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23 April 2007
Maybe they have community pride in Phoenix?
In an interview with KTRH-740's Chris Baker this afternoon, police chief Harold Hurtt stressed the importance of "community pride" in policing.
That seemed very strange coming from the transient police chief who spends so many weekends back home in Phoenix.
The Baker/Hurtt interview is available here.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Phoenix?"> 04/23/07 09:52 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
30 June 2007
Fertitta self-celebration pre-empts Phoenix!
Look who attended Tilman Fertitta's celebration of himself last week (according to Chronicle columnist Shelby Hodge):
Police Chief Harold Hurtt and wife Lonetta passed on the tequila but didn't fail to observe the grandeur of the party and of the estate. "There's a lot of opportunity in Houston. That's for sure, and a lot of people take advantage," he said.
Hurtt added that Fertitta had just agreed to serve as chairman of the Houston Police Foundation, "and I'm here tonight to make sure that he doesn't change his mind."
It's good to know that some things in Houston are more important than getting away to Phoenix on the weekends!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Phoenix!"> 06/30/07 01:12 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
11 September 2006
Corsicana's police chief dislikes police unions, loves Chief Hurtt
Chief Hurtt is really scrambling for support.
There's a letter in today's Chronicle from G.M. Cox, the president of the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the chief of police in Corsicana (just south of Dallas). Mr. Cox wants Houstonians to know that they have nothing to worry about, and that the criticism of Chief Hurtt is all just a mean union ploy. Here's an excerpt:
A popular strategy widely used by police labor unions is to attempt to discredit competent leadership through the use of employee surveys designed to be votes of no confidence for the chief and command staffs.An experienced police union organizer in Texas has said that the issue "is power, not wages, benefits. If you have power, you can get the other."
Hopefully, Houstonians won't be intimidated or deterred by the unfounded criticisms being leveled at Chief Hurtt by the police labor unions.
Hmm, well, thanks Chief Cox for that helpful info. I'm sure the fine people of Corsicana appreciate your keeping such a close eye on Houston public affairs, and we sure appreciate people who don't live in Houston nonetheless telling us what we should think here.
Unbelievable.
Maybe for his next fan letter, Chief Hurtt can get one of his buddies in Phoenix to write in and say that the way he did things in Phoenix will be really good for Houston!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Hurtt"> 09/11/06 10:10 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (8)
02 November 2007
Houston ministers honor Chief Hurtt
KRIV-26's Isiah Carey posts that Chief Hurtt was the beneficiary of a big award today:
Houston Police Chief Harold L. Hurtt will receive the 2007 "Humanitarian of the Year" Award by the Houston Ministers Against Crime at a banquet TODAY (November 2). Local ministers are honoring Chief Hurtt for his dedicated service to their organization, and to the citizens of Houston.
The banquet will take place at The Power Center, 12401 South Post Oak, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Surely the Chief didn't stick around for the whole affair, because there can't be that many late-night flights from Houston to Phoenix.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Hurtt"> 11/02/07 10:22 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
20 October 2006
Murders up 25% from 2005
KTRH-740's Brent Fuller reports the following news:
Police Chief Harold Hurtt said Thursday that Houston has recorded 316 homicides in the 289 days from January 1 through October 16. He said that was about a 25 percent increase over the same period from 2005.
One can understand why Chief Hurtt heads to Phoenix on weekends. It's probably much safer there.
Have a happy Friday everyone!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/20/06 09:09 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
07 January 2006
HPD bans tattoos, goes after beards
In an effort to get Houston's crime problem under control, Chief Hurtt will leave no idea untried:
The Houston Police Department's new dress code is now in effect. It became department policy on January 1 and prohibits uncovered tattoos on officers.
[snip]
In his quest to make the streets of Houston safer, Police Chief Harold Hurtt has said all along that he wants his officer looking professional. But many in the rank and file believe his efforts to clamp down on their grooming habits are slightly misguided.
"I think we need to be concerned about the homicide rate. I think we need to be concerned about staffing issues we have, about being able to run calls for service in a timely fashion," said HPD Officer J.E. Tippy. "I think there's a lot of other bigger issues the citizens of Houston would be concerned about."
Maybe this is the kind of cutting-edge thinking that got Chief Hurtt noticed when he was in Phoenix:
“Chief Hurtt is a leader, someone who can instill confidence up and down the ranks. He can also communicate well with our diverse community,” said Mayor Bill White. “Many consider Chief Hurtt the most successful major-city chief in the country.”
BLOGVERSATION: Laurence Simon
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/07/06 12:45 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (10)
12 June 2009
Chief Hurtt still in the running for SFPD top job
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt is one of three finalists for the top cop job in San Francisco, sources have told the San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has selected the city’s next police chief, but he said Thursday his pick is thinking twice about accepting the job after a Board of Supervisors committee voted to strip public safety agencies of tens of millions of dollars in funding.
[snip]
The Board of Supervisors budget committee voted Wednesday to rewrite parts of Newsom’s interim budget. Traditionally, the board rubber stamps the interim budget, but the committee voted to strip $82 million out of the police, fire and sheriff’s departments to reverse cuts to the health and social services programs.
I'll bet some camera revenue could generate replacement funds.
And then there's this:
Hurtt could not be reached for comment.
[snip]
Hurtt is out of the office this week, HPD spokeswoman Jodi Silva said.
