Posted 6/05/2005 05:12:00 PM by Douglas

Finally, the city of Houston is cracking down on the ruthless criminals that have made it a wild-west frontier town of lawlessness and debauchery. Of course, I'm referring to Jay-walkers.

After laboring for years to pump new life into downtown Houston, city officials are launching an effort to control a byproduct of their success: burgeoning traffic that poses a growing danger.

The combination of congested streets and bad habits is making downtown more perilous, authorities said Friday, and Houstonians can police themselves or face the consequences.

The Police Department has begun the first phase of the Downtown Mobility Initiative, designed to educate drivers and walkers about the traffic ordinances — and then respond sternly with those who don't get the message.

"Our goal is to start with information and education," Capt. Mary Lentschke said as she announced the program. "We plan only to use citations when our education efforts seem to fail."

Gee, this isn't just another way the city is trying to get revenue from writing tickets, is it? At least I know I'm not the only smart-ass in Harris County, and I'm not even a judge.

The plan drew its share of wisecracks from jaywalkers Friday, including a jurist.

"It does my heart good to know that the Police Department is focusing so much attention on serious criminals," said Harris County Court at Law Judge Gary Michael Block as he returned from lunch. "Judges now feel safe."

Sleep tight, Houstonians.