HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Has the Third Ward become safer after the Houston Police Department promised to increase patrols in 2024? Eyewitness News’ look at crime data suggests that may not be the case.<\/p>\n
“It’s about priorities,” Sharon Evans-Brooks with the Riverside Civic Association said.<\/p>\n
Following an attempted carjacking and shooting in the Third Ward last week, ABC13 analyzed data and found crime numbers haven’t changed much following the 2024 increase in patrols.<\/p>\n
Statistics within a half-mile radius of last week’s shooting showed aggravated assaults, robberies, and theft of and from vehicles increased slightly in most categories.<\/p>\n
From Jan. 1 to Aug. 20, 2024, there were 31 aggravated assaults. The number dropped slightly to 26 in 2025 and grew to 34 in 2026.<\/p>\n
There were 44 robberies in all of 2024. That number grew to 56 in 2025, and so far this year there have been 47 robberies.<\/p>\n
In all of 2024, 117 vehicles were stolen or stolen from. That number grew to 131 in 2025, and so far in 2026, 96 cars have been stolen or stolen from.<\/p>\n
“If you have more boots on the ground, but the stats remain the same, it begs the question: is it worth it?” Evans-Brooks said<\/p>\n
Evans-Brooks explained police are only one part of what makes a community safe.<\/p>\n
311 requests litter the 2400 block of Southmore near Evans-Brooks’ home. ABC13 found a heavy trash complaint filed 20 days ago for illegal dumping in the median. And Evans-Brooks said a nearby building houses an unlicensed club that creates noise problems and parking violations.<\/p>\n
But it isn’t the Houston Police Department’s job to handle those problems.<\/p>\n
“It is multiple calls all the time trying to stay on top of it,” Evans-Brooks said.<\/p>\n
So how does Evans-Brooks think a community like the Third Ward can feel safer and more livable? Through a change Houstonians have been fighting for generations.<\/p>\n
“Nobody wants to hear this! Nobody wants to hear this, but it is time for zoning in the city of Houston,” Evans-Brooks said.<\/p>\n
Evans-Brooks said she feels city departments work in silos, which keeps them from recognizing when one community problem is intertwined with another. She was happy to have more police in her community, but said that from the Health Department to Code Enforcement, more needs to be done.<\/p>\n
ABC13 reached out to HPD to ask if they are continuing with the increase in patrols, but they did not respond.<\/p>\n
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