Phoenix is lovely this time of year.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Hurtt still in the running for SFPD top job"> 06/12/09 05:03 AM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (11)
30 August 2006
Chief Hurtt to be honored on Friday
There's an email making the rounds that a fair number of readers have forwarded to me, and maybe other readers will be interested in it:
You Are Invited To A Reception Honoring
Harold Hurtt - Chief Of Police, City Of Houston
Friday 1 September 2006, 6-8 PM
at the
Red Cat Jazz Cafe - 924 Congress - 77002
(between Main and Travis Streets)Hosted by:
Houston City Councilmembers
Jarvis Johnson - Peter Brown - Adrian Garcia - Ronald Green - Sue LovellHouston Citizens Chamber Of Commerce
Marlon Barabin, PresidentHouston Lawyers Association
Latasha Lewis, PresidentAfrican-American Police Of?cers League
Mitchell Ruf?n, PresidentComplimentary Cajun Hors D'Oeuvres
Valet Parking AvailableRéspondez S'il Vous Plaît: [email address removed by blogHOUSTON]
Sadly, the blogHOUSTON crew did not receive the email, so we apparently are not invited to honor the police chief.
Two things do stand out in the email, though.
First, it's interesting to see which Councilmembers actively support the bumbling, soft-on-crime police chief.
Second, they are holding the event from 6-8 pm on a Friday night. That's going to make it tough for Chief Hurtt to blast out of Houston and off to Phoenix for the weekend. That doesn't seem very accommodating of the organizers!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Hurtt to be honored on Friday"> 08/30/06 11:08 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (17)
15 April 2007
COH and Metro thank you for your support!
Via the Houston Business Journal we see that sales tax revenues are flowing in quite nicely:
Houston received a sales tax allocation of $35.7 million for April, a 13.5 percent increase over April 2006. Houston's Metropolitan Transit Authority received $36.2 million, an 11.5 percent increase over the previous year, and one of the highest transit allocations for April.
So far this calendar year, sales tax allocations to local governments are up 6.4 percent.
No wonder Metro is confident enough to be venturing into the real estate market!
Meanwhile, with the city raking in lots of money and sitting on a surplus (last we heard), HPD has started a program where citizens can report petty crimes online (via KUHF-88.7):
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt says they came up with the online reporting in an effort to save police man hours. Each report made online will save about 60 minutes of officer time.
"We think that if we can cut the number of responses to these types of reports in half, we will save about 50,000 man hours a year. Which equates to about 48 full-time employees."
That's good news for a heavily overburdened and stretched police force. Officers will no longer go to the scene, take testimony and file a report by hand.
That means on weekends Chief Hurtt will be able to keep an eye on "minor" crimes from his home in Phoenix, just by logging on. And wait 'til HPD expands the online crime reporting -- Chief Hurtt can stay in Phoenix seven days a week!
BLOGVERSATION: Lose an Eye, It's a Sport
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 04/15/07 08:59 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (7)
16 May 2009
SF Chron: HPD Chief Hurtt in running for top police job in San Francisco
News reaches us from the Hearst newspaper in San Francisco that HPD Chief Harold Hurtt is in the running for a position there:
The field of candidates for San Francisco's new police chief has been reduced to a dozen or so semifinalists, including five from inside the department, according to sources with knowledge of the selection process.Inside candidates include Deputy Chief Kevin Cashman, now in charge of patrol; Capt. Greg Suhr, whom Chief Heather Fong recently demoted from deputy chief; Capt. Denis O'Leary, now in charge of the narcotics unit; Capt. Al Casciato of Northern station; and Capt. John Goldberg, now in charge of the department's tactical division.
[snip]
Among the outsiders, the most frequently mentioned candidates are Gascon, San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt and Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian.
Chief Hurtt has established himself as a true pioneer when it comes to reordering police priorities in Houston, not to mention the innovative use of technology to enhance safety (and municipal revenues), and has managed to pull this off while still maintaining very close ties to Phoenix, where he lived for many years previously.
While the little blog does not endorse political candidates, we are more than happy to endorse HPD Chief Harold Hurtt for a similar post in the great city of San Francisco. We sincerely urge San Francisco to make this hiring as quickly as possible. The truly good ones don't stay on the market for long, and we wouldn't want you to miss your chance!
UPDATE: The local Chron is finally on the case!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Hurtt in running for top police job in San Francisco"> 05/16/09 12:40 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (14)
21 September 2006
Charity events won't tie up Chief Hurtt's weekend
This is amusing: You know how Chief Hurtt likes to spend his weekends in Phoenix, right? Well, here's an HPD press release with details of a benefit golf tournament the chief is hosting:
Texas Cops & Kids and Kids at Hope is pleased to announce it is hosting Chief Hurtt's Empowering Our Youth Golf Tournament benefiting the Kids at Hope Initiative on Monday, September 25, 2006 at Tour 18 Golf Course located at 3102 FM 1960.
[snip]Golfers are asked to check in at 7 a.m. for a four-person scramble shotgun start at 8 a.m. This event supports Chief Hurtt's Empowering Our Youth Stomp Out Illiteracy Campaign. Other events in support of this effort are:
- Kick-off for the Kids at Hope -Kid's Village being held at Hartsfield Elementary, 5001 Perry Street on Friday, September 22, 2006 at 8 a.m.
- Friday, September 22, 2006 and the HPD Empowering Our Youth Dinner at the Hyatt Regency, 1200 Louisiana at 8 p.m.
Related events will be held on Friday (as in tomorrow), and the golf tournament will be on Monday, keeping Chief Hurtt's weekend free so he can head home to Phoenix.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Hurtt's weekend"> 09/21/06 05:44 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (3)
21 December 2006
Chief Hurtt defends HPD's Tasers
Chief Hurtt is trying to do Taser damage control, so to speak, as there are now calls from several lawmakers to limit their use (via the Chronicle):
"My legislative intent is to come up with a real policy that will protect police and citizens," Coleman said. "Clearly, there's a disproportionate use of Tasers not only in the city of Houston but in the country in general."
Coleman maintained that current policies on Tasers in Houston and other places are too loose, allowing use of the devices in particular against mentally ill people when stunning is not justified.
White called for a study after the city received repeated complaints that Tasers are used disproportionately on blacks.
