This is a nice profile of Precinct One Deputy Constable Joe Bowden, who is good at his job. His specialty is solving bike thefts, and I want to highlight this bit that shows him in action, and then share some thoughts on the other side.
That was likely how he solved Gail Wellenkamp’s case.
Wellenkamp had set out with a couple friends to MKT shopping plaza in Houston Heights on a Wednesday morning, and after eating lunch, the group returned to find her bike was missing. They checked with nearby store owners, and obtained security camera footage that showed the thief using a pair of bolt-cutters to cut the bike lock and riding off.
However, attempts to get the Houston Police Department to take action were fruitless. When the constable’s office called her to set up an interview, she had already considered the bike long gone and was just doing the legwork. The constable that night asked her to send the video and images of the thief to the police, but she couldn’t find a way.
“Everybody I knew thought it was a goner,” Wellenkamp said.
The next morning, Bowden texted Wellenkamp asking for pictures of the thief. Wellenkamp sent them, and Bowden immediately recognized the suspect. He had previously been arrested for bike theft and had just been released.
“So he said, ‘OK, I’m gonna get your bike back,’” Wellenkamp said. “I just didn’t believe it, but you know, I thought OK, we’ll give it a try.”
On Friday, a mere two days later, Wellenkamp was reunited with her bike. Bowden told her that her bike had passed through four different sets of hands before being found in Sugar Land. Bowden hadn’t communicated much with Wellenkamp throughout the process, but the results left her stunned.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said, laughing at the improbability. “I was shocked. I was totally shocked.”
Emphasis mine. There’s so much here that intersects with my earlier post about crime rates and reporting and perception. In no particular order:
– The inability to get HPD to respond to this crime is just baffling. This wasn’t some random one off, it was clearly done by someone who knows how to steal bikes and comes equipped to do it. Solving this one crime will likely mean solving dozens of others, and will also prevent future crimes, as the perpetrator is a repeat offender. And there’s video evidence! Just like Chief Finner wants! What exactly is HPD doing if it’s not responding to a report like this?
– This is why I am skeptical, after three decades plus of watching Mayoral candidates promise to tackle crime by hiring more police officers, that we are going to make any progress on crime. I don’t see any promises being made about increasing solve rates, or pouring existing and new resources into fighting the kind of crime that actually affects us. I am aware that a lot of this sort of thing happens out of our sight, or at least happens at a lower level of visibility. I don’t need to know, and honestly wouldn’t pay close enough attention to, detailed plans about how HPD will deploy its personnel. But I would like to hear, loudly and consistently, that solving crimes, especially property crimes, is a top priority and that the administration in power and its appointed police chief and associated leadership will be held accountable to it.
– Along those same lines, the plan to bring in DPS troopers, for which we are reassured they will be responsive to HPD leadership and will do more than pull over drivers of color for minor violations. What is the goal of doing this? Is there a metric we can track to tell us that they are meeting some stated goal? What about the HPD officers who will presumably be redeployed to higher-value work now that DPS is here to do their grunt work? What are their goals and how will we know that they are meeting them? As skeptical as I am of this entire endeavor, having that would go a long way towards easing my concerns.
– Putting all that aside, what an interesting example this is of one law enforcement agency stepping up where another couldn’t or wouldn’t. Was this by design – that is, did the Precinct One Constable see a need and fill it? Or was this a happy accident? Either way, what can be done to replicate this example elsewhere in the city and the county? This is something we want, right? It’s something that Mayors from at least Parker to now Whitmire have campaigned on. Here it is in action. What are we doing to build on it?
I’ve always found the Constable, wherever I’ve lived, to be more effective. They build ties to the community.
Really, Greg, they don’t patrol neighborhoods in Houston unless you pay them, with some exceptions. Come election time, they may be seen more often in some areas.
I share the anger about HPD inaction in this bike theft case. My bike was stolen at college during my first night in Houston. It was devastating to me, it was my only possession of any value. I guess bike thieves wait like predators for the new crop of students. There is a homeless guy in my neighborhood, 30s and seemingly able-bodied, whom I see cycling between different homeless hangouts. He is riding a different bicycle every time. I have thought about trying to report this guy, it is obvious now that the cops would do nothing. The other day I saw a driver run a red light with a police car right behind him, and waited for the cop to light him up and go after him. Nothing happened. The police car stopped at the light, and sat there. I don’t know what to think about HPD.
I got stopped by a state trooper because I didn’t use my turn signal after using the passing lane on a freeway. Is this a stop for a minor infraction?
Here’s some insanity:
https://youtu.be/6qaXS-jPcLA?si=3DEvq8Sxig5DPcyc
Yes this should be of the theft of a vehicle from a delivery driver, not the band Genisis
Mr. Kuffner, the contents of this post would make an excellent presentation to a City Council meeting with Whitmire present. I am beginning to understand Hizzoner better, he doesn’t have to keep any promises made to Democrats because he didn’t make any, and he doesn’t have to keep any promises to Republicans because he claims to be a Democrat. The Law-N-Order stuff he made a big deal of, well we will see. I consider that it was election smoke that will simply dissipate.
