HOPE -- The Hope Police Department is ramping up its efforts to combat increased crime during the summer, in the form of a new Street Crimes Unit.
Announced several days after the death of a man found unconscious in his apartment in June, the new unit consists of three, two-man teams that patrol the city for four extra hours on nights that are predicted to yield high crime.
Hope Police Chief J.R. Wilson hailed the first operation in late June as a success. It resulted in three felony arrests and two misdemeanor arrests.
"In the summertime, we tend to get more calls," Wilson said. "There are more people out late at night and more disturbances."
Police Lt. Jimmy Courtney of the Criminal Investigative Division suggested the new initiative to "help curtail ongoing problems perceived by our citizens," according to a department news release.
Wilson clarified that such problems refer to groups of people that gather on the streets. The department is then dispatched to determine if criminal activity is taking place.
Funding for the new initiative comes from the department's annual budget. Wilson said there was enough money saved up to pay the officers overtime for their work. The total cost for a night's surveillance is about $1,000.
Residents in the town of just more than 10,000 said the cost is well worth the extra protection.
Michelle Hunt, who owns a fashion boutique in downtown Hope, said she thinks extra police presence will help.
Hunt, 51, said she stopped opening her shop on Mondays because the downtown area was too vacant at the beginning of the week, and she didn't feel safe being alone there.
"It gets worse here every day, just like it does everywhere else," Hunt said. "There are drugs, people have stolen things here, there are murders. These things happen everywhere, but you don't expect to see it in a small town."
Wilson said Hope's crime rates are average among towns its size and have remained about the same for 20 years.
In 2012, 96 violent crimes, such as rape and assault, took place in Hope, according to FBI statistics. Theft was the most common reason for arrest.
A Texarkana, Texas, man was arrested in the June killing of Roger A. Hall, 36, in his Hope apartment. No arrests have been made in the July 2 killing of Gary Tuberville, 57, at a Hope residence.
Micheal Green, 28, a resident of Hope, said he thinks the crimes have become more violent and more frequent.
Green, a server at a downtown restaurant, said Hope is a good city for the Street Crimes Unit.
"It's smaller here, and you've got to start somewhere. There's still less crime than in a big city."
State Desk on 07/15/2014