The call was prompted in part by the Nov. 14 use of a Taser on Houston Texans lineman Fred Weary after police said he "became verbally combative and extremely argumentative" during a traffic stop.
Weary, 29, denied any wrongdoing and a judge later dismissed charges of resisting arrest. Hurtt defended his department's Taser-use policy.
Chief Hurtt is not taking this lying down:
If Coleman files a bill that would ban Taser use, Hurtt said he will fight it "by going up and making my position known at the state level."
Unless the hearings happen on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Is the chief back from Phoenix on Mondays? Just to be safe, Rep. Coleman is advised to hold hearings midweek.
Hurtt said he plans to commission a study of the department's use of Tasers since it began in December 2004 "as soon as possible."
The department is trying to identify researchers at universities who have studied Taser use.
"We want to make sure that we have people with the appropriate expertise," Hurtt said.
We know someone who is an expert on almost everything: Bob Stein! He'd be perfect for the chief's Taser study.
One last point: about a year and a half ago, there was discussion of a federal Taser study in which Houston was going to participate. Does anyone recall hearing anything further on that study?
RELATED: KTRK-13
BLOGVERSATION: Cigars...donuts...and coffee, TBIFOC.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Hurtt defends HPD's Tasers"> 12/21/06 06:01 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
24 September 2006
Houston doesn't need Police Chief Montalvo
Since I wasn't able to listen to Chris Baker's show on Friday, I am listening to the podcast of the show (at Kevin's suggestion), where the topic was the murder of Officer Rodney Johnson.
Wow! Chris really voiced the anger and frustration that so many are feeling right now at the rudderless, impotent city of Houston leadership: Mayor White, Chief Hurtt, (temporarily only a) Councilmember Carol Alvarado (who cheered an illegal immigrant rally back in March), and the rest of City Council.
In the first hour of the show, Chris suggested the mayor send Chief Hurtt back to Phoenix -- where his heart obviously is -- and find a tough-on-crime police chief, perhaps promoting someone who is already within HPD's ranks.
Chris, I'm with you, as long as Executive Assistant Police Chief Martha Montalvo isn't the one promoted.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/24/06 09:08 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
11 August 2008
18 police agencies got NYC CompStat proponents; Houston got Hurtt
In the latest issue of City Journal, Heather MacDonald pens a fine article on the spread of CompStat, the innovative approach to policing developed in New York City, across the county:
Since the late 1990s, more than 18 police commanders have left the New York City police department to run their own agencies elsewhere. This unprecedented migration has spread the Compstat revolution—the data-driven transformation of policing begun under New York police commissioner William Bratton in 1994—across the nation. Some of the transplants are well-known: Bratton himself now heads the Los Angeles Police Department; and his former first deputy, John Timoney, has led both the Miami and the Philadelphia forces. But the diaspora also includes lesser-known young Turks who rose quickly through the NYPD’s ranks during the paradigm-shattering 1990s. Now, as chiefs in their own right, they’re proving the efficacy of analytic, accountable policing in agencies wholly dissimilar from New York’s—in one case, achieving success beyond anything seen in Gotham or elsewhere.
The entire story is well worth reading. We wish we could say that one of those 18 police commanders wound up in Houston, and that CompStat was showing similar success here. Unfortunately, Mayor White plucked Harold Hurtt out of Phoenix when he might have hired a CompStat proponent.
Oh well. We encourage the candidates for the next mayoral election to give MacDonald's story a careful read.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Hurtt"> 08/11/08 10:53 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
25 August 2005
HPD brass, union bicker over arbitration policy
KHOU-11's Jeff McShan reports on HPD's arbitration process, which seems to have made both officers and the brass unhappy.
HPD officials contend that officers suspended or fired for good cause are being reinstated:
"It's very troubling for this Chief and any chief to then have an arbitrator say, 'Well, you've proven this violation but take the person back', " says HPD Director Of Legal Services Craig Ferrell.
He says officers have a right to appeal the decision by going to arbitration.
Ferrell says it's a system that looks good on paper, but often give officers their jobs back. That includes officers like Butler, who, he says, doesn't belong.
"It ought to concern the citizens. I think it concerns the officers as well. I know it concerns our management here and I'm not sure the union would agree or tell you they agree," Ferrell says.
The union's spokesman does not agree, and takes a shot at Chief Hurtt:
The union's president, Hans Marticiuc, says officers are getting their jobs back because Police Chief Harold Hurtt should not have fired them in the first place.
"I don't know if he is making bad decisions or if he is just reading summaries and getting advice, or just getting bad advice on some of the decisions that he has made. I think we are seeing some sort of pattern that he also had in Phoenix, where many of his cases were overturned. Maybe he is just a bad decision maker," says Marticiuc.
[snip]
"And it concerns me. I think officers tend to lose confidence in a Chief when they hear the wining and complaining. We lose cases and the city doesn't hear us wining and complaining," says Marticiuc.
Actually, if there were more wining, everybody at HPD would probably be happier.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/25/05 10:58 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (2)
21 March 2005
HPD wants to use unpaid, reserve officers to fill the gaps
Here's an eye-opening story in the Chronicle:
Reserve officers — part-timers who work without pay but have full arrest powers — could return to the ranks at the Houston Police Department under a plan senior department officials are evaluating.
THIS is how HPD is going to address its manpower shortage, with part-time officers who aren't paid but have full powers to arrest?!
Officials want to know if adding reserve officers could help address the department's manpower troubles, including the effects of having large numbers of officers retiring at once.
"We have definitely talked about it," Chief Harold Hurtt said recently. "I had some of my staff research the required training for reserve officers, (but) we have not made a decision."
Thankfully, not everyone thinks it's a good idea:
Any plan that uses reserves would require approval from city leaders and, perhaps more challenging, from the Houston Police Officers' Union.
