Crime: Jan 1 - March 27, 2012

I realized today that it's been a long time since I've attempted to synthesize online crime records as they apply to Centerpointe, so I thought I'd do that now.

Here is the screengrab from Crime Reports showing their compilation of recorded incidents so far this calendar year:

Just one incidence of a reported crime, that being family violence ("A"), inside the neighborhood.

One of the theft cases at the nearby apartment complex (lower right corner of screengrab) is noteworthy because it was described as theft of a brass backflow preventer.  Thieves often sell those as scrap metal for cash.

I'm not sure that all of the local police reports are making it onto this website referenced above, however.  If I check with local police blotter reports, I sometimes find additional stuff, such as the following...

Reported for January 8, 2012.
Sounds like it could be an interpersonal dispute.

...and the following:

Reported for March 19, 2012.
The exact site is not stated, but it could very well be the new Shell gas station being constructed at 1114 W. League City Parkway.  There's not much in that block that it could be, given the level of development in that area.  And construction sites tend to attract crime because they are unstaffed after dark and because they often have valuable stuff such as copper pipe and water heaters lying around untended. 

I don't routinely check published blotters in detail.  I just happened to notice those two entries. 

So it's worth noting that there were two metal thefts in our immediate surroundings recently.  This is something that most private residential owners have not historically had to worry about: theft of copper in particular from air conditioner units.  Homeowners have not had to worry about it, but there have been numerous high-profile cases of larger systems being ransacked, such as this one.  That article reports that Houston Police Department handles about 40 air conditioner theft cases per month. 

Anyway, as always, keep an eye out for persons who might be appearing where they ought not to be, especially if they happen to be loitering near an a/c compressor or hose bib.

UPDATED March 28, 2012:  After I finished writing this yesterday, I remembered the back-flow device for the neighborhood irrigation system, the one that was stolen from near the junction box at the intersection of Centerpointe and Willow Pointe.  This was described in the neighborhood newsletter of February 21, 2012, and was yet another event that also did not make it onto the Crime Reports website that I typically access.  Apparently it was hundreds of dollars out of our pockets to replace this thing.

I went back to double-check the other backflow listing and sure enough, that was reported as a separate incident with a separate address:

From Crime Reports website.

As they say, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.  Clearly, someone in the very immediate area is intent on stealing metal fixtures.  Keep your eyes wide open.