By Juan Montoya
Felipe got tired of reporting burglaries to his warehouse last year.
He holds both hands full of police officers' cards that they left when they came to take the report of yet another burglary at his business. There are more than 20 business cards. And he says he has another stack in his truck.
Now, upon learning that the latest crime reports for 2009 were being h
eralded as a 5 percent decrease, he steps outside the small downtown bar and spits on the ground.
"Well, they won't have to take my reports anymore," he said. "That alone probably accounts for the 5 percent."
Brownsville Police Department Chief Carlos Garcia said crime has been the lowest in 10 years in some categories during Tuesday presentation of the 2009 report.
"One would assume that with our nation undergoing difficult economic times the indexes of crimes would rise, that is not the case in the city of Brownsville," Garcia told a reporter from the local daily.
The report indicates that there were 10,232 crimes in 2009 compared to 10,772 in 2008, or 540 crimes less.
Aggravated assault and automobile theft were two of the crime categories that Garcia said were the lowest since 2000.
Crimes against women, like rape, remained the same, with 26 cases reported for both years.
What made Felipe laugh was the statistics presented for burglaries and thefts.
According to the report, robbery, burglary and theft also decreased, with 152 robberies in 2009 compared to 173 in 2008.
Burglaries, Garcia said, went down from 1,590 in 2009 to 1,576 in 2008.
Although murders went up from four to three, police say that in most cases this is a crime of passion, and little can be done to prevent it.
However, they will quickly take credit for the reported decrease in other categories.
"This (the decrease in crime) is the result of the hard work by the members of this department," Garcia said.
Felipe, a native of Coahuila, came to this country with a pocket full of dreams about making it in the United States and improving his and his family’s economic condition. He always had a sharp eye for an opportunity, and when he saw that large department stores like Target, Walmart, Dilliards, Marshalls, Old Navy, K-mart, etc., were selling pallets of slightly damaged merchandise and electronic appliances such as floor samples, he invested in the business.
Business was good for a while and he leased a warehouse by the railroad tracks on Lincoln St. just a block away from Guadalupe Church and set up shop. As he started selling his goods, he began to stock the warehouse and marketing his wares.
Through grassroots marketing and dedication, he quickly built up his business.
Over time, Felipe’s business flourished. He hired more people to help him pack, sort, label and store the goods. Sometimes he got a bonanza. Other times, he got a pallet full of junk.
However, since he was a good customer, the truck drivers hauling the goods would tell him which pallets seemed to have more value.
After a while, between 15 to 20 workers were helping Felipe at his warehouse and delivering goods to customers. A steady stream of clients – from this side and from Matamoros – filled his shop. He hired a technician to fix electronic items that had suffered some damage on the trip across the country. Business was good.
Then came the rats. The warehouse is located facing a neighborhood street to the west. To the east, an empty lot stretches almost to the next corner, perfect for the two-legged rodents. They started coming in through the floor at first. Whatever fit through the holes they broke in the floor went out. At first, it was small stuff: a television, a stereo, video games. The the holes started getting bigger as they went after the bigger stuff. Each time, Felipe's workers would patch the holes, and each morning they would reappear. One time they broke a hole through the wall.
Finally, after Felipe had reinforced the walls, they came in through the corrugated steel roof. Felipe would call the Brownsville Police Department each time to make a report. They always said they'd call back when they found something. They never did. Finally, Felipe had had enough.
"I emptied the warehouse and my living space where I kept my clothes and refrigerator," he said. "Now there are not even any cockroaches. There's nothing for them to eat."
He also had to let go of all his workers, except for one or two to help him at the flea market.
"They can say that crime has decreased all they want, but I know a lot of people who simply don't file reports with the police anymore because they won't get any results," he said. "If I got my hands on the people who ruined my business the statistics for aggravated assault and murder would probably go through the roof. I'll never open a business in this town again."
Felipe got tired of reporting burglaries to his warehouse last year.
He holds both hands full of police officers' cards that they left when they came to take the report of yet another burglary at his business. There are more than 20 business cards. And he says he has another stack in his truck.
Now, upon learning that the latest crime reports for 2009 were being h
eralded as a 5 percent decrease, he steps outside the small downtown bar and spits on the ground."Well, they won't have to take my reports anymore," he said. "That alone probably accounts for the 5 percent."
Brownsville Police Department Chief Carlos Garcia said crime has been the lowest in 10 years in some categories during Tuesday presentation of the 2009 report.
"One would assume that with our nation undergoing difficult economic times the indexes of crimes would rise, that is not the case in the city of Brownsville," Garcia told a reporter from the local daily.
The report indicates that there were 10,232 crimes in 2009 compared to 10,772 in 2008, or 540 crimes less.
Aggravated assault and automobile theft were two of the crime categories that Garcia said were the lowest since 2000.
Crimes against women, like rape, remained the same, with 26 cases reported for both years.
What made Felipe laugh was the statistics presented for burglaries and thefts.
According to the report, robbery, burglary and theft also decreased, with 152 robberies in 2009 compared to 173 in 2008.
Burglaries, Garcia said, went down from 1,590 in 2009 to 1,576 in 2008.
Although murders went up from four to three, police say that in most cases this is a crime of passion, and little can be done to prevent it.
However, they will quickly take credit for the reported decrease in other categories.
"This (the decrease in crime) is the result of the hard work by the members of this department," Garcia said.