"We're absolutely against reserves," said Mark Clark, the union's executive director and an HPD officer for more than 20 years. "I don't think anybody inside the department would be in favor of that."
And what would be the benefit of using reserves?
Some agencies see reserve programs as a way to cut expenses. Officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Department said the agency saves about $2 million a year.
"They are a tremendous asset," Sheriff Tommy Thomas said. "They are supplementing our manpower. There's no question about that."
Hurtt didn't know what kind of financial benefits the department could reap if reserves are brought on board. An initial cost for training and providing weapons and equipment for the part-time officers is expected, he added.
I seriously doubt that Hurtt doesn't know what kind of financial benefits HPD would see by using reserves, since the story points out that Phoenix, where Hurtt was chief, has used reserves before. Hurtt also says there is an initial cost to train and equip the part-time officers. Why not use that money to actually work on some permanent, full-time officers?
Houston officials need to stop viewing HPD in terms of revenue. It is not the mission of HPD to be a revenue generator or a revenue saver. We have HPD babysitting SAFEclear, pushing for red light cameras and even speed radar cameras, and now wanting to use reserves to avoid dealing with a shortage of police officers and save some money at the same time. How long would Chief Hurtt like to use reserve officers to fill the gaps? Will HPD EVER deal with its manpower shortage?
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Let me take a glib stab at Anne's last question -- HPD will deal with the manpower shortage once it becomes so acute that the Mayor and his Council are held accountable by citizens who are irate by skyrocketing crime. We aren't quite to that point just yet, but since Mayor White and the current council seem unwilling to tackle this problem head on (because it involves spending money, and they seem to have other priorities), we will reach that point.
Sadly, it will probably come after this current crew is gone, and after Mayor White has successfully run for his next office. Then, our local newspaper will probably be wondering why he didn't tackle HPD's manpower issues when he was mayor! Citizens and taxpayers, as usual, will have to deal with the problem (just like we are now dealing with various problems left over from Mayor Brown's administration).
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/21/05 10:46 AM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (2)
17 September 2006
HPD issues a red light running ticket!
KHOU-11 gives us a bit of humor today:
Sunday morning, Michael Kubosh, a bondsman in Harris County, purposely ran a red light at Elgin and Milam.
He claims that the city of Houston is being “hoodwinked by vendors” into a program that will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars.
Houston police apparently learned of Kubosh’s plan to run the red light, because he was pulled over by an HPD patrol car shortly after going through the intersection where one of the red light cameras was set up.
How in the world did HPD learn of Kubosh's plan? It was such a secret.
Isn't it good to know that HPD really can issue a red light running ticket? Maybe on weekends when Chief Hurtt is in Phoenix, Houston police officers cut loose and defy the old man.
Meanwhile, speaking of Arizona, Scottsdale-based ATS, which has Houston's red light camera contract, is experiencing booming camera business:
Ultimately, there are 350,000 signalized intersections in the United States. Tuton figures maybe 100,000 or so are candidates for photo enforcement. And each of those have up to four approaches to the intersection.
“The first thing you do is put redlight cameras in and, at some point, you can turn them on and covert them into speed enforcement and speed monitoring cameras and then later do midblock or mobile speed,” he said.
That's the future Chief Hurtt wants -- speed cameras.
And while MayorWhiteChiefHurtt won't admit the (financial) truth behind cameras, ATS's boss will:
Cities and towns across the country are under budget constraints, making the business of photo enforcement lucrative. Residents want more services with less taxes, Tuton said.
It's about generating revenue, not safety.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/17/06 06:48 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (10)
22 October 2006
Mayor White rides in police car, says crime will go down
On Friday night, Mayor White did another of his HPD Ride Alongs:
With Houston crime under the microscope, Mayor Bill White went along with police to see for himself how new tactics are working.
On Friday night, Mayor White patrolled with officers through the northwest side's hot spots. Officers are working overtime on the northwest side to add police manpower to the streets. The mayor hopes that will be enough to curtail crime until the 70 cadets who started this week in the academy can graduate and until 358 recruited officers get assigned to the area.
"We'll get experienced police officers in the street and when you put those officers in the street at the right places at the right time, you see crime go down," said Mayor White.
The mayor says the city is now working with only 200 officers fewer than before he became mayor. He says crime rates are lower than before he took office.
Did he do it by himself, or did Chief Hurtt postpone his trip home to Phoenix so he could join the mayor?
PREVIOUSLY: Mayor White rides in police car, says crime will end, Mayor White's Ride Alongs
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/22/06 08:26 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (6)
03 October 2006
Take a ride in an HPD helicopter
This seems rather strange: the city is holding an online auction (that's not the strange part) to raise money for its municipal campaign, and one of the items up for bid is a ride in an HPD helicopter (this is the strange part):
City departments are asked to donate items like a round of golf with the department head or a tasty firehouse meal.
Then there is HPD's contribution: How would you like to take a spin around the city -- way above the city?
The current bid for a ride-along in one of the HPD choppers is $150.
[snip]
So is it going to cost you as a taxpayer to raise a few hundred dollars for charity?
"The helicopter that will be used will actually be in service at that time, too," said Capt. Ready. "This is not something where we are taking the helicopter or the pilot out of service to do. So if there is a chase or a call from a patrol officer so have the helicopter check by, the helicopter will be checking by and performing actual police services."
Just with an extra set of eyes on a real-life thrill ride.
The idea behind the auction is admirable; however, I don't think a ride in a helicopter is what HPD should be offering up. How about bidding on a ride with HPD's mounted patrol, or maybe even having lunch with Chief Hurtt at the airport on a Friday afternoon, before he heads off to Phoenix?
