HURST, Texas -- Courtney Brown likes to see police officers come into Gables of Notting Hill for reasons other than trouble.
"It's always nice to have a police car in the parking lot," said the leasing and marketing manager. "Sometimes it requires some explanation, but the residents seem to appreciate it."
The Gables and the Villas of Booth Calloway are providing "cop shops" at their apartment complexes, giving police a place away from the station to take a break, write reports or get a snack.
Calls for service at the Gables have been cut in half since the program was implemented in May, officer Santiago Sanchez said.
"There has traditionally been a high number of calls for service there," he said. "But that's a big complex, also."
Manager Rosa Vazquez said she doesn't think the Villas had crime issues before it got a cop shop, but the residents love it.
"People here like to see police officers stop by and walk the area," she said. "They also come and walk around the pool. If one of them has a chance, they'll stop by to say 'hi' and see how everybody's doing."
Sanchez, who coordinates the program, said the cop shops are designed to help fight crime in apartment complexes, but they have other benefits.
"This [also] gives us a place to let our guard down and take a break," he said. "We can't generally take a gun belt off and set it on the floor at 7-Eleven."
Chris Slauer, general partner of Notting Hill Partners L.P., said the company was glad to dedicate a town home to the program.
"When we bought the property in Hurst there were maintenance issues we wanted to take care of, and we wanted a nice model home," he said. "Then it occurred to me that it would be a nice, safe place for police officers to stop for a break."
Like the Gables, the Villas stocks the kitchen of a furnished one-bedroom unit with snacks and cold drinks for visiting patrol officers, Vazquez said.
"It has a desk, chairs, a sofa and a small dining table," she said.
Sanchez said keeping the refrigerator stocked was the management's idea.
He was happy to get the apartments in two of the department's four districts. Negotiations are under way with complexes in the other two.
Hurst Police Chief Steve Neikamp said the cop shops keep officers in areas of town where their presence is needed.
"It isn't for just hanging out; it's a work station," he said. "So far it's having a positive effect on the city and the quality of life Hurst residents are interested in."
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
