Provided/Houston Mayor’s Office
Houston Mayor John Whitmire stands outside a taco truck with HPD officers during a ride-along.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced this week that the Houston Police Department’s new crime protection team “club unit” issued over 100 citations at local bars and clubs, resulting in five closures.
Whitmire announced the new police unit on social media Monday and said the unit is part of an initiative to ensure compliance from local bars and clubs.
“We want to continue to improve the quality of life,” Whitmire said. “Currently, there’s about 700,000 people daily coming to the suburbs. We want them to live here.”
The @houstonpolice new Club Squad is a specialized team focused on addressing nightlife-related complaints like excessive noise, traffic disruptions, and illegal activity.
HPD and partners are working to improve public safety and enhance quality of life for our residents. pic.twitter.com/Z7fbhmzsLt— Houston Mayor’s Office (@houmayor) July 21, 2025
According to a separate series of posts by Whitmire’s office, the three-day initiative took place late last week from July 17-19.
Here are all of the arrests, citations and other actions taken by police over the three-day initiative, according to the mayor’s office.
- 13 inspections
- 115 citations
- 12 warnings
- 2 misdemeanor arrests
- 5 club/bar closures
On Tuesday, HPD told Houston Public Media that the following five bars/clubs were closed by either the Houston Health Department or Houston Public Works for health and/or permit violations.
- Zen Lounge – 5316 Washington Ave
- Bar 5306 – 5306 Washington Ave Ste C
- XO – 5023 Washington Ave
- Lincoln Bar – 5110 Washington Ave
- Luxx – 5002 Washington Ave
All five locations are along Washington Ave., an area known for its nightlife that was targeted last year by police. The duration of the closures varies per location and HPD did not provide further details regarding the violations of each establishment.
Along with inspecting local establishments’ permits, HPD also conducted a DWI enforcement initiative over the same three days, which resulted in several other arrests and citations.
- 104 traffic stops
- 91 citations
- 43 warnings
- 8 DWI arrests
- 3 “other” arrests
These two initiatives are just the most recent in a series of similar operations by Whitmire’s administration and HPD. In June, HPD conducted two different traffic enforcement initiatives along two different roadways at the request of Whitmire.
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