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/03/06 06:02 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
27 October 2006
METRO hopes to spread message via new blog
The Chronicle's Alexis Grant reports that METRO is about to enter the local blogosphere:
The Metropolitan Transit Authority is hoping for heavy traffic — to its blog.
The agency plans to unveil a Web site before the end of the year to communicate directly with the public and has hired a full-time blogger, former Houston Chronicle reporter Mary Sit.
"Communication is something we're always striving to improve on," said Raequel Roberts, spokeswoman for Metro. "A free-ranging dialogue is important, and we're hoping that we can establish this through a blog site."
Roberts said Sit just started developing the blog, so it's unclear what features it will include.
If the blog includes robust commenting functionality and METRO's leadership actually reads/responds to it, then a METRO blog could be a very useful tool for METRO riders with complaints/concerns.
The bolded excerpt, however, implies that METRO views its blog as simply another PR outlet, and that somehow the current outlets (the current website, the local media) aren't sufficient to get METRO's message out. We'd suggest that METRO's bigger problem is that it isn't sufficiently responsive/accountable to the public and to its users, not that it can't get its "message" out to the public. Here's hoping the blog helps with the former. METRO doesn't really need another outlet to issue misleading press releases on Friday nights!
On a purely self-referential note, we were amused that Grant worked in a reference to the "Danger Train." It greatly amuses me that the term was actually coined by my good, pro-rail friend John Vaughn one night after we saw some music at the Continental Club (along the rail line).
UPDATE: Grant's story also mentions HPD has looked into a blog. Maybe Chief Hurtt could post photos and stories from Phoenix on the weekends! And when spring training starts in the Phoenix 'burbs, he could even post baseball updates from the Cactus League!
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times, On Message, TBIFOC.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/06 08:00 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (19)
18 July 2007
HPOU publication endorses CompStat; Hurtt repeats 2005 rhetoric
Back in May, Alan Helfman, Jay Wall, and William A Wolff penned a Chronicle op-ed making the case for CompStat, the statistical tool for fighting crime employed by William Bratton when he was police chief in New York (and now in LA).
In the June/July issue of Badge & Gun, the publication of the Houston Police Officers' Union, Helfman, et al., again make the case for CompStat in Houston (no online version is available yet). The Badge & Gun editorial page also endorses the concept:
In today's Houston, law-abiding citizens experience nothing but frustration when they want the latest crime statistics. As the trio of writers pointed out, they take almost six weeks to reach Hurtt's desk. In a communications age as sophisticated as ours, information becomes outdated and as stale as last week's bread loaf. How then can it be effectively used? We know the answer: It can't.
With CompStat, NYPD's website (check out www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/) shows crime precinct by precinct and allows crime complaint data to be examined on a week-to-date, prior 30 days and year-to-date basis, with comparison to previous years' activity. New York Blue is able to establish crime trends and commit to the ways and means needed to fight them.
Houston needs to refine and re-establish its methods for capturing crime statistics and build a system as unique and effective to Houston as CompStat is in the Big Apple.
Chief Hurtt, who previously pooh-poohed the CompStat notion, visited with the Chronicle editorial board recently. Here is his preferred approach to crime:
In a presentation to the Chronicle editorial board Monday, Hurtt outlined initiatives he believes will improve the department and help bring down crime rates in the city. One of them hinges on building a state of the art records management system to get and share data essential for good law enforcement decisions.
Violent crime continues to be a major problem, though it is declining from last year's high pace. According to Hurtt, burglaries of homes and motor vehicles are a major concern of the public, but one that citizens can combat through common sense preventive measures. He described one community meeting where residents complained about car break-ins. In a demonstration, officers checked the attendees' parked vehicles and found that 70 percent were either unlocked, had valuables visible or had other vulnerabilities that would attract and enable burglars.According to Hurtt, the best defense against such crimes is a mobilized community with members looking out for one another. "That seems to be missing somehow here," he said.
So, is Chief Hurtt now endorsing CompStat or not?
Because while the first quoted paragraph is promising, the last paragraph sounds a lot like Chief Hurtt circa 2005, when he effectively announced to Houstonians: "Good luck protecting yourselves!" (and crime continued to surge).
Our catty side can't help but wonder if his notion of a "mobilized community" is one that flees to Phoenix on the weekends (and if any Chron editorial board member was bold enough to ask).
RECENT: Burglary rates in Houston on the rise (Jeff McShan, KHOU-11 News), KTRK: Good news on crime (blogHOUSTON).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Hurtt repeats 2005 rhetoric"> 07/18/07 11:59 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (17)
13 September 2006
Editorial LiveJournalists: Gun control as panacea
Violent crime is surging in Houston. HPD is suffering from a manpower crisis. It's also in the midst of a leadership crisis, brought on by a soft-on-crime chief and the mayor who continues to support him. And we have an increased criminal element among the New Orleans evacuees who now reside in Houston.
The Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists, though, have a handle on the problem:
Whatever the causes, more crimes are being committed with illicit guns. Keeping those guns from illegal re-sellers, straw buyers or convicted felons must be a national priority. Two rational steps include requiring gun-show dealers to conduct buyer background checks and limiting the number of gun purchases to one per person per month.
Here's a thought -- more crimes are being committed in Houston by criminals! How about we boost HPD staffing, and empower our officers to go after the bad guys (instead of banning our officers from giving chase). And if Chief Hurtt isn't the leader for the task, how about we arrange for him to remain in Phoenix permanently after one of his weekends there and we find a chief of police who will take on the bad guys.
BLOGVERSATION: Isolated Desolation, Live from the (upper) Texas Gulf Coast.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/13/06 10:02 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (3)
13 May 2007
Chron Austin bureau: Crime up in Houston, down statewide
On Thursday, the Chronicle posted the following news from the Austin bureau's Lisa Sandberg:
Overall crime rates fell in Texas last year, although Houston's rose slightly, marked by a spike in the number of homicides, state records indicate. The city's overall crime rate rose 0.6 percent between 2005 and 2006.
