Chief Hurtt discusses Tasers and HPD staffing problems
HPD Chief Hurtt held a press conference today and shared some interesting tidbits:
Houston is one of the cities where Taser use by police will be looked at in a study funded by the Justice Department.
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt says there are enough questions surrounding taser use to warrant the federally funded study.
"Because there is so much concern about incidents where people have died after being tased that we need to do some extensive research in that area and review policy and procedure and training," said the chief.
• Response time to Code 1 calls -- the most serious -- has dropped slightly. Response time to other calls has increased slightly. He said the slower response times may be due, in part, to an increase in the number of calls requiring multiple units. Hurtt said a staffing shortage may also contribute to the slower times.
• HPD staffing continues to dwindle. The department has already lost 202 officers this year. Last year, HPD lost 465 officers, mostly to retirement.
• Sixty-three cadets will graduate from the Police Academy on Friday.
Interestingly, questions were raised about Tasers BEFORE Chief Hurtt convinced city council to pay out almost $5 million so Houston could have them. Those in charge must not have been paying attention.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 07/27/05 05:21 PM | Print |
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