HOUSTON -- There’s no doubt we all worry about crime these days. And we all want our families to be safe and protected.

The question is: at what cost?

That’s what the11 News Defenders discovered some Houstonians asking themselves that lately, because they’ve been visited by HPD’s Crime Reduction Unit.

The CRU as it’s known, is a $5 million a year, 60 officer elite squad, sent to the city’s high crime areas. The idea? Blanket those hot spots with a strong police presence, and it will scare the bad guys away.

But some community leaders and even HPD officers themselves say the CRU has gone off track, often stopping citizens left and right for petty things like jaywalking or riding a bicycle without a light.

Why? It’s a chance to search them.

In fact, Investigative Reporter Jeremy Rogalski has found instead of targeting major criminals, this elite police squad is mainly making minor narcotics possession cases that result in little jail time.

What’s more, internal HPD e-mails indicate some CRU officers feel pressured to keep their “numbers up” and are simply focusing on making arrests, sometimes any arrests, and sometimes doing anything to make them stick.

And all of this, is often at the expense of the citizens they’re supposed to protect.

Maybe that’s why one criminal law expert says CRU-type policing is so “very dangerous”.

Hard to believe? See the 11 News Defenders Investigation Tonight at Ten.