Houston recorded 377 homicides last year, 13 percent more than in 2005 and the highest number since 1996, when 261 homicides were reported. Houston's homicide rate, 18 per 100,000 people last year, was also the highest in a decade.
While it's good that Chronicle crime reporters not posted to the newspaper's main office are able to call an increase an increase (not alway the case at the 801 Texas Avenue mother ship), isn't 377 homicides a larger number than 261 homicides? It would have been useful to report the last time that Houston exceeded last year's homicide total.
Statewide, crime statistics showed improvement:
There were 1,385 homicides across Texas last year, 20 fewer than in 2005, a 3.3 percent drop. Reported rapes fell 3.8 percent between 2005 and 2006, to 8,407.
The state's overall crime rate fell 5.3 percent between 2005 and 2006, though robbery rose 1.3 percent, to more than 37,000 reported incidents. The state's violent crime rate fell 2.3 percent.
HPD had no comment for Ms. Sandberg at the time of the story:
HPD spokesman Victor Senties said his department needed to review the data before Police Chief Harold Hurtt would comment.
Is that code for, "Chief Hurtt has headed to Phoenix already for a long weekend?"
In any case, we're sure that Mayor White's PR machine will have a positive spin on these numbers ready soon.
PREVIOUSLY: Editorial LiveJournalists reject mayor's spin on crime, Making sense of muffed crime reporting/editorializing, KHOU: Mayor slashes HPD manpower initiatives, Crime statistics continue to confuse Chron reporters, editors.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/13/07 05:31 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
13 July 2006
A no-confidence vote for Chief Hurtt
As noted previously, the results of the Houston Police Officers Union survey are in and the rank and file don't support Chief Hurtt. KTRK-13's Miya Shay has the details:
Of the 13 questions, question number 3 is probably the most telling. It reads, "I feel confident in Chief Hurtt's ability to lead the Houston Police Department." Seventy five percent of the respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed with that statement.Houston City Councilmember Michael Berry didn't like what he saw.
"We have a serious crime problem right now and we've just been told by a vast majority, a representative sample of officers who are tasked with solving the crime problem, that they don't believe this department's leadership can get it done," he said. "That's as close to a crisis as I can see."
The twelve remaining questions range from discipline procedures to departmental morale. None of the answers painted a rosy picture of HPD. But Chief Hurtt says change is always difficult.
"I'm the person driving change in the organization along with my command staff," he said Thursday. "Any time you're coming to an organization, you're driving change, you expect some resistance."
Notice how Chief Hurtt assumes Houston must change to his way of policing. Apparently it hasn't occurred to the chief that what has worked for him in other cities may not work so well in Houston.
By the way, does anyone know how things were going for HPD (and Houston) when Joe Breshears was acting police chief? If he was doing a good job, why wasn't he named police chief?
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: Mayor White is inexplicably sticking by his handpicked (and increasingly beleaguered) police chief. Here are some excerpts from his press release, as posted on KTRK-13:
Houston is fortunate to have an experienced and respected Police Chief who has been recognized by his peers as a national leader in law enforcement. Chief Harold Hurtt came to the department and inherited some difficult circumstances. They included a union contract which created an incentive for mass retirement of officers; a relationship with many neighborhoods in our community strained by two shooting deaths of juveniles; and longstanding problems in administration of the crime lab.
Houston is blessed to have the best trained, best educated, and best led police force in the nation. With the quality of officers up and down the line, I wouldn't trade the uniformed officers of the Houston Police Department for any other major city police force.
[snip]
HPD under Chief Hurtt's leadership has made major strides in restoring confidence in the professionalism of the Department. Widespread implementation of tasers has reduced the risks to both citizens and officers; all elements of a troubled forensics lab have attained national certification; and the Department, from its recruiting classes to its command staff, reflects far more of the rich diversity of Houston than ever before.
We all know diversity is beauty! We're not so sure what it has to do with HPD's core mission of fighting crime, though.
We agree with the mayor on one thing. We have no interest in trading HPD's officers for anyone. We'd just like to ship Mayor White's handpicked, ineffective police chief back to Phoenix.
UPDATE: As Sedosi noted, the Editorial LiveJournalists heaped tons of praise on Chief Hurtt several days ago, apparently trying to blunt the effects of this survey.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: KTRK-13, KPRC-2, Chronicle.
BLOGVERSATION: Isiah Carey's Insite.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Hurtt"> 07/13/06 09:44 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (5)
15 September 2007
MayorWhiteChiefHurtt's latest big idea
HPD wants drones. For traffic management. Really.
KHOU-11's Jeff McShan has the story:
Sources tell 11 News that Mayor Bill White, and Police Chief Harold Hurtt came up with the idea to use drones -- unmanned flying machines -- to help with traffic mobility.
They could also be used for police tactical situations. Like the SWAT incident at NASA in April.Executive Assistant Chief Martha Montalva confirmed the department is close to making it happen.
“And what's important and what needs to get out there is we are doing this in cooperation and assistance with the FAA,” said Montalva.
A few police agencies across the country have tried to use drones in the past two years, but most have been unsuccessful.
11 News learned the drones that were used were like small model airplanes, some costing just $30,000.
Houston will be different, Montalvo says.
“I can tell you right now, I don't want to get into specifics, but we are looking at state of the art, actually drones that have been used by the military,” said Montalvo.
HPD and Miami's police department have been talking with the FAA and drone manufactures about testing these large drones that cost about $1 million each.
