Source: Impact Community Newspaper

Cy-Fair is not a traditionally dangerous area, but residents and law enforcement agencies are finding they must respond to a variety of emerging criminal trends such as burglaries and gang activities.

Local police are working with legislators and community members to increase awareness, share resources and enact tougher legislation to abate these growing criminal concerns.

“With the increase in population, the city keeps growing into the suburbs,” said State Rep. Patricia Harless, R-Spring. “With more population comes more crime. I am not content to allow that to continue in our neighborhood. What has been shown in the past is [crime] moves away in communities that have risen up and fought back.”

Cause for concern
Cy-Fair is a different community than it was 10 years ago. A significant population increase that brought thousands of new residents to the area also paved the way for a number of problems.

“Any time you have population growth in any area, there is an increase in crime,” said Christina Garza, manager of media relations for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. “These are crimes of opportunity. If you have more residences to break into and more businesses, you increase the opportunities.”

Garza said the sheriff’s district captains in Districts 4 and 5, which cover the Cy-Fair area, said the population growth coupled with the economic downturn has contributed to more criminal activities. Burglaries in particular, she said, have increased because more people are looking for easy ways to make money.

Other area law enforcement agencies claim the rise in crime can also be attributed to stricter ordinances limiting criminal activities in Houston. These ordinances push certain types of criminal activities, such as illegal massage parlors, outside of the city limits and into unincorporated areas.

“There is a theory in law enforcement that if you increase visibility, you drive [crime] to a different area,” said Ron Hickman, Precinct 4 Constable. “Cities have increased their ordinances, and they drive crime out of the city.”

Burglaries and theft
According to statistics from the sheriff’s department, from 2007 to 2010, residential burglaries increased by more than 30 percent in both districts covering parts of Cy-Fair. Burglaries of motor vehicles increased by more than 8 percent in the districts.

Law enforcement agencies have responded to this issue with programs designed to educate the public about burglary and theft prevention.

“Theft happens everywhere all the time,” Garza said. “The only thing [the sheriff’s office] can do is be proactive in the sense of informing the public. We have an auto theft division that is constantly out in the community telling you to lock your car and hide your keys. We do anything to help the community not to be obvious victims.”

On the legislative side of the burglary issue, Harless recently proposed a bill to increase the penalty for a second offense of a burglary of a motor vehicle.

“The penalty is just a slap on the hand now,” she said. “A stronger penalty would make it so [the offenders] are risking more.”

Gang activity
It is difficult to track gang activity because gangs commit a range of crimes in different areas. However, according to Pat Cook, gang investigator for Constable Precinct 4, gang activity has increased in the Cy-Fair area over the past 20 years.

“It is a problem throughout the county and the state,” she said. “At the high school level, there are few structured gangs in Northwest Harris County, but there are more loose-net gangs.”

These “loose-net” gangs often partake in petty crimes such as shoplifting. Cook said they alone are not a major threat to the community, but structured gangs often recruit from and use these gangs to commit more serious crimes such as drug trafficking.

“They use the loose-net gangs to do the crimes and teach them their ways,” Cook said.

In 2009, Cook joined forces with the Harris County Sheriff’s gang suppression unit, which shares information about gang members throughout local school districts. She is the gang liaison for Cy-Fair ISD, and she helps identify gang members and informs the district about gang trends.

“[The unit] bridges the communication gap,” said Garza. “A sharing of information helps identify gang members and what kinds of crimes they are committing. Just last year alone, the gang suppression unit documented more than 1,700 gang members in the county.”

Community involvement
Local law enforcement agencies can only do so much to reduce crime in an area. In order to be the most effective, they need the community to help identify and alert them of suspicious activities.

“We are trying to make the best of it with the deputies that we have,” Garza said. “But we need citizens to help be eyes and ears.”