Robberies on the rise in downtown Houston

(10/16/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- Criminals are targeting people in downtown Houston. One crime in particular is keeping police busy.

We found that downtown is certainly safer than most parts of the city. Of course, the dynamics there are different than in most other areas. That explains not only the types of crimes police are dealing with, but the time of day when criminals are most likely to strike.

Downtown Houston attracts three kinds of people -- the 150,000 or so who come to work here every day during the week...

"I've worked down here for 15 years and haven't had any problems," said Terry Glasscock.

Then there are the 3,800 residents who live here, and those who visit the local bars and restaurants at night.

Downtown worker Chris Ripoll said, "Overall I would consider Houston a lot safer than most cities."

But there may be cause for concern. Just ask Ellen Thomson.

She said, "I've had more people approach me, maybe come up asking for money or assistance. It seems like that's happening more often."

We put our exclusive Crime Tracker to work for a closer look at what's happening with violent crime in downtown Houston. We uncovered what appears to be a trend in the number of robberies. They're up nearly 40%, comparing the first eight months of 2005 with the same time period in 2006. Rapes were flat year to year at four. Murders are down. So are aggravated assaults. They're down by 12%.

Overall, violent crime is up 4%. Of the 138 reported violent crimes, 93 of them happened between 7pm and 7am.

Houston police tell us they're looking at ways to combat the increase in crime. People we spoke with say there's an obvious solution.

"I suppose a bigger police presence would be the most visible thing," said Houstonian Cindy Adams.

We'll be using our Crime Tracker to keep an eye on crime in downtown Houston and in other areas of the city.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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