Unbelievable.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: TranStar has state of the art freeway monitoring capabilities, yet MayorWhiteChiefHurttMarthaMontalvo want to invest in drones at $1 million a pop to solve a traffic-monitoring "problem" that isn't a problem (money that could be better invested in fighting crime on the ground)? That truly is unbelievable. Is there a drone manufacturer in the Phoenix area that stands to benefit from this? (Just to clarify, as per the comments -- KHOU points out the drones will be "free" to the cities testing them. But, of course, they won't be free forever, and it's not clear that they are needed regardless).
Posted by Anne Linehan @ Hurtt's latest big idea"> 09/15/07 09:32 AM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (17)
29 November 2007
When you lose Mrs. White...
Yesterday, Mrs. White surprised us with criticism of HPD's murder reporting (as first reported by KHOU-11's Mark Greenblatt).
As Greenblatt now reports, Mayor White has taken the lead after Chief Hurtt's poor handling of the situation:
And now, the Mayor's on the defensive.
“There's not been an intentional effort to hide data,” said White.
Intentional or not, the mayor is admitting to potential problems in at least six homicides the 11 News Defenders uncovered.
“Based off some of the issues you've raised… I think there's going be a lot more discipline in the way the reports are handled,” said White.
And in a major about face, the city’s finally admitting to problems in HPD’s investigation of Stephen McCoy's death that after being shot in the chest three times and then in the back of the head, police labeled a suicide even though the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
But now?
11 News: The investigation's now back open?
“Yes,” said White. “My take is: It was a murder and then it was ruled a suicide. And I'm asking (HPD) to take a new look at this case.”
That's quite a rebuke from the Mayor for his bungling police chief, considering that Chief Hurtt refused to take questions on the matter before Thanksgiving (in fairness, he might have had a plane to Phoenix to catch); and after Thanksgiving HPD merely took to repeating talking points that called Greenblatt's reporting "inaccurate and misleading." So much for Chief Hurtt's ghostblogger's effort to smear an award-winning reporter.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/29/07 10:35 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (1)
22 September 2006
KTRH: Cop killer is illegal immigrant
KTRH-740 is reporting (mp3 download) that "sources" tell them that the man who killed the HPD officer yesterday was an illegal immigrant, in addition to having a rap sheet.
This is a hot topic on the Chris Baker show at the moment, which began at 1pm today.
It's odd that no other news source bothered to dig up this information that KTRH is reporting.
UPDATE: KTRH-740's report has been updated online. The Chronicle is also now reporting that the killer is an illegal immigrant.
UPDATE 2: KTRH-740, KPRC-2, and KTRK-13 went to live coverage of the 4pm press conference on this topic. KHOU-11 declined to switch from ratings powerhouse Oprah (very nice use of the public airwaves, KHOU -- thanks). Chief Hurtt concluded his statement by referencing "Rodney Brown... uh Rodney Johnson." Very impressive, Chief. Probably in a hurry to catch that flight to Phoenix.
UPDATE 3: On KTRK-13's 6:00 pm news, anchor Tom Koch reported that the Mayor's office contacted KTRK to dispute the use of the term "sanctuary" to describe HPD's policy banning officers from asking about immigration status. It's good to know the Mayor's communications shop has ITS priorities in order following the tragic death of a police officer!
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times, Cigars, Donuts, and Coffee.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/22/06 01:29 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (22)
27 November 2006
You knew the mayoral press conference was coming
After several weeks of bad press on the rash of copper thefts across the Houston area, you just knew it was about time for a mayoral press conference to address the bad PR problem.
Right on cue, here's the Chronicle's coverage:
"The theft of copper and (other) metal drives up the cost of living for all Houstonians and all Americans," said Mayor Bill White, who attended a news conference announcing the sweep for thieves who have stripped huge air conditioners of copper content at churches and other buildings, sometimes working boldly in daylight hours. "All consumers are victims."
White said copper theft drives up home construction costs and prices on other products that contain the metal, which police said is selling for more than $4 a pound.
Metal thieves have formed elaborate trading systems in Houston and other cities that have developers thinking twice about building new subdivisions where police are not making special efforts to control the problem, White said.
"These are not easy crimes to solve," White said. "We can't be in a situation in which people cannot build houses."
Thieves have "cannibalized" residential and commercial construction sites and even invaded an unused police department building to take metal, police said. Thieves also have stolen the nozzles off of city fire hoses, [assistant police chief Vicki] King said.
This week's crime sweep is just one step in trying to reduce metal theft in Houston, King said.
Perhaps the lack of visible police presence because of the manpower problem helps embolden thieves and other criminals? Just a guess.
Chief Hurtt presumably is enjoying an extended Thanksgiving weekend in Phoenix. Otherwise, the latest crimefighting initiative would have gotten the proper acronym treatment!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/27/06 12:53 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (9)
22 May 2005
Exposing the "safety" myth of red light cameras
Since it appears Houstonians will now face two different standards for red light offenses (criminal, if written up by a police officer; civil, if caught on camera) let's look back at the City Council minutes from last December when Council debated the issue. What I find especially noteworthy is that in public comments several people suggested lengthening yellow light times, and several councilmembers appeared to be interested in the idea, even asking city officials (Mayor White included) if it had been studied. The disappointing response from one city official follows: (pdf, page 7):
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/22/05 08:37 PM | Houston Politics | Technorati | Comments (9)
24 October 2009
Katz: A way to get Houston's police chief out of mayoral politics
This is another of our occasional series of guest posts/essays on local topics of interest to us and our readers. Feel free to submit topical posts/essays for our consideration to bloggers-at-bloghouston.net. As with our usual blog posts, the views expressed are those of the author.
A WAY TO GET HOUSTON'S POLICE CHIEF OUT OF MAYORAL POLITICS
by Howard A. Katz
Houston's strong mayoral government has led to a succession of police chiefs who are most notable for being the political puppets of whichever mayor happened to be in office. Houston will soon be saying goodbye to Mayor Bill White and the city will also be saying goodbye to police chief Harold Hurtt who will be returning to his beloved city of Phoenix.
