Over the weekend, authorities made at least 40 arrests and performed more than 200 traffic stops in Houston’s Washington Avenue Corridor in an attempt to combat crime.
At a press conference on Friday, Houston Police Department Chief Noe Diaz stated, “We want people to come to the Washington Corridor, but we want them to be safe, have fun, be responsible, and maybe choose a rideshare if they can.”
According to Erica Ramirez, a Houston Police Department spokesperson, during the weekend initiative, officers from the department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, METRO Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety conducted 235 traffic stops, recovered nine firearms, made 48 arrests, and engaged in three pursuits.
Those detained in the Washington Avenue area on Friday and Saturday were charged with 51 offenses, including 10 misdemeanor warrant arrests, 24 DWIs, two fleeing arrest charges, and 10 careless driving charges.
This year, Harris County police have arrested over 300 people for racing and reckless driving. According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, 17 of those arrests had fatal outcomes.
Because speed and racing were factors, seventeen families will never be the same, so this government and the leadership up here are working together to try to change that, Gonzalez said.
The Washington Corridor patrolling project will be the first of many to target high-crime locations in the city, agency executives stated in a joint press briefing.
In an attempt to lessen police pursuits, Houston Mayor John Whitmire stated that municipal officials have discussed sharing resources including helicopters with the Department of Public Safety.
He added that throughout the weekend’s crime sweep on Washington Avenue, police searched for any kind of infraction that the public would encounter.
Whitmire stated, “I sincerely hope, and I will, to persuade the club owners to remove their scantily clad young ladies from the streets of Washington.” It all comes down to safety and quality of life. Feeling safe is just as important as being safe.
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