Central Division PIP meeting features sketch artist

The PIP (Positive Interaction Program) meeting for the HPD Central Division was held on Jan. 25 at 1602 State St. This was the first meeting to include some neighborhoods in the near northwest inner loop area that were transferred from the North Division. It was explained that this was done to enable the police to better service the area. Residents of these inner loop neighborhoods may find the State St. location off Houston Ave. more convenient than the North location on West Montgomery.

Some may not be familiar with the acronym PIP or what happens at a PIP meeting. The Positive Interaction Program is coordinated by the Houston Police Department to involve citizens in crime awareness and prevention. In the meetings crime reports for the area are discussed and copies of a monthly crime statistic bulletin for the district are distributed to those in attendance. There may be a presentation on crime prevention or a speaker on a crime related topic. Meetings allow time for citizen input or questions. Door prizes or refreshments may also be included in the meetings. Central Division PIP meetings are held on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at 1602 State St. For neighborhoods north of the 610 Loop, the North Division holds its meetings at 7:00 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 9455 West Montgomery. In the Spring Branch area the Northwest Division PIP meetings are on the 3rd Monday of the month at 1721 Pech. The beat map for HPD divisions and storefronts can be found at www.houstontx.gov/police.

In the January Central meeting, a presentation by Houston Police sketch artist Lois Gibson was given on the use of drawings to help identify criminals. She is an artist who, as a crime victim herself, discovered the value of her art in helping victims describe their attackers. She is one of only about 15 police sketch artists throughout the country, and says she has helped the Houston Police solve over 1000 crimes. A lot of her victims tell her at first that they did not see the face of the perpetrator, but in conversing with them she is able to slowly develop a sketch by showing them a chart of facial features. Amazingly, the sketches she draws from this have proved in many cases to be strikingly similar to the actual face of the criminal. In her job she has had to talk to victims in various stages of fear or hysteria. In one case she talked to three children who had been accosted by a rapist, and with their descriptions was able to sketch the face so accurately that the criminal was captured. In another case an officer was shot three times by an assailant and Mrs.Gibson had to get a sketch from him as he lay groggy in his hospital bed. The sketch was found to be a very close match to a suspect who had been arrested on another charge. A woman who had kidnapped a baby was identified by the public from the police sketch shown on television and was arrested. Some perpetrators, upon seeing their sketch on television, realize they have been accurately identified and surrender to police.

The most important part of getting victims to remember facial features, according to Mrs. Gibson, is to create a calm environment. She achieves this by talking to victims alone and easing their fears about their traumatic experience. One of the more gruesome tasks of her job has been recreating facial features on skeletal remains so that an identity can be established. Mrs.Gibson believes the role of the sketch artist is very important to police work and is writing a textbook that she hopes will help train others in this work.

(Near Northwest Banner, February 5, 2007)