page_title: Gulfton, Houston
section_title: Crime
hierarchical_section_title: Gulfton, Houston / Crime
caption_attribution_description: English: Former Houston Police Department Gulfton Storefront in the Orchard Green Shopping Center Español: El antiguo Gulfton Storefront del Departamento de Policía de Houston, en el centro comercial Orchard Green
context_page_description: Gulfton is a community in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States that includes a 3.2 sq mi group of apartment complexes that primarily house refugee and immigrant populations. It is located between the 610 Loop and Beltway 8, west of the City of Bellaire, southeast of Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59, and north of Bellaire Boulevard.
  In the 1960s and 1970s Gulfton experienced rapid development, with new apartment complexes built for young individuals from the Northeast and Midwest United States. They came to work in the oil industry during the 1970s oil boom.
  In the 1980s, as the economy declined, existing tenants left, resulting in a significant drop in occupancy rates in the apartment complexes and forcing many complexes into bankruptcy and foreclosure. Owners marketed the empty units to newly arrived immigrants and Gulfton became a predominantly immigrant community. Beginning in the 1980s Gulfton's crime rate increased and schools were increasingly overwhelmed with excess students. "Houstonians" nicknamed the community the "Gulfton Ghetto."
context_section_description: In 1977 Gulfton was a part of the Police District 18. During that year, out of the twenty police districts, it had the second highest rate of reported crimes after the North Side of Houston. Out of the districts it had the highest rates of fraud and suicide, the second highest rates in automobile theft, burglary, theft, and vandalism, the fourth highest rape rate, the fifth highest robbery rate, the eighth highest drug-related arrest and narcotic crime rate, and the 13th highest rate of murder; all of this was prior to the Hispanic immigration influx of the 1980s. Harry Hurt III of the Texas Monthly said that the density of the apartments and the conformity of the design made it easy for criminals to operate in the complexes; if a criminal figured out how to break into one unit, he could break into all of them as they all shared the same design. In 1977 Hurt said that cocaine and quaaludes "appear to be common" in the apartments and that heroin "is also found in the area occasionally, though not as frequently as in some other parts of town." Hurt also stated that several area residents and ex-residents complained of theft. Around 1977, three accused rapists known in the area were the "Blade" rapist, the "Beer Belly" rapist, and the "Jumper Cable" rapist.
  After the 1980s economic decline and changes in the local demographics, crime increased in Gulfton. By 1988, many Houstonians referred to the neighborhood as the Gulfton Ghetto. The area derived its name from Gulfton Drive which was described by Kim Cobb of the Houston Chronicle as, "one of the area's more notorious streets." In a 1988, a Houston Chronicle article cited police officers patrolling the Gulfton area who could identify complexes where they often arrest criminals. In April 1992, Houston Mayor Bob Lanier named Gulfton as one of ten Houston neighborhoods targeted by a city revitalization program. One aspect of Lanier's project consisted of building barricades around the Shenandoah subdivision to reduce traffic and crime. The Shenandoah Civic Association and some members or the GAAC supported the measures and pursued the street closures. The Gulfton Area Neighborhood Organization (GANO) and other advocacy groups opposed the barricades. Members of these community groups considered the measures to be racially motivated. They voiced the opinion that the closures would not provide effective crime control, was a waste of city funds, and the closures would potentially harm local businesses.
  After the demographics changed, youth street gangs appeared in Gulfton. As of 2006 the Gulfton area has gangs such as "Southwest Cholos," "La Primera," "La Tercera Crips," "Somos Pocos Pero Locos," and "Mara Salvatrucha" (MS-13). Charles Rotramel, the director of a nonprofit group called "Youth Advocates," said that Gulfton's dense conditions, lack of features intended for children, and lack of recreational and athletic programs helped form the gang cultures. He added that other factors included fathers being absent, including many who were imprisoned, and mothers who had issues like drug and alcohol addictions or mothers who worked for jobs with very lengthy working hours. In 1993, the "Southwest Cholos" began to appear in Gulfton. The gang did not have a traditional leadership structure like those in New York City and Los Angeles. Several police officers said that the gang engaged in criminal activities. Controversy erupted in 1995 after six teenagers and two adults sustained injuries in a drive-by shooting near Jane Long Middle School. Police believed that the shooting was related to street gangs and arrested a 13-year-old Sharpstown Middle School student in connection with the shooting. The Gulfton Area Neighborhood Organization had demanded for years that the City of Houston expand its anti-crime activities. Sarah Turner, a spokesperson for the mayor, insisted that the city had taken corrective action.
  During the same year, the State of Texas announced it would provide $500,000 worth of grant funds to Gulfton-area agencies for crime prevention programs. The state targeted Gulf
caption: Houston Police Department Gulfton Storefront (former location)
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