According to Webster’s New World Dictionary “Storefront” means a front room on the ground floor of a building, designed for use as a retail establishment.  In the case of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, Store Front means an establishment for Community Oriented Police Services (C.O.P.S.).
 
C.O.P.S. is a program financed by the Federal Government as a grass roots effort to establish  a relationship between the community (residential & business) and the policing agencies.  The Store Front deputy’s salary is paid by this Federal Grant.  The Store Front deputy’s main objective is to present educational programs to the community and to develop a good working relationship between the Harris County Sheriff’s Department and the residents of Harris County.
 
The North District Store Front is located at 13612 Tomball Parkway (S.H. 249) and was leased for five years from the Weingarten’s Realty.  This five year lease allows the patrol cars to be a visible asset for the Northwest community.  The building was renovated and furnished by residents and businesses in the local area.  In the beginning, the seed money for operations was generously donated by members of the Northwest Security Coordinators’ Association.   Two individual subdivisions have been particularly generous in helping to maintain the S. H. 249 Store Front on a continuous basis.  These are  Willowood Subdivision who has put the Store Front on their water bill as a voluntary donation and Northwest Park residents have donated funding as well as engravers for the Store Front to loan out to individuals for engraving personal belongings.  Recently, Northwest Park residents donated a television set with a VCR for the Rape Aggression Defense classes.
 
The S.H. 249 Store Front prides itself with the work it has done to better inform the residents, schools, and businesses of the different programs offered to the community.  All of the Store Front deputies are RAD certified, some in adult, some in Kid’s RAD and some in both Kids and Adult RAD.
 
There are many programs that are offered for the community by the Sheriff Deputies at the S.H.249 Store Front.  Come by and say hello.  While you are there, pick up some of the pamphlets on the community programs to take back to your neighbors.  Have a question?  Call the deputies at the Store Front 281-445-9892.