Friends,

Public Safety remains my number one priority. Everyone must feel safe and secure when going to and from their home during their daily routine. To improve safety, enforcement, and response times, I created the District J Patrol. This modern approach to community policing utilizes specialized HPD officers to answer resident reports made to districtjpatrol.com. Any non-emergency crime or violation can be reported to the website and HPD officers will respond and update the website with status of submission. 
We know that HPD is spread thin and will prioritize high crimes first like assault, rape, and murder. But the smaller neighborhood crimes and violations like junk motor vehicles, homeless encampments, or a nuisance property need attention as well. The District J Patrol focuses solely on these quality of life crimes, and keep patrol presence in our communities. The entire initiative is paid for with your tax dollars through my District J council office, and we are the only district in the entire city to have such a patrol. 

We are excited to announce that the District J Patrol continues to expand, and we currently have a fleet of five Polaris vehicles specifically used by the District J Patrol. The Polaris is an on-road/off-road vehicle that is fully equipped like a traditional police vehicle with lights, sirens, radio, intercom, and GPS. The Polaris also has a bicycle rack, all terrain tires, and pickup truck style trunk for hauling items. It can easily get in and around apartment complexes, bayous/trails, into vacant lots, and speed of 60 mph on the street. What I like most about the Polaris, other than its unique sleek style, is that it is open-concept, which allows residents and officers a more inviting and accessible way to communicate. You may see them at our community events throughout the year including neighborhood meetings, which helps strengthen relationships between the community and law enforcement.

I encourage you all to visitwww.DistrictJPatrol.com and see how it works. During my first term we have received thousands of submissions and I’d like your feedback on what you think about this program. Although it is only for District J residents, I believe this could be a model for a city wide initiative in the future.

Together we will!

Edward Pollard