With what could be another scorching summer season just over the horizon, most of the public looks forward to the end of the school year, summer holidays, sunny days spent at the beach, and long leisurely vacations.  For many police departments across the country, however, the rising temperatures often lead to an increase in violence, property crimes, auto thefts, and traffic accidents.  With that in mind, the Corpus Christi Police Department today announced its first ever Summer Crime Initiative, dubbed “Operation Safe Summer”, a program designed to keep crime numbers from rising along with the thermometer.

Virtually every division of the Corpus Christi Police Department will take part in the initiative. Enlisting the help of several city departments and numerous local law enforcement agencies, the focus of the initiative will be on disrupting any of the three elements of the “crime triangle” ,while at the same time seeking to increase community engagement.

Beginning on Friday May 25^th, Memorial Day weekend, and ending Labor Day, Monday September 3^rd, the Operation Safe Summer will target juvenile crime, burglary, auto burglary, auto theft, graffiti, gang crimes, and traffic safety.  The program relies on the identification of “Hot Spots” of increased crime, identified through timely intelligence and crime analysis, followed immediately by the rapid deployment of all available resources to suppress the crime, and verified by relentless follow-up to ensure the problem has been resolved.

Among the strategies designed to reduce juvenile crime, patrol officers will adopt a zero tolerance policy for curfew violators, while working in close cooperation with the Juvenile Assessment Center. The Narcotics/Vice Division will combat underage drinking by identifying and raiding minor parties, and conduct “stings” to reduce the number of establishments furnishing alcohol to minors.

Auto Theft Task Force Detectives will deploy the “bait” vehicle in those areas identified as having high levels of auto thefts and auto burglaries, while patrol officers will employ saturation patrol and conduct driver license checkpoints in those same areas to deter crime.  Criminal Investigation Detectives, Crime Analysts, and Uniform Officers will work closely together and with Adult Probation and Parole and Juvenile Probation to identify repeat offenders and apprehend absconders.

Gang Unit officers will continue to target the most active gangs and gang members for enhanced enforcement efforts.  Additionally, Gang Unit officers will work alongside Narcotics/Vice Investigators and TABC Enforcement Officers to conduct bar inspections at those locations where gang members congregate.

Traffic Division officers will continue to focus on the Enhanced Traffic Initiative citywide, targeting speeders on the city’s freeway system at all hours of the day.  Additional targets include reducing late night “racing’ on Ocean Drive, increased DWI enforcement, Insurance checkpoints, and participation in the statewide “Click it or Ticket” campaign.

These are just a few of the strategies that officers will employ to ensure that as temperatures go up, crime stats do not rise along with them. Another very key component to “Operation Safe Summer” is increasing community involvement, especially in those neighborhoods traditionally hit hardest by crime.  One of the methods the department will use to gauge attitudes about crime is the use of Community Engagement Forms.  Officers will “fan” out in targeted neighborhoods, asking residents to complete the Community Engagement Form, which asks a simple series of questions about neighborhood crime, code issues, etc.  At the same time, the department hopes to collect phone numbers and e-mail addresses in order to form neighborhood crime watches or to publicize future neighborhood meetings, warn residents of significant crime trends, or offer crime prevention tips.

Citizens are encouraged to follow the CCPD on Twitter, FaceBook, and CCPD Blotter.com.  Emergency notifications such as major traffic wrecks, robberies, weather hazards, road closings, etc. are distributed to the community through Citizen Observer.  Anyone interested in researching the crime trends in their neighborhood can do so by logging onto CrimeReports.com.  Citizens can assist with this Corpus Christi Police Department Initiative by providing crime tips to Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS, or logging onto www.888TIPS.com. For those with iPhones or smartphones with Android Operating Systems, Crime Stoppers now offers a free TipSubmit mobile phone application. With this app, users can text anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers using their mobile phone.  Of course, in the case of an emergency, citizens should call 911.

The goal of the Summer Crime Initiative is foremost to reduce crime, reduce the fear of crime, and enhance public safety, but just as important is to refocus our efforts in addressing overall quality of life issues within our community.  Working together with our local and state partners we can all have an enhanced positive impact not only on crime, but also on a variety of issues that impact our community.

Partner Agencies

—  Texas Department of Public Safety

—  Nueces County Sheriff’s Office

—  Nueces County Community Supervision & Corrections Department

—  Texas Department of Criminal Justice Parole Division

—  Nueces County Juvenile Justice Center

—  Corpus Christi Independent School District Police Department

—  Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission

—  District Attorney’s Office

—  Corpus Christi Juvenile Assessment Center

—  Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department