Alief Westwood Safety

Advocate for community-based policing and safety initiatives

• ACTION STEPS: Develop alternative community-based crime prevention strategies, including increasing bike patrols, improving communication and relationships between residents and law enforcement, developing and targeting programs to address higher crime areas, and identifying challenges that are better addressed by social service professionals, such as substance abuse or sex trafficking; Create a coalition to identify, organize and implement community safety initiatives such as National Night Out events, Safe Walk Home programs for school children, and community meet and greets

        COORDINATION

        Community: International District, Alief/Westwood NST | Role: Advocate, Implement

        City: Houston Police Department | Role: Assist, Implement

        Community Connector: Harris County Constable Precinct 3, International District, Higher           Dimension Church Peace Center, Area Apartment Managers, Alief   SNC, Area Civic                  Clubs | Role: Organize, Outreach, Implement

Increase police presence and visibility   

• ACTION STEPS: Advocate for funding and strategies to increase the presence and visibility of police in the neighborhood, including advocating for more frequent foot and bike patrols

COORDINATION

Community: Alief/Westwood NST |  Role: Advocate

City: Houston Police Department | Role: Support

Community Connectors: International District | Role: Support 

Develop and expand community safety outreach campaigns   

• ACTION STEPS: Develop a multi-lingual outreach campaign, including for Spanish language media and supporting the Radio Saigon public safety program, to inform residents of area safety issues and provide information on when to call 911 and when to use the non-emergency numbers 

COORDINATION

Community: Alief/Westwood NST | Role: Implement

City: Houston Police Department | Role: Support, Implement

Community Connectors: Radio Saigon Houston, International District, Alief SNC, Area Civic Clubs | Role: Support, Implement

Build relationships between youth and law enforcement 

• ACTION STEPS: Expand participation in Houston Police Department youth programs, such as Teen and Police Services (TAPS), Greater Houston Police Athletic League (GHPAL), Explorer Program, and Positive Patrol Program  

COORDINATION

Community: International District | Role: Outreach, Support

City: Houston Police Department | Role: Outreach, Implement

Community Connector: Boy Scouts of America, Area Schools | Role: Outreach  

Expand crime surveillance and security patrols  

• ACTION STEPS: Advocate for the ongoing use of high-tech mobile surveillance cameras, private security, and off-duty police patrols to deter, prevent, and solve crimes in areas identified as having elevated crime rates, including drug related exchanges   

COORDINATION

Community: International District | Role: Support, Implement

City: Houston Police Department Crime Suppression Unit | Role: Support 

Community Connectors: Alief/Westwood NST, Area Apartment Complexes, Area Businesses | Role: Advocate, Support, Implement

Improve street lighting  

• ACTION STEPS: Develop an outreach campaign for social media, area message boards, and community meetings, to encourage area residents to report streetlight outages to the International District and CenterPoint; Apply for new street lighting to be installed along Synott Road, Cook Road (near the landfill), and in the subdivision east of the Harmony Public Schools Central Office 

COORDINATION

Community: Alief/Westwood NST | Role: Outreach, Promote

City: Houston Public Works | Role: Support

Community Connector: International District, CenterPoint | Role: Support, Implement

Adopt Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Strategies (CPTED) 

• ACTION STEPS: Provide regular training sessions for residents, leaders, property owners, apartment managers, and others on the principals of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design as a means to build safety awareness and understanding on how to address safety concerns   

COORDINATION

Community: International District | Role: Implement

City: Houston Police Department | Role: Support

Community Connectors: Area Businesses and Property Owners | Role: Support

Address nuisance properties to improve safety

ACTION STEPS: Address nuisance properties as identified through Chapter 125 of the Civil Practices and Remedies Code: “A person who maintains a place to which persons habitually go for the following purposes (criminal and nuisance behavior) and who knowingly tolerates the activity and furthermore fails to make reasonable attempts to abate the activity maintains a common nuisance.”

COORDINATION

Community: International District, Alief/Westwood NST | Role: Support, Implement

City: Houston Police Department Differential Response Team, Department of Neighborhoods | Role: Support, Implement

Community Connectors: Area Businesses and Property Owners, Harris County District Attorney’s Office | Role: Support, Implement

Expand actions to prevent human trafficking and provide resources to victims  

• ACTION STEPS: Advocate for the Houston Police Department’s Vice Unit and United Against Human Trafficking to address the community’s challenges of human trafficking, focus efforts along Bissonnet Street; Develop strategies across agencies to improve outreach, information, and service delivery for the victims of human trafficking 

COORDINATION

Community: Alief/Westwood NST, District F and J | Role: Advocate, Support

City: Mayor’s Office of Anti-Human Trafficking, Houston Health Department Mobile Unit, HPD | Role: Organize, Support, Outreach  

Community Connectors: The Landing, United Against Human Trafficking, Harris Health, YMCA, Ben Taub Hospital | Role: Support, Outreach
 

Reduce graffiti  

• ACTION STEPS: Develop outreach materials to encourage the reporting of graffiti and to share the resources available to communities and civic organizations for graffiti abatement, including the International District and Department of Neighborhoods graffiti abatement programs  

COORDINATION

Community: International District, Alief/Westwood NST | Role: Support, Implement

City: Department of Neighborhoods, Houston Police Department | Role: Support, Implement

Community Connectors: Alief SNC | Role: Support

Reduce stray animals and keep pets and people safe  

• ACTION STEPS: Advocate for additional resources and services, including those provided by non-profit animal welfare organizations, to reduce stray dogs and cats, including expanding outreach efforts to educate and inform residents of spay and neuter resources available; Develop multi-lingual outreach materials, potentially distributed in water bills, to inform residents of their responsibility to properly care for their pets, including leash laws  

COORDINATION

Community: Alief/Westwood NST |  Role: Outreach, Advocate 

City: Bureau of Animal Regulation and Control | Role: Support, Advocate  

Community Connectors: Barrio Dogs, Emancipet, Houston Humane Society | Role: Support, Advocate