“The Woodlands is safe. As opposed to murders and rapes, crimes of opportunity are the most frequent here, but even then there are things residents can do about it,” said The Woodlands Township Director of Law Enforcement Marian Leck.
The “crimes of opportunity” Leck refers to include The Woodlands’ most frequent crime, burglary of a motor vehicle and burglary of a habitation.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports there was only one reported homicide for all of 2010 and none in 2009. There was one homicide in 2011, as of November.
There were 38 reports of aggravated assault in 2011 and 38 reports of sexual assault. There were 28 aggravated assaults reported in 2011 and 26 sexual assaults reported in 2010. With a population of 97,000, the likelihood of being murdered in The Woodlands in 2010 or 2011 was around 0.00001 of a percent, while the odds of being sexually assaulted was around 0.00031 of a percent.
“One sexual assault or murder is, of course, one too many,” said Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Community Liaison Sgt. Paul Cassidy.
The Woodlands is not incorporated and as such does not file Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) with the FBI. Nonetheless, it appears to be on par with comparable communities when it comes to frequency of major crimes.
Amy Lecocq, president of the Indian Springs Village Association, serves on The Woodlands Township Law Enforcement Advisory Committee. Lecocq is married, has two sons and has lived in The Woodlands for 18 years. She is a former federal prosecutor and thus says she knows a little bit about crime.
“We do not feel any panic over crime. We feel safe. Part of the reason is we are vigilant and have good communication with our liaison from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s department,” she said.
She said deputies assigned as liaisons to the local villages deliver reports to the association boards at their monthly meetings and alert them to any concerns.
Residents can also sign up on The Woodlands Township website to receive text or email alerts to keep them informed of a dangerous situation or criminal activities. Lecocq said knowing they will be alerted helps reassure residents.
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