Burglaries of Vehicles

One of  the most common crimes in Houston is also one of the easiest to prevent.

Burglary of a vehicle (BMV) is an all-to-frequent crime for managers and residents of apartment communities. It’s not unusual for commercial properties with parking lots to experience a significant increase in BMV’s in a short period of time. So let’s look at the crime and what can be done about it.

Detection

This is the second of a series of articles about the three components of most successful security systems: prevention, detection, and response.

Relationship vs. Transaction

Most contact citizens have with the police are transactions - the citizen needs help and the police respond. But after the police take action (report, arrest, citation, etc…), the citizen and officer often never see or talk to each other again.

New Rules

The effort to control crime in Houston apartments has moved to Austin.

Recent stories (here and here) have been published about the City of Houston’s efforts:

…management was notified of problems found during the inspection process, and the property was “red-tagged.” The management was given a certain time period to pull the city permits needed to start repair work. When that did not happen, the city issued 103 citations for as many violations found on the property…

New mandate

Now the Texas Legislature is working to support Houston in establishing its own inspection system. A bill (HB 1819) sponsored by Representative Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston has the potential to not only enhance our inspection system, but to be an impetus for improving systems in other cities. 

Remedial Process

Every two years, the Multifamily Administrative Unit of the Houston Police Department generates a list of apartment properties that are considered “remedial action eligible”.

Why me?

Apartment crime is often a result of several factors. Some of these factors are within management’s control and some are not.

A common concern among managers is the residual effect of crime from nearby properties:

“Residents come to my property to sell drugs”

“They live across the street but hang around here”.

Collaborative Response

Every third Wednesday of the month, apartment managers and owners gather at the Higher Dimension Church in southwest Houston to collaborate with Houston Police officers. This month’s topic was all about narcotics.