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A call for more police protection has been answered in the Westchase District.

KHOU - TV

Turning to off-duty officers to beef up security in one Houston area

The help is not coming from the Houston Police Department, but rather from a whole new police force.

That force is made up of real life off-duty police officers.

Kenny Smith is an HPD sergeant.

He like other officers is working off-duty for the Westchase Business District.

Not everyone even heard of Westchase, but 25,000 people live here and 55,000 others work here.

It’s an upscale, rapidly growing part of the city and the 2,000 businesses here want more in the way of security than HPD could give.

So, they’ve hired their own.

What people can’t see driving down Westheimer are all the cops, real cops, with badges and guns, who are working inside banks and department stores, hotels and nightclubs.

It’s part of an increasing privatization of policing.

“There’s probably one hundred additional police officers or their equivalents working in the district at any one time,” said Jim Murphy.

By comparison, said Murphy, HPD might have 15 cops out there.

At the Western Ridge Apartments, Kim Dillehay said if she had to kick out a tenant and was worried he’d return, she’d call Westchase.

“And he’d send someone over. They’d not consider that an emergency,” said Dillehay.

Personal policing, you might call it.

For now, though, Kenny Smith  is looking on roof tops and checking chimneys.