10 April 2025, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – Once again, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in El Paso, Texas, was the victim of a crime. This time, someone took a rock and tossed it through their box truck’s window, shattering it and damaging it.
Nancy Gomez, the manager of the ReStore, called the El Paso Police Department to generate the report and find the people who broke the window. The problem is that the El Paso Police Department doesn’t have enough officers working in Patrol, the only unit responsible for calls for service.
“No one else responds to calls,” says an Officer with the El Paso Police Department. “The Northeast has TAC units. They are Officers. They can respond to calls but won’t unless someone complains to the Commander or the Chief.”
Prior articles about the ReStore:
Habitat for Humanity ReStore Robbed
El Paso Police Want You to Conduct the Investigation
The last time the Habitat for Humanity ReStore was robbed, the El Paso Police Department did not respond. When they finally arrived at the scene, it was at 0100 HRS. You can read more about that robbery and EPPD response times in the above articles. Unfortunately, it took this media outlet contacting the El Paso Police Department to cause the Department to dispatch units for the prior break-in.
“All we wanted was the report number,” says Nancy Gomez, the ReStore manager. “I’m just going to do a vandalism report online.”
The ReStore is located at 8500 Dyer in Northeast El Paso. The Sunrise Village shopping center, formerly Sunrise Shopping Center, has declined. Between vacant storefronts, bars, and a drug rehab center, the shopping center seems to attract people from all walks of life, including the homeless and those beset on committing crimes.
During the day, when I’ve been to shops at the Sunrise Village shopping center, I’ve witnessed a cross-section of events: homeless people urinating in the parking lot, prostitution taking place, drug addicts zoning out, and people just trying to shop. Other times I’ve been to 8500 Dyer, I’ve been approached by individuals wanting to sell me drugs or jewelry.
On the part of the mall management, there is security. However, with the amount of crime and vandalism, it’s either inadequate or doesn’t provide twenty-four-hour coverage.
“I don’t shop there; I stay away from there,” says Gladys Williams, a resident of Northeast El Paso. “The last time I was there, and this was over a year ago, two homeless men accosted us. The husband and I won’t go back.”
Gladys and everyone I spoke with said they feel unsafe when visiting 8500 Dyer.
“I’m not going there,” says Juanita Vasquez. “They have shootings there, they have robberies there. It’s not a safe place.”
The most notable shooting occurred in October 2022, when an argument at a bar escalated to the point where shots were fired, and an individual lost their life. In this case, the charges against the shooter were dropped due to poor handling of the crime scene by crime scene officers or Detectives with Crimes Against Persons.
While there are officers on the street, there are not enough. There may not be enough officers to respond to calls on any given day. As mentioned earlier in this article, patrol units are the only ones responding to emergency and non-emergency calls.
If a vehicle is broken into or vandalized, the Patrol will respond. Even with that, there is a problem.
The Northeast Regional Command has a detachment of Tactical Officers (TAC) who work cases in the Northeast. While their caseload may be heavy, they can still respond to calls such as the one made by the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
“At the end of the day,” says a Lutienent with the El Paso Police Department, “TAC are still officers; they can respond to calls. They should respond to calls where evidence, such as fingerprints, may be gathered. It may be inconvenient for them to respond, but it would help take pressure off the officers in the field.”
8500 Dyer is a known hotspot. When out, police officers routinely drive through the parking lot when they are in the area. As short on manpower as they are, they do their best. Sometimes, more needs to be done.
When calling for service at the ReStore, they were told a unit would respond when one became available. While that is a sufficient answer for most cases, TAC should lend a hand and respond to a business that closes at some point in the day. As noted above, in a previous article, a unit didn’t respond until 0100 HRS, seven hours after they had closed.
“The worst part of this is we parked the truck under the lights,” says Nancy Gomez, the manager of the ReStore. “We thought that would deter anyone wanting to do anything. Guess not.”
We will contact Lt. Jones of the Northeast Regional Command and ask why TAC could not respond to at least some calls for service.
You can reach the editor of Southwest News Today at [email protected] or by phone at 806-410-0506.
I feel sorry for the ReStore. Nancy is a great person and they should not have this happen to them. I know our business was broken into the police didn’t show up for 2 days. The article is right. We need more units on the streets taking calls and helping people.