HOUSTON – A vacant commercial property near downtown on Houston’s east side has become a magnet for crime. The building on Harrisburg near 65th Street has been continually damaged by thieves, vandals and members of Houston’s homeless population.
“It was a mess,” said Jim Carroll, who was hired by the property owner to help keep watch over the building.
Inside the 24,000-square-foot building, we saw piles of dirty clothes, human feces, lighters, syringes, old food and all manner of trash. Holes were punched in the walls and ceiling, white paint covered up graffiti on the walls, the electrical system had been stripped and two large air conditioning units on the roof had been gutted by thieves looking for scrap metal to sell. Even the sewer grates in the parking lot had been taken.
Carroll said the owners have spent at least $12,000 just to replace shattered windows. There are padlocks and chains on the doors, and no trespassing signs posted at several points.
“I mean what do you do, what else can they do? I mean they secure as best they can, they put chain locks on the doors,” said Carroll. “They replace the glass.”
Carroll said he calls police whenever he sees people inside the building; he even caught one person pitching a tent near the front entrance. Houston police records shows officers made 55 calls for service at that address in the last six months. The Precinct 6 Constable’s Office also covers this area and reported 45 calls for service in 2023.
“It’s a tough situation, there’s no way around it, but again we’re not going to stop. We’re going to do everything we can, we’re going to keep trying to come up with other ideas,” said Sgt. Brian Alms with HPD’s Differential Response Unit.
Alms and Lt. Simel Maldonado with the Precinct 6 Constable’s Office said it’s going to take consistent enforcement to bring the problem under control. Alms said many of those caught on the property are suffering from mental illness and HPD tries to connect those people with services to help get them off the streets.
“Some people take it and some people don’t,” Alms said.
Carroll said both HPD and Precinct 6 have made several arrests for trespassing, but many of those arrested come right back to the property. Carroll said he’s been told by officers it’s difficult for police to file stronger charges unless someone witnesses them committing other crimes on the property.
“HPD took a guy out of here one night that we caught in here three times, and he walked out with this attitude, ‘man, it’s just a trespassing charge, I’ll be out tomorrow,’” said Carroll.
Alms said there is no quick solution to this problem, especially since manpower is an issue. Both HPD and Precinct 6 assign extra patrols to check the area when they can spare the manpower.
“We’re going to try to think outside the box, we’re going to try to get creative with some things,” said Alms. “If we have to come out here every single day and clear these people out, we’ll do it.”