Tag Archives: HPD

Parker to sue pension boards for more information

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s pensions all the time around here. Mayor Annise Parker said Thursday that her administration is gearing up to sue the city’s pension systems to open their books and preparing a “road show” of pension reforms she will present throughout … Continue reading →

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Grand jury no-bills DA’s office

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Thus endeth one of the most fascinating local stories in recent memory. A Harris County grand jury ended its session Tuesday, ending a months-long investigation into the district attorney’s office and the Houston Police Department’s DWI testing vehicles with a … Continue reading →

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Lykos appears before the grand jury

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And that’s all we know about it. Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos testified Tuesday in a grand jury investigation of the Houston Police Department’s controversial mobile DWI testing vehicles. Because grand jury subpoenas and testimony are secret, it is … Continue reading →

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Lykos subpoenaed

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That grand jury keeps stirring things up. A grand jury investigating possible wrongdoing within the DA’s Office has officially subpoenaed DA Pat Lykos. The probe centers around problems with the Houston Police Department’s DWI testing vans. The DA’s Office will … Continue reading →

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Crime lab update

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

One way or another, Mayor Parker says we will have a new crime lab in 2012. After years of scandal, the police department will no longer run Houston’s crime lab, Mayor Annise Parker said Wednesday. The promise is among the … Continue reading →

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Grand jury requests special prosecutor

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting mighty interesting over there. A Houston grand jury that may be investigating the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Houston Police Department’s troubled breath alcohol testing vans has asked for a special prosecutor and an extension of … Continue reading →

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Council passes noise ordinance revisions

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They’re the first such changes in a decade, and are intended to make it easier to prosecute complaints. The police now can cite revelers, musicians and other noise makers for bass notes that officers can feel from the sidewalk. In … Continue reading →

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Cameras everywhere

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Red light cameras get all the attention, but there are a lot more cameras in Houston. This story about the city’s network of surveillance cameras that have been installed by the Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security gives … Continue reading →

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Red light camera tickets begin again tomorrow

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Drive appropriately. You have been warned. Houston police will begin issuing red-light camera citations Sunday at 50 intersections around the city, the latest maneuver in a protracted court battle over the controversial but lucrative traffic surveillance system. Police Chief Charles … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Harris County moves forward with new crime lab

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County is moving forward with plans to create what is being called a regional crime lab. At a meeting Tuesday, commissioners approved a plan that would lead the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences into becoming a regional crime … Continue reading →

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The city’s 2012 budget

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Cuts, deferred payments, and more cuts. Mayor Annise Parker, facing what she described as the toughest fiscal environment in more than 20 years, on Thursday proposed a $1.8 billion budget that calls for laying off 747 employees, closing pools and … Continue reading →

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Accidents down overall in Houston

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I know I said I was done litigating the red light camera question, and I am, I swear it, but I can’t let this pass without comment. Automobile accidents on Houston streets have declined 13 percent in the last five … Continue reading →

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Accidents down at former red light camera intersections

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I guess some arguments are never going to go away. In the five months after Houston voters forced city officials to turn off a camera surveillance system that fined motorists for running red lights, traffic accidents at those 50 intersections … Continue reading →

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The State of the City 2011

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s getting a little better, but we’re still not close to being in good times. The city of Houston’s budget deficit for the coming fiscal year has been whittled to roughly $80 million from $130 million, Mayor Annise Parker said … Continue reading →

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On county jails and treating mental illness

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s really only one thing that needs to be said about this op-ed, which was co-written by Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia and HPD Chief Charles McClelland. Texas ranks 49th in the nation in per capita spending on mental health … Continue reading →

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The pension problem

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know enough about the particulars of the city’s pension problems to be able to sort out the competing claims made in this story. I do know that the current system is not sustainable, and that the fight to … Continue reading →

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You really can go broke saving money

Posted on December 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas has cost itself billions of dollars over the past decade or so by doing things like cutting CHIP and thus losing out on far more federal funds than any savings achieved in the state budget. Harris … Continue reading →

