The bottom line - Get involved.

It would be civically irresponsible of me as a local citizen, if I did not address the ongoing issue of crime in Baytown and surrounding areas.

For some time I’ve read the daily postings on the city of Baytown Police webpage concerning crime reports and as I’ve repeatedly stated, crime is escalating, not just in frequency, but in nature. Criminals are getting bolder and more violent and we hard-working, bread and butter Baytonians are afraid we will be the next victim.

I don’t like this feeling. I don’t like worrying if my car is going to be there when I come out of a store. I don’t want to have to warn my wife about crime every time she leaves the house.

The recent letter to the Baytown Sun concerning a fight at the Barracuda night club, formerly Tiki Bay, has set off a maelstrom of citizen demands for city officials and the police department to “do something”. Once again we Baytonians are up in arms over crime, but I fear emotion is pushing this particular wave and if – something concrete doesn’t come out of all the hoopla, things will fall right back to the former state of every man for themselves we have always enjoyed.

A group of concerned citizens are calling a meeting of all interested citizens to the El Toro’s off of Garth Road in the back room at 7pm, Monday, the 6th of August – tomorrow night. Identify yourself as a Concerned Citizen when you enter.

Email Kimber at this address: kimber45elite@yahoo.com to reserve a seat no later than Monday morning. Write down specific ideas and suggestions for consideration. Do NOT come with a bunch of gripes about the city, the police department or personal beefs, as we want to figure out a way we can all band together to make our city safer INSIDE the law.

The meeting will be conducted in an orderly fashion, or there won’t be another one. We are looking for constructive solutions and there are bound to be some growing pains. Here is an example of ideas I want to address:

1. The Baytown Police Department Crime Reports need to be archived for future reference instead of being wiped clean after seven days.
2. Return the municipal warrants listing to the police website
3. Expand crime report data on the Police web site. I do not believe we are getting a complete listing each day.
4. Neighborhood Watch programs being reestablished.
5. Crime Prevention department coordination meetings.
6. Track crime through daily reports in Excel – need dedicated qualified volunteer.
7. City website postings by City Council on crime progress in their districts.

On www.OurBaytown.com I’ve once again posted the Baytown Crime Initiative to allow citizens to print a form they can mail or hand deliver to Businesses asking for better lighting and security in parking lots. I’ve also listed Baytown’s most wanted criminals on the front page to facilitate viewing.

I guess I’m as guilty of bashing our city council for what they don’t do, as anyone, but here’s something to ponder – they do not get paid for the position. They run for office, but are not monetarily compensated. They have a lot on their plates beside the crime issue – a lot. City planning and recreational facilities are also very important and I think they deserve a hand more often than a slap in the face.

The bottom line is this city needs participants to get it back on track both security wise and appearance wise. It needs you and me. It needs folks to visit each other on Neighbors Night Out and get acquainted. It needs hometown folks to step outside their own homes and places of business and ask themselves “What can I do to make this a better place to live, shop and raise children?”

And finally, our city needs people to slow down and look around. If you see or hear something that looks wrong, call the police and let them do their jobs.