like a bunch of babies because of police protection,” Oliver said. “Where is police protection when this is happening?”
Houston police said they have a manpower shortage.
Mayor White and his council seem unwilling to address the shortage. Northline won’t be the only neighborhood to feel the effects.
The mayor must have excluded Northline residents from that unscientific poll that found Houstonians LOVE his leadership.