Felipe, a native of Coahuila, came to this country with a pocket full of dreams about making it in the United States and improving his and his family’s economic condition. He always had a sharp eye for an opportunity, and when he saw that large department stores like Target, Walmart, Dilliards, Marshalls, Old Navy, K-mart, etc., were selling pallets of slightly damaged merchandise and electronic appliances such as floor samples, he invested in the business.
Business was good for a while and he leased a warehouse by the railroad tracks on Lincoln St. just a block away from Guadalupe Church and set up shop. As he started selling his goods, he began to stock the warehouse and marketing his wares.
Through grassroots marketing and dedication, he quickly built up his business.
Over time, Felipe’s business flourished. He hired more people to help him pack, sort, label and store the goods. Sometimes he got a bonanza. Other times, he got a pallet full of junk.
However, since he was a good customer, the truck drivers hauling the goods would tell him which pallets seemed to have more value.
After a while, between 15 to 20 workers were helping Felipe at his warehouse and delivering goods to customers. A steady stream of clients – from this side and from Matamoros – filled his shop. He hired a technician to fix electronic items that had suffered some damage on the trip across the country. Business was good.
Then came the rats. The warehouse is located facing a neighborhood street to the west. To the east, an empty lot stretches almost to the next corner, perfect for the two-legged rodents. They started coming in through the floor at first. Whatever fit through the holes they broke in the floor went out. At first, it was small stuff: a television, a stereo, video games. The the holes started getting bigger as they went after the bigger stuff. Each time, Felipe's workers would patch the holes, and each morning they would reappear. One time they broke a hole through the wall.
Finally, after Felipe had reinforced the walls, they came in through the corrugated steel roof. Felipe would call the Brownsville Police Department each time to make a report. They always said they'd call back when they found something. They never did. Finally, Felipe had had enough.
"I emptied the warehouse and my living space where I kept my clothes and refrigerator," he said. "Now there are not even any cockroaches. There's nothing for them to eat."
He also had to let go of all his workers, except for one or two to help him at the flea market.
"They can say that crime has decreased all they want, but I know a lot of people who simply don't file reports with the police anymore because they won't get any results," he said. "If I got my hands on the people who ruined my business the statistics for aggravated assault and murder would probably go through the roof. I'll never open a business in this town again."
8 comments:
Ya, loco. Ese pedo es un moco. Te patina el coco? O todo esto un Joco? ha ha ha ha ha. Ese Naco sale de una cantina? a-ha ha ha ha
VERY TRUE! I have not heard of anyone who gets their stolen items returned.
Sometime back, someone broke the sanctity of my home by breaking in within a 20 minute trip to the bank. The police was called. One stood in the kitchen hearing my sister tell the story and another went into the bedrooms, taking pictures of all the drawer contents that had been scattered throughout the house- including the underwear. I asked him why he needed to take those pictures; that instead he should be out looking for the culprit. I was so upset and took off to the closest pawn shop by the house. Sure enough, in the parking lot were the broken boxes from my jewelry box and so I used my On-Star to call police. As I turned, I saw a guy pull out my ice chest from his jeep, where he had carried aways all he stole. As he saw me, (obviously, he knew me or recongized my car if he had cased the house) he dumped the ice chest back in car and tried to escape. I tried to trap him between 2 buildings with my car, but he escaped and so I did a "Cagney & Lacey" scene, following him around the neighborhood for about 20 minutes informing the dispatcher where we were down the Southmost area. Well, finally the police caught up with my location and they caught the guy. He had the ice chest in the car but had already sold $245 worth of stuff at the Pawn Shop for he had the stub in his pocket. One of the police officers told me to go to the Pawn Shop and wait there. I did, and I asked the guy if he had bought some things between 10:30-11 AM and he said no. As soon as the policeman walked in, he started pulling out all my things from underneath the counter. Do you know what the police did. He took the jewelry and things and told the Pawn Shop employee that as soon as they inventoried my things, they would return the money to him. I was furious! I asked the policeman why the Pawn Shop person was not arrested for fencing. He had just bought the things they had stolen fromm my house. I told him the $245 should be given to my sister for the door that they completely broke down. In court, they gave him probation and to pay restitution for damages to my sister. The court sent her a $10 payment once. The guy, a Mexican national, had split town and they could not find him! So, the end of the story about crime solving in Brownsville, Felipe is right about people not bothering to report crime anymore; what for? Oh, and by the way, the guy had an outstanding warrant from San Antonio for burglary of habitation. I should have gotten the reward for capturing him, but instead, the newspaper reported that the BPD had captured the culprit. They didn't; I did!
A couple of good watch dogs would cure that problem. let them rome inside the building at night. The police are useless in this instance
A couple of good watch dogs would solve that problem.Let them loose on the warehouse at night. Don't act so helpless.
Orale Nacos, No ay que ser tan duros con los policentes. Los pinches rateros, son los que necesitan pescar y meteles una pataliza, Y luego ablenle a las policia que numca vijila.
This pendejo is a helpless crybaby. Do some self help Mr Busines man. Get some alarm system, or just a couple of pit buuls, and lay off the chion' shit.
ahhh come on.... there is a lot more to this to this story. does the writer have a bias? and why? criminal history perhaps? Fernando, that many times? come on buddy... the cops cant be there all the time (they have donuts to eat). Ia there anything that you could have done different to protect your property? Now for the great citizen crime fighters that made it to the pawn shop....thank you for doing your part. Dont alway blame the cops.....they probably had to follow rules for returning evidence....not made up by them... but as a law....or case law.....why the crook was out on the streets again? dont blame the cops....blame the courts....yes, while i dont always agree with the police, i will say my wife is a cop.
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