There is a much better way to select police chiefs than to have them appointed by a mayor who requires that the first priority of his police chief is to make sure that the police department does not get in the way of his political ambitions.
The City of Houston should establish a police commission for the purpose of selecting the city's police chief. That commission would not only select the chief, but it would also establish general guidelines for the police department. The chief would then be free to operate within those guidelines, absent of political interference. The commission would also be able to fire the chief, but only for malfeasance in office and only if he fails to follow the guidelines or turns out to be incompetent.
To ensure their independence, the members of the commission should be elected rather than appointed by the mayor, as is the case in Los Angeles.
The City of Houston should be divided into five police commission districts. Candidates for a seat on the police commission would run for office in each district. A candidate would have to show proof that he/she had been an actual resident within his/her district for a minimum of five years. The election should be non-partisan -- no candidate should be identified as Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Marxist, or whatever.
The police commission can be established at little cost to a city. Its members should be paid only one dollar a year plus their out-of-pocket expenses. In this way, only the most civic minded candidates would run for that office. The commissioners should not have to meet more than once a month unless some emergency would require additional meetings. As for staffing, the commission would only need a secretary, probably a part-timer at that.
By having a five member police commission make the selection, the Houston police chief would be free from political interference, thus allowing him to run the police department in the best interests of all Houstonians.
Howard A. Katz is a retired professor Professor of Criminal Justice. He blogs at BarkGrowlBite.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/24/09 12:50 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 May 2007
Who's running HPD?
HPD assistant police chief and blogHOUSTON favorite (for entertainment value!) Martha Montalvo is quoted in a KPRC-2 story on the decision to pull officers from the street to help out in the property room after a recent scandal:
Many Houston police officers are being taken off the streets to pay for an investigation into missing evidence in the department's property room, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.
About $40,000 used to pay for an overtime program to target car burglaries in downtown Houston is being shifted to pay for the property room audit after 21 guns were stolen from the secure facility.
"I think that the public is entitled to ensure that what we have in there is correct," Executive Assistant Chief Martha Montalvo said.
Montalvo said she needed to quickly fund the audit as the criminal investigation continues.
"What I wanted to do was have an outside inventory of the guns inside that property room," Montalvo said. "I wanted an outside group of classified officers to go in and do a count."
Assistant Chief George Buenik sent out an internal memo ordering that the downtown program stop.
"Effective immediately, stop all overtime programs that were being paid with seizure money," Buenik wrote. "I will also need an accounting of the total amount allocated and spent. Chief Montalvo needs this money for the property room investigation. She is likely to receive other money and once she does, your program will continue."
Strangely enough, I thought Harold "Raising Arizona" Hurtt was the chief of police, not the frequently entertaining Montalvo.
He hasn't decided to stay in Phoenix until someone notices he's missing, has he?
ANNE ADDS: It's been a busy couple of days for Assistant Police Chief Montalvo. In yesterday's Chron, she announced that HPD soon expects four downtown surveillance cameras will be online, modifying criminal behavior.
And KHOU-11 got ahold of an HPD memo that said if officers assigned to a downtown overtime program didn't start producing more citations and arrests, the program could be ended.
So there you have Martha Montalvo's idea of policing downtown: less police officers and more cameras. Downtown's looking inviting, eh?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/16/07 09:19 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (10)
21 October 2007
Helfman, et al., on reinventing HPD
Alan Helfman, Jay Wall, and William Wolff offer another of their periodic op-eds on HPD and Houston crime. Here is an excerpt:
In his inaugural speech as NYPD commissioner, [William] Bratton promised to cut serious crime by 10 percent his first year and 15 percent the second. Bratton underpromised, then overdelivered. In the 27 months of Bill Bratton's tenure as NYPD commissioner, homicide was cut by 50 percent and serious crime was cut by 33 percent. Similar results should be achievable in Houston, not the mere 10 percent reduction in violent crime Chief Hurtt promised (over three years) on Oct. 2.
When looking back on the pre-1994 NYPD, CompStat originator Jack Maple observed that there was no question that some small percentage of police officers were thoroughly lazy, demoralized and actively sought to do as little as possible — they showed up for work, but didn't get actively involved in crime fighting (Maple called these cops "conscientious objectors"). However, the majority of the force was "on the job," performed to the best of their abilities and maintained high levels of performance despite the lack of supportive leadership and the cynicism of other cops. Most wanted to be good, assertive cops, but instead of leading them to excellence, NYPD command had all too often placed obstacles in their way and they became satisfied with a level of performance that was merely adequate. By using CompStat, by empowering and transforming management through the imposition of accountability systems and by forging alliances with the best and most effective operational officers, NYPD's executive corps rapidly transformed the department into one in which the highest standards of performance became the norm.
During his original campaign for mayor, Bill White promised to run the city of Houston in a businesslike fashion. He promised a "bottom-line" focus that would be results-driven. As any good businessman knows, you can't manage what you can't (or won't) measure. We are asking that HPD be managed in a businesslike manner with a true profit and loss sort of approach. HPD should be in the business of "controlling crime," not just reacting to it.
We don't know what Bill White's political aspirations are, but we do know that Rudy Giuliani was propelled to national prominence and now is taking a shot at the presidency, in large part due to the fact that he was the mayor of New York City when NYPD got smart on crime. Will a major reduction in crime in Houston be seen as part of Bill White's legacy? There is still time.
In other parts of the op-ed, the authors discuss how CompStat was implemented -- with great success -- in New York City.
Interestingly, the approach in New York apparently did not call for Bratton to jet off to Phoenix on weekends, like some big-city chiefs.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/21/07 09:30 PM | Houston Miscellany | Technorati | Comments (0)
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