Chief Hurtt: New Chron "good guy"
Today, the Chronicle runs a puff piece by Joe Stinebaker on police chief Harold Hurtt, a local "exorcist with a badge" (but until recently, no uniform).
The article celebrates council's decision to spend $5 million on tasers on the chief's recommendation (the graphical blurb says $4 million has been spent) and to install revenue-generating red-light cameras.
While the crime lab is mentioned in the article, no mention is made of the harsh criticism the chief has received for moving so slowly on the crime lab. Nor is there any mention of the criticism the chief has received for implementing a "productivity policy" that looks suspiciously like a ticket quota system. And the article does not mention one of the biggest problems facing HPD -- a worsening manpower shortage -- or give any indication of how the chief bureaucrat plans to deal with it.
As a puff piece, it fails in one major regard. We expected a big celebration of the chief finally being able to don the HPD uniform, roughly a year after taking the job! But no such celebration is offered by Stinebaker. We'll celebrate it again for him -- and call attention to his new grooming standards as well! These are exciting times at HPD.
Interestingly, the article refers to tasers as tools by which local law enforcement can overcome the chief's perception that HPD has an "excessive force" problem. That's an interesting concern in light of KTRK-13's current story of an off-duty officer (not identified as HPD, but not identified otherwise) using a taser to subdue two women in a dispute at a local bar. One supposes that's preferable to shooting the lady dead, but it seems that Hurtt's "excessive force" concerns might still need a little work.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/27/05 11:40 AM | Houston People | Print | Comments (3)
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-09, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.