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HPD braces for cuts

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

More than $15 million is going to be cut from HPD’s budget, in part to lost red light camera revenue and in part to the overall budget picture. The equivalent of more than 100 civilian jobs, including temporary workers, will … Continue reading →

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CM Johnson gets no-billed on evading arrest charge

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news for Council Member Jarvis Johnson. A Harris County grand jury has declined this morning to indict Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson on charges stemming from his arrest in June for evading arrest, according to his attorney. Johnson … Continue reading →

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The HPD crime lab backlog

Posted on October 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I just have one question about this: Lengthy waits for Houston police to test evidence for DNA is an increasingly common problem in the Harris County judicial system, prosecutors say. The understaffed HPD crime lab currently has a backlog of … Continue reading →

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HPD sends “Pay your red light camera ticket or else” letter

Posted on July 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

With predictable results. Houston police have notified 79,000 motorists that they cannot renew their vehicle registrations until they pay red light camera fines and penalties, even though Harris County officials repeatedly have said they will not prevent people from registering … Continue reading →

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Grits on the CCSI

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Scott Henson got the same information I did about the HPD “Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative” pilot program, and as always his take is worth reading. In that post, he pointed to this Malcolm Gladwell article that puts this initiative into … Continue reading →

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The Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

In the comments to my previous post about mental illness and the criminal justice system, reader Katherine reminded me of this Houston Press article from last December, about a pilot program between HPD and the Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority … Continue reading →

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DA responds to CM Johnson

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Council Member Jarvis Johnson said his piece last week about his recent arrest for not pulling over on a traffic stop. Yesterday, the Harris County District Attorney had their say about it. Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson told police he … Continue reading →

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CM Johnson speaks

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Council Member Jarvis Johnson has a few words to say about his arrest for evading police on Wednesday. “I want to be very clear about the night in question,” Johnson said at a brief news conference. “I am not going … Continue reading →

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Council Member Johnson arrested

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson was arrested Wednesday night after he initially refused to stop his vehicle immediately when a police officer tried to pull him over, officials said. Johnson is charged with evading arrest, according to the Harris … Continue reading →

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The chiefs talk about Arizona

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

HPD Chief Charles McClelland was one of several police chiefs to go to Washington and talk with Attorney General Eric Holder about why Arizona’s immigration law would be harmful to them, and why the federal government needs to finish the … Continue reading →

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Only some kinds of mistakes were made

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I probably shouldn’t be, but I was amused by this Chron story about the current state of the HPD fingerprint lab and the consultants who audited it. [HPD Assistant Chief Timothy] Oettmeier said consultants also had performed more in-depth technical … Continue reading →

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Demolition Day

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready to say goodbye to a bunch of abandoned buildings. “Demolition Day,” which Mayor Annise Parker announced in her state of the city speech last month, is the culmination of months of effort by the Houston Police Department’s Neighborhood … Continue reading →

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Still focusing on overtime

Posted on May 1, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Annise Parker talks again about trying to control HPD and HFD overtime costs as a way of bridging the city’s budget shortfall. Mayor Annise Parker provided an early picture of how she intends to close a $140 million budget … Continue reading →

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HPD suspends eight for “excessive force”

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Uh oh. Eight Houston Police Department officers from the Westside command’s gang unit have been relieved of duty in an investigation into a videotaped incident of suspected excessive force used against a suspect, Houston police union officials confirmed tonight. The … Continue reading →

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HPD and HFD overtime

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As is the case with the Harris County Sheriff’s office, the Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Department spend a lot of money on overtime. A Houston Chronicle analysis shows that most of the money — $50 million — went … Continue reading →

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Solving the jail overcrowding problem is everybody’s responsibility

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Putting it another way, we need to be choosier about whom we arrest. The Houston Police Department stopped arresting people for minor traffic violations late Thursday, hours after Sheriff Adrian Garcia told the city to slow down the flow of … Continue reading →

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Still looking for a fire chief

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve got a new police chief, but Mayor Parker is still looking for a new fire chief. Parker on Wednesday named Charles A McClelland Jr., a veteran Houston police administrator, the city’s new police chief. She concentrated that search on … Continue reading →

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