KTRK-13 reports on an effort to get homeless people out of White Oak Bayou parks:
Police hope to crack down on crime by cleaning up public parks and getting the homeless the help they need.
The initiative is called Operation Clean Sweep. Officers on horseback are patrolling the parks along White Oak Bayou just north of downtown. Police linked a rise in property crime to homeless people who have been camping in the woods. Some of the clean up includes getting rid of mattresses and tarps found in the parks.
HPD Captain Mark Holloway explained, “We just want to make it so the citizens that want to use this area have an opportunity to do so and not have a fear of being victimized in doing so.”
“We’re finding campsites and things of that nature and we know that that’s not what needs to be happening,” said Houston City Councilmember Adrian Garcia.
The man who wants to be Harris County sheriff has just found out that homeless people have taken over local public spaces?
Wow. You’d think the Houston councilmember might have noticed the problem around downtown and midtown.
