Word: houston
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Sometimes, like Goetz, these potential victims make headlines by lashing out at their tormentors. When Laird Roy Roberson, 29, looked out of his Houston apartment window at 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 23 and saw two men and a woman trying to break into his car, he picked up a .22-cal. rifle and fired seven shots, killing Darrel York, 18, and wounding Jerome Marshall, 19. A grand jury decided that Roberson had committed no crime...
Some victims groups have carried their activity into courtrooms, trying to apply silent pressure on judges and juries by their stony presence. One such organization is led by a Houston socialite, Phyllis Morrow, 42, wife of a wealthy oilman. Her interest began in 1980 after she and her husband were robbed of $500,000 worth of jewelry. Her group also rates judges, advises victims on dealing with police and courts, and lobbies for laws to aid victims. Since the Goetz case, Morrow claims, "every legislator seems to want on the bandwagon to support a victims bill of rights...
...Houston, more than 200 callers a day respond to Crime Stoppers broadcasts. Fifteen police officers are assigned to follow up the citizen leads. Since the program started in 1981, 3,300 suspects have been arrested for more than 4,000 crimes. Police have seized nearly $56 million worth of narcotics and recovered stolen property valued at about $21 million as well as 802 cars...
...neighborhood patrol programs, residents roam their communities during high-crime periods, keeping an eye on strangers, watching rowdy youths, noting open doors or windows. They often keep in touch by citizens-band radio and report suspicious circumstances to police. Such groups, says Houston Police Sergeant J.C. Mosier, "are making a serious dent in crime. This pendulum of not wanting to get involved is swinging back...
Rather than chase would-be criminals, these citizen crime watchers are expected to let trained officers handle the rough stuff. Nonetheless, when Jerry Hester, a Hughes Tool Co. executive, heard four shots ring out while on patrol in his East Houston neighborhood on March 3, he could not resist the impulse to take action, however dangerous. As he radioed his base station --Hester's handle was "Stringbean," the base was "Country Cousin"--a white Chevrolet Monza with three occupants sped past him. He followed at high speed. Country Cousin, actually Howard Petty, 61, security director for the Eastwood Civic Association...