Will HPD's loss of personnel affect safety at area parks?

07:30 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 29, 2004

By Carolyn Campbell / 11 News

KHOU-TV Having fewer patrol officers is a great concern, especially for some female joggers.

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With more Houston police officers retiring, the department is trying do the same job with fewer people to make sure Houstonians are protected.

One idea is to take some patrol officers from Memorial and Hermann Parks and put them on the streets.

What will this mean for police protection in the park?

Joggers like to see them no matter what time of day it is. Police patrols make the thousands of runners in Memorial Park feel safe.

Next week, there will be fewer patrols assigned there from the Special Operations Division.

"Due to the recent retirements and loss of personnel, we obviously have to look at how we allocate our resources, and how we can use them more effectively," says Capt. Mary Lentschke of HPD.

Having fewer patrol officers is a great concern, especially for some female joggers.

"This isn't the best time of day to come out -- when it's bright and sunny. I'd like to come out at night, but if they're going to be cutting back on law enforcement out here, and patrolling and protecting us, then coming out past 7 is not an option," says jogger Alexis Luce.

"We would love to come between 7 and 9, but we can't take that chance," jogger Marie Luce says.

But Capt. Lentschke says there's no need for joggers to change their plans.

"The numbers may change, but we will have police visibility out here every single day. The difference will be in the type of allocation. We will add mounted, we will add some bike officers, and so we'll have a little bit more visibility in those aspects, rather than just the patrol cars," she says.

Capt. Lentschke is losing about 50 of her 200 officers to retirement, but that's happening throughout the police department. As hundreds of officers retire, they have to shift manpower.

Police say that this is all to make sure that officers are there when citizens call.