Woodlands mostly safe, but officials warn of 'crimes of opportunity'

Montgomery County Sheriff's Department Bike Patrol deputies David Haines and Chris Roberts call in a suspicious vehicle license as they ride a patrol on one of the bike paths in The Woodlands. The bike patrols have started more patrols into residential neighborhoods following recent assaults on the bike paths. Photo by David Hopper. less Montgomery County Sheriff's Department Bike Patrol deputies David Haines and Chris Roberts call in a suspicious vehicle license as they ride a patrol on one of the bike paths in The Woodlands. The bike patrols ... more Photo: David Hopper, Freelance Photo: David Hopper, Freelance Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Woodlands mostly safe, but officials warn of 'crimes of opportunity' 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Residents of The Woodlands enjoy life in a relatively safe environment, but authorities are still urging people to be wary of what one official calls "crimes of opportunity," especially heading into the holiday season.

Montgomery County sheriff's officials report assaults showed a significant drop during the third quarter of the year and burglaries also declined but that burglaries of motor vehicles were up 16 percent to 133 total reports. And, according to sheriff's officials 61 percent of those reports involved vehicles that were unlocked, or what Montgomery County sheriff's Capt. Allison Allen termed "unforced entry," or simply somebody leaving valuables in plain view.

Marian Leck, The Woodlands director of law enforcement services, who has worked for the township for nearly 30 years, agreed with Allen's assessment.

"Many of the crimes that are committed in The Woodlands are crimes of opportunity," Leck said, pointing out that they're often burglaries from a car or a home, not necessarily directly against a person.

Indeed, in Allen's report in late October, she told members of the township Board of Directors that 61 percent of the motor vehicle burglaries during the quarter involved "unforced entry" and the burglaries were frequently of cars parked at businesses or malls.

"The majority of burglaries are burglaries of a vehicle," Allen said in October. "The majority of the thefts are, a lot of those are shoplifting calls from the mall."

Leck, like Allen, urges residents to take basic precautions to protect their valuables, such as locking your car.

"Don't leave stuff in your car," Leck said. "That's been a thorn in our side for years. All the bad guy has to do is go car-to-car."

As for home burglaries, Allen reported that category declined slightly during the third quarter, from 39 the previous quarter to 38. Leck says alert residents can help prevent being victimized by burglars by doing simple things like locking home doors and windows, installing alarms and calling to report suspicious cars or individuals.

"Many of the burglaries happen during the day," Leck said. "They [burglars] don't want you to be home. They want easy in and out."

As for more serious crimes, officials reported that except for family violence incidents, The Woodlands is fortunate to have little violent crime. There have been no homicides in the township this year and assaults were down 17 percent, to 78 total reports for the quarter. Of those, sheriff's officials say most involved family violence.

"Of those [reports], 72 percent were family violence cases which we, as law enforcement, have little to no impact on," Allen said in an email response to questions from The Villager.

Officials noted that burglars and others that take part in some sort of criminal activity in The Woodlands are frequently outsiders who take advantage of the easy access into the township.

Allen, acknowledging she didn't have exact numbers, notes a significant amount of criminal activity in the township is generated by people from outside the area.

"I can't put an exact percentage on it, but from the cases I see and the major arrests we're making are, yes, the majority are coming from outside," Allen told the board last month.

"We have people who come up the freeway, we have people who come in from [FM] 1488, people who come in from [FM] 2978," she said. "We have these access points that people know about and they come in and they split."