Greg Fremin - Retired HPD Captain Joins Houston's Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Violent crime. It's certainly not unique to Houston, but it's
become a bigger problem in Houston recently. Seven twenty two
is their time. Greg Freeman joins US retired HPD captain,
and we were just talking about the University of Houston
and the parking garage situation they've had for the last
week or two. And I think it's probably every parent's

(00:21):
nightmare sending your child to an urban campus. Not that
not that every campus can have the same problem, but
urban campuses in particular in big, big cities where you know,
crime is a bit of an issue, you're always worried.
You know what happens when my kids out there at
ten or eleven or twelve o'clock at night and they
go into a dark parking garage to get their vehicle
and they get attacked.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, Jimmy, and good morning. It's always nice to talk
to you. It is as a parent, and I'm a
parent of two boys or two young men, and I
have the same feelings and concerns as well. And one
thing I would say is that and the University of
Houston campus itself is safe. Let me be clear what
I'm saying that this was a tragic, unfortunate incident. They
have statistically extremely low crime compared to the surrounding area,

(01:07):
which is Third Ward. And I'll preface this. Third Ward
is a magnificently historical Black community that's been there for years,
but unfortunately it's got some very challenging areas in it,
and there's a deep seated criminal element that has been
embedded there for a long time. And they have high
part one crime, robbery, murder rate, aggravated assault. And this
is surrounding the University of Houston, so it's like a bubble.

(01:30):
There are a lot of sex defenders that live in
that area, and I would encourage your listeners to go
to DTS's website and just type in the zip code
and you will populate all of the sex offenders that
live in and around the area. There are hundreds of them.
So it's a predatorial target rich environment. And the kids
are the young men and women have to be very safe.
That's what we advocate to them.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
What is your best advice to how the students should
conduct themselves. Do they need to avoid being by themselves?
Do they need to avoid being out late at night,
especially about something like this is going on? Do they
need to carry mace. What sort of advice would you
give these students.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Jimmy, I'm a firm believer in the Second Amendment, and
I would tell all my students and all of the
young men and women that I would talk to, and
they become of age, become a gun owner and don't
just have a good know how to use it. And
I would advocate that even to my own children. But
in terms of thinking clearly and cognizanm be careful in
doing what you do when the young girls are going
out to sorority parties, fraternity parties, traveling pairs of two.

(02:31):
Don't let your friends lead by themselves intoxicated. Same things
can go for men. They can get jack just as easily.
So practice good common sense safety when you're in and
around that area. Because when you venture off campus, you
literally are in a danger zone. There's no question about
that whatsoever. Be careful of your surroundings. Don't drink to
the point where you're going to get so ineborated you

(02:52):
don't know where your surroundings are, because that's when bad
things will happen.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, I'd like to say that you know they luck
at all. The whoever is responsible the the person or
persons responsible for these attacks will be apprehended. Used to
be where you wouldn't fear too much once they've been apprehended,
because you know they're going to jail, they're going to
stay in jail, and they won't be a threat to
anybody before they go to trial. I don't know that
we can say that anymore, though, can we.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Well, Unfortunately, with the criminal justice system the way it
is right now, I'd like to say Harris County is
changing a little bit more red than it was blue.
And I think some of the judges now are getting
a message along with the very firm position of the
DA's office with keeping these offenders locked up or at
least give them a high bond and don't have a
revolving door where they're getting right back out on the street.
And that was one of the biggest complaints that we

(03:35):
heard from a lot of the residents in and around
that area, is that these repeat offenders were coming right
back out. They get pearled from prison, they go right
back to where they were at, and they go back
to doing what they were doing best.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, Well, hopefully things are under way to changing. I
hope so anyway, Greg Thanks has always appreciate HPD. Retired
HBD Captain Greg Freeman. It is seven twenty six