More than a dozen people were killed in violence this past weekend in the Houston area, so first responders and common sense were celebrated by Houston officials at the kickoff the March On Crime campaign.
For statistical comparison: shootings in Chicago, a city thought of as high in crime, totaled nine this past weekend.
Houston's mayor, DA, police chief and others gathered for a news conference on Monday morning to emphasize anti-crime efforts.
Mayor John Whitmire identified "underage" access to guns as a major, unaddressed problem.
"Parents, know when your child has possession of a firearm in their backpack. It's all preventable and it's only going to be done with communication."
And "where we are in society right now, a fist fight leads to a shootout," and two often young people are involved, he added.
But the mayor was equally concerned about cheap bail that's been increasingly given to violent criminals.
"We have a long list of violent offenders, murderers and even capitol murderers, charged with a crime, who get very low bond.
"In my 30 years in criminal justice, that's unheard of that a capitol murder defendant, charged, gets a low bond, [then go] out on the streets."
District Attorney Sean Teare thanked officers and Mayor Whitmire for "the re-emphasis on public safety," and for "empowering" Police Chief J. Noe Diaz by getting recruiting classes going, by "getting the academy up and running the way it is."
"We are marching against crime every single day," he added.