 In 1977 Gulfton was a part of the Police District 18. During that year, out of the twenty police districts, it had the second highest rate of reported crimes after the North Side of Houston. Out of the districts it had the highest rates of fraud and suicide, the second highest rates in automobile theft, burglary, theft, and vandalism, the fourth highest rape rate, the fifth highest robbery rate, the eighth highest drug-related arrest and narcotic crime rate, and the 13th highest rate of murder, all of this was prior to the Hispanic immigration influx of the 1980s. Harry Hurt III of the Texas Monthly said that the density of the apartments and the conformity of the design made it easy for criminals to operate in the complexes; if a criminal figured out how to break into one unit, he could break into all of them as they all shared the same design. In 1977 Hurt said that cocaine and quaaludes "appear to be common" in the apartments and that heroin "is also found in the area occasionally, though not as frequently as in some other parts of town." Hurt also stated that several area residents and ex-residents complained of theft. Around 1977, according to two accused rapists known in the area were the "Blade" rapist, the "Beer Belly" rapist, and the "Jumper Cable" rapist. Much of the crime in the 1970s was because Gulfton was predominantly inhabited with white single young men in their 20's.