This is interesting. Yes, HPD has an abysmally slow response time, and a terrible clearance rate. The constables will respond faster, which I find odd, because, everywhere else I’ve lived, the constables have arrest authority, but, they aren’t out patrolling or enforcing traffic laws. They are mainly agents of the courts, serving subpoenas, summonses, making arrests for warrants, sometimes transporting defendants who are in custody.
For as much as Bike Houston pushes for bike lanes, it doesn’t do anything to advocate for enforcement of property laws against bikes/cyclists. HPD isn’t going to bother investigating a bicycle theft. I ride to work and park my bicycle in a bad neighborhood, called TMC, I’ve had lights, a pannier, and a frame pump stolen, at great cost, but nobody really cares. Fortunately, not the bike, which is a battered old Fuji, a great bike, but not high dollar due to being old and not a collectible, I’ve probably put about 19,000 miles on it since I’ve owned it.
2022 – 249,912 crimes reported to HPD
Like they used to do, get caught stealing and cut off the hand. Get caught again, cut off the other hand. Do it a third time and off with the head. Adultery off with the head.
Drugs, we could do as;
On 30 November 1989, in an attempt to bring a complete stop to drug and opium abuse in Singapore, the government passed a bill to extend the death penalty to cocaine, cannabis and opium traffickers including manufacturers, importers and exporters.26 Twenty years later, opium addiction has been reported to be prevalent only among the very old, who receive continuing assistance by healthcare professionals.27
?…hmmm… what is the penalty for getting into the kid’s stash?
J, it is cheaper for the state to buy you a new bike than to take it to court and incarcerate the bike thief: family member, a good spanking;-)
My experience with constables is different. I lived in an apartment complex adjacent to a neighborhood. Their contract deputy spent hours sitting in his car watching the exit gates of the complex, pulling people over for one reason or another. This was what the homeowners paid him to do and there was always a reason according to the constable’s office, not limited to reports of suspicious vehicles with driver’s having too much melatonin.
The tickets handed out were for such things as cracked windshields, missing front plates, or various lights not bright enough, even tire tread not being good enough. I couldn’t help but wonder how such a program would go over in River Oaks. The deputies were doing what they were told to do so they would keep the contract. After I had moved into a neighborhood, the whole scam was explained to me. The constables didn’t have to take any call in the area because they were under contract, just so they could be free to give people scraping by a ticket and be told to stay out of the neighborhood that hired the deputy.
Constable Rosen’s media feeds are full of feel good stories as this is an election year, big surprise. HPD, HCSO, and the other policing agencies prioritize crimes against people while constables take care of the feel good stuff. None of them have great clearance rates but this deputy found a niche, isn’t held accountable for anything other than solving some bike theft cases, and pleases his boss. How many hours does it take for him to solve some of these crimes and what else is going on in the area being left for others to handle?
Are those caught going to do time when there aren’t enough jail beds for felony crooks? We all know the answer. HPD’s chief is wanting everyone to install cameras, as if his organization has enough people to review footage for whatever crimes they deem important. The new Mayor wants DPS to come in to help but they will boost their numbers with the low lying fruit, traffic tickets and easy to solve crimes just like they did in Austin. No wonder people don’t feel safe.
Not investigating bike theft is just bullshit. Most bikes are upwards of $1000 on the low end, and how is anyone going to file an insurance claim with no police report? At what level of value does theft of property become worth investigating? A purse taken from a vehicle in a jugging crime would be something the cops would investigate, even if it was ‘only’ $500. In no way is it a reasonable policy to blow off bike theft. I get the feeling that the reason bike theft is ignored is that it mostly happens to the young and the poor. The theft of a bike from a River Oaks garage would probably get an officer to respond.
J, Walmart, or Target have bikes for much less than $1,000. You can go to several places to file a report for insurance purposes, it can also be done online.
Twice, I reported a crime in progress, and the police were there and captured the perpetrators; they were breaking into a house.
https://www.houstontx.gov/police/online_report.htm
Manny, while your logic is certain typical of the reasoning behind failing to investigate bike theft it just doesn’t hold up. Cheap jewelry is available, so we shouldn’t bother with jewelry theft? No. Bike thieves are pros, they steal valuable bikes, that is how they make their living, and they are able to continue to spread misery and trouble in the community because it is supposedly not worth stopping them. I most strongly disagree. As for the police, my experience has not been very positive. At my college the campus cops were caught stealing cash that was entrusted to them, and they may have been the ones who stole my bike. HPD almost arrested me once after I reported a crime. I have learned to never have any interaction with the police, because they cannot be trusted.
J, your new mayor had a hand in that when they decided to stop incarcerating people as it was costing the state too much.
“The original state jail-related statutes of 1993 required judges ordering a state jail sentence to immediately suspend it and place the offender under community supervision (probation), although judges also could require defendants to serve a state jail term prior to probation. Probation violations would lead to further incarceration in a state jail. In 1995 and 1997, subsequent laws allowed for direct sentencing to a state jail facility and removed the requirement for mandatory probation.”
Arrest them and release them; that is what the police say, so why bother?
I am still pissed when they stole a ladder from my house. I understand the frustration.
https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2019/aug/jails.php