Historical data dating back to 1993 shows a steady increase in population with a steady decrease in Part 1 crime, which includes homicides, sexual assaults, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, thefts and auto thefts.
“I don’t think there’s any magic bullet,” Sugar Land Police Chief Doug Brinkley said. “We try to increase our visibility in the communities and neighborhoods, but it really does get back to the partnerships between law enforcement [and] the community.”
Increasing technology efforts
In recent years the police department has begun using more technology, such as red-light cameras and license plate-recognition cameras to deter crime and catch drivers running red lights, Brinkley said.
“We have caught quite a few stolen vehicles; we have caught [people] involved in crimes,” he said. “We had a shooting at Town [Square] maybe six or seven months ago, and the license plate-recognition camera was instrumental in us identifying the shooter.”
A shooting and kidnapping situation also occurred in late February at First Colony Mall. Brinkley said this was the first shooting at the mall in roughly the last decade and that it was not a random occurrence. The suspects were known and narcotics were involved, he said.
Council Member Steve Porter said during the police department’s Feb. 20 presentation to City Council he is in favor of doing away with issuing warnings to drivers who run red lights and immediately issuing citations instead.
Porter also voiced concern over the home burglaries in SLPD’s Beat 1, which encompasses the north side of Sugar Land. Brinkley said the proximity to the city of Houston results in more crime in the area. In Sugar Land, 101 residential burglaries occurred in 2017—a decrease of 81 cases from 2016.
“You’ve got a few things going on in Beat 1,” Brinkley said. “I think last year we saw some increases in Barrington Place, but it’s on that peripheral of Houston as well, so it’s part of a major artery. By virtue of the cameras being out there, we catch people with the stolen cars, but also we have the home break-ins in that beat because it’s so close to the border.”
The SLPD has the city divided into six geographic areas, and within each area a crime prevention officer, a supervisor and two or three officers are on duty, Brinkley said.
“Sometimes there’s a little more or a little less,” he said. “It depends on the time of the day and the day of the week.”
Each year in August the police department conducts a workload assessment taking a look at all crimes that occurred in Sugar Land at certain times on certain days and then adjusts staffing accordingly, Brinkley said.
“We have seen Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays there’s more crime in the evening hours than at the same time of day on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday,” Brinkley said. “Our staffing is a little bit larger on those high-volume days.”
Looking ahead, police department officials plan to develop a cohesive parks security master plan; roll out online reporting for minor offenses; implement a citywide expansion of the crime prevention camera program; and maintain focus on residential burglaries, robberies and car break-ins, Brinkley said.
“From my perspective as the chief, things that we need to figure out or do in the future is look at or try to maintain [being] one of the safest cities in the state of Texas,” he said. “I think it’s going to be more of the same—more visibility, more work and partnership with the community, but also how we leverage technology going forward in the future.”
Examining local crime
Some notable statistics from the annual report include a 10 percent decrease in overall crime from 2016 to 2017, a 22 percent decrease in violent crime from 2016 to 2017, and a 9.5 percent decrease in property crime from 2016 to 2017.
“When we do have crime issues, we try to have a plan of action, and that’s different for every crime,” Brinkley said. “[We] look at those trends, look at the areas, the time of day and traffic areas, and then our response is based on the specific trend that we see throughout the year.”
Council Member Amy Mitchell, who said she was impressed overall by the police department’s data, noted the drop in clearance rates—or the number of crimes solved—in 2017 versus 2016.
“The clearance rate dropped, and I was surprised by that,” Mitchell said.
Several factors go into the clearance rate, Brinkley said. Criteria for clearance includes an arrest with a suspect in custody, the suspect died or is already in prison, or the crime did not occur.
According to data from the annual report, violent crime tends to have a much higher clearance rate than property crime or Part 1 crime. In 2017, 61.7 percent of violent crimes committed were cleared, whereas 27.8 percent of Part 1 crimes and 26.2 percent of property crimes were cleared.
Although all three categories saw a decrease in clearance rates compared to 2016, Part 1 and property crime clearance rates are consistently lower than violent crime clearance rates for the last five years.
“The solvability factors for violent crime is much higher,” Brinkley said. “Typically, if [you are robbed or assaulted], you get a description of a person. A camera may catch it, a bystander may catch it, and we may lock that person up. When you look at property crimes, that is so much lower because typically you don’t get any leads on those.”
Addressing annexation
With the annexation of Greatwood and New Territory that occurred in December, increasing the city’s population by nearly 30,000 to 117,869 residents, the police department added 21 new officers to its staff, Brinkley said.
Prior to annexation, the two communities were policed by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, and both communities used—and continue to use—outside contracted services for additional policing.
“We continue to have our contract constable service in addition to what the Sugar Land Police Department has provided,” said Michael Pincomb, New Territory Residential Community Association president. “Upon annexation, we saw an initial show of force, knowing that, that was just to get the residents to see we’re part of the city now.”
Jack Molho, Greatwood Homeowner Association president, said he has seen a substantial increase in police presence since annexation. While the community had no problems with the FBCSO policing the area, Molho—who has a 30-year law-enforcement background—said being under Sugar Land’s police department provides more resources, including increased manpower.
“The neighborhood loved the Fort Bend County deputies that we had, but we looked more into developing the same relationship with Sugar Land as well,” Molho said.
Molho and Pincomb both said their respective communities will re-evaluate the continuation of contracted services within the next year or two.
“I don’t think we necessarily feel safer, but we don’t feel any less safe,” Pincomb said. “We’re satisfied with the services. I think the residents wanted to take a wait-and-see [approach].”
