Pct. 6 constable's office to resume bike patrols in Houston's East End

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- People who live on Houston's East End told Precinct 6 constables during a recent town hall that they wanted to see bike patrols. On Monday, the Constables office made it a reality.

For the first time in four years, the Precinct 6 Constables bike patrol is back on the streets in the East End.

"Proactive patrols, we're going to be catching narcotics, a lot of vandalism, criminal mischief," says Dep. Miguel Salinas.

A deputy, the Chief Deputy, and a captain riding all around the East End, stopping to talk to patrons and business owners. They're working to rebuild trust broken after former Constable Victor Trevino gambled away donations that were supposed to fund patrol bikes.

"We're going to be able to go out there and talk to the community, explain to them what we're doing now, what we're about," Salinas says.

"It's more visibility," says retired HPD detective Phillip Guerrero.

We met Guerrero outside a restaurant on the Esplanade at Navigation.

"Officers can get around a lot easier on a bike than they can in a car. They can go into areas between houses, alleyways, things like that," Guerrero said.

"It's great they're bringing it back," says Talento Bilingue de Houston Executive Director Javier Perez. "Any kind of presence we can have with the constable's office, they can be out here interacting with the community. It's a great thing, especially for the kids."

The Greater East End Management District bought two of the patrol bikes. Vice President Hedy Wolpa says more than a third of the people who live here walk or ride bikes to get to school or work.

"So having having safe bike and hike trails is really important to us," she tells us. "And it helps ensure that the trails are safe for children and for seniors and everyone who lives and plays and works in the East End to get around."

Constable Heliodoro Martinez says after the controversies that hit his precinct and across the country, he wants to earn trust.

"A lot of controversy has been not only here in Precinct 6, but in other parts of the country where the detachment has been with the youth in the United States," Constable Martinez says. "We want to reattach to the youth in Precinct 6. We want to let them know that we're human beings just like everyone else."

Right now, the bike patrol is made up of just three people that will mainly stay around the East End. The goal is to have 10 on bikes every day covering the entire precinct by summer.