Last year was a busy time for the Houston Police Department as the agency once again recorded its highest annual caseload total.
Chief Jim McNiell said officers turned in 600 written reports in 2014, eclipsing the previous high of 503 set in 2013.
“We were very, very busy,” McNiell said. “We were up in some categories and down in others, but the officers had a lot to take care of. And they did a great job.”
Stealing led Houston crime in 2014 with officers writing 99 reports regarding cases involving theft – up a whopping 34 over 2013. Other top categories included possession of controlled substances or drug paraphernalia with 25 reports (up 11 from the previous year), peace disturbance with 22 (down 7) and assault with 21 (down 6).
Felony arrests increased dramatically in 2014 with 160 being recorded compared to only 41 in 2013. McNiell attributed that in large part to the rise in theft.
“We had a lot of pretty major burglaries and stealing cases last year,” he said. “We also had a good amount of significant vandalism and property damage, which also helped push our felonies up.”
HPD officers responded to 2,055 requests for public assistance in 2014, down from the 2,301 in 2013. McNiell said that decrease was largely due to the new city policy against police officers unlocking vehicles’ doors, except in emergency situations.
“We unlocked cars more than 300 times in 2013,” McNiell said. “We probably did it about 10 times last year.”
HPD officers wrote 198 traffic tickets in 2014.
“Almost all of the traffic tickets we wrote were due to violations on streets in town,” McNiell said. “We’re really trying to make the city streets as safe a place as possible.”
The HPD operates with six full-time officers and three reserves. The agency has had the same number of full-time officers for the past 10 years –– when written reports typically totaled about 400.
“We’re just very, very busy,” McNiell said. “And of course, the more cases there are, the more paperwork there is to do, which requires the guys to spend more time at a computer and less in the field.”
Sgt. Tim Ceplina has been with the HPD for more than 20 years and said being an officer in a small town is far different than in a big city.
“We take a case from beginning to end,” Ceplina said. “We don’t pass anything off to a detective or to people in specific departments –– like burglary or homicide. We run the full gamut of law enforcement and take every case from the arrest to court.”
Ceplina said the HPD is well equipped to handle that gamut.
“We’re very fortunate to have the caliber of officers we have here, and I’m very proud of all of them,” he said. “A lot of people don’t fully appreciate the level of professionalism the guys in our department do their jobs with. We have a roster of top-notch police officers who could work for any department anywhere in the state. But they choose to be here.”
McNiell said one of the HPD’s main problems is having to often deal with the same people.
“It’s too bad we have so many citizens out there repeatedly making poor decisions,” he said. “But Houston is in general a fine community with a lot of fine people.”
Category – 2014 total (difference from 2013)
Written reports – 600 (+97)
Public assist – 2,055 (-246)
Bank escorts – 273 (-69)
Funeral escorts – 49 (-8)
Traffic accidents – 92 (+45)
Alarms answered – 77 (-10)
Traffic citations – 198 (-154)
Traffic warnings – 443 (-274)
Warrant arrests – 154 (+29)
Juvenile referrals – 12 (-1)
Felony arrests – 160 (+119)
Misdemeanor arrests – 316 (+52)
Traffic citations
Driving while intoxicated – 23 (-4)
Speeding – 34 (+8)
Stop sign/signal violations – 6 (-3)
Driver’s license violations – 35 (+5)
Vehicle license violations – 45 (+5)
No insurance – 17 (+11)
Failure to yield right-of-way – 12 (-3)
Following too closely – 14 (+11)
Leaving the scene of an accident – 4 (+3)
Crimes
Stealing – 99 (+34)
Assault – 21 (-6)
Property damage – 18 (+8)
Peace disturbance – 22 (-7)
Minor in possession of alcohol – 18 (+3)
Supplied liquor to a minor – 2 (same)
Trespassing – 14 (+2)
Possession of a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia – 25 (+11)
Resisting an officer or failure to comply – 7 (-1)
Assault on an officer – 2 (-3)