West University Place and Friendswood are among the top ten safest cities in Texas.
According to FBI crime stats compiled by the National Council for Home Safety and Security, West U. ranked 10th with just nine incidents of violent crime last year. Police Sgt. Joe Klinkovsky says the upscale Houston enclave is relatively shielded from the city at-large.
“A lot of it has to do with the communication between law enforcement and the community,” he says. “Of course it's always good to have a low crime rate in this area, but that doesn't mean the community can let their guard down.”
By comparison, Bellaire ranked 39th and Sugar Land was 43rd on the list. However, West U's income level does attract a certain type of thief with 133 property crimes for a city of less than 16,000.
“One of the more common crimes is property crime, in most cases the burglary of a motor vehicle,” says Klinkovsky. “And most of those tend to be vehicles that are left unlocked with valuable property inside.”
Klinkovsky says the police force may be small, but that it doesn't mean officers are sitting idle.
“Whether we're making an arrest for drug-related charges or warrants, we find people coming through the city with extensive criminal histories in most cases have committed crimes where they should have been placed in prison or jail.”