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In light of the increased violence and crime in Houston, members of the city's MacGregor Park Super Neighborhood hosted a news conference to emphasize the need for anti-crime efforts from city, county, and state officials.
According to Click2Houston, the year-to-year trend for Houston homicides was up 54%, as of Feb. 7. Chicago was the only city ahead of Houston for homicides so far this year. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner declared the violent crime across his city a "public health crisis," according to reports from a recent City Hall news conference.
Turner, Texas State Sen. Borris Miles, Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner, and Andy Kahan from Crime Stoppers attended the news conference.
"It's time that community members are first," Tomaro Bell, chairman of the MacGregor Super Neighborhood group, said at the conference. "The businesses are important and we want to feel like a first-class city. But, we don't ever want anyone to come into this community, or any community in Houston, causing problems by not being a good neighbor." Bell continued, "This violence is out of control, but it is not a new problem. This is a problem we’ve had, and we’re tired of it.”
Violent crime and homicide rates have risen drastically in Houston, according to ABC13. Residents of the area have noticed this and no longer feel safe.
According to Twitter, the members of Houston's MacGregor Park Super Neighborhood asked four things from officials; they want the city to: suspend occupancy permits to bars, clubs, and convenience [stores] immediately following a violent offense, until an investigation is completed; deny occupancy permits to bars and clubs that heavily rely on shared parking; adopt a zero-tolerance policy to violations to the city noise ordinance; and ask the legislature to order the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to end the practice of liquor license agreements for locations in perpetuity, so they can’t be passed along.
“We have got to get our city, our county, and our state officials behind us," Bell said during the conference. She said that she and her neighbors feel abused and neglected, and she believes ”this is something that we as citizens can do something about.”