Tag Archives: police

HPD Chief Art Acevedo leaving

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Headed to Miami. Police Chief Art Acevedo is leaving Houston to take over the Miami Police Department, the chief told his officers in an email obtained by the Chronicle. Acevedo informed HPD troops in an email dated Monday, March 15, … Continue reading →

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One possible path for police reform in the Lege

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Keep an eye on this. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which oversees licensing of the state’s 102,000 police officers and jailers, could be in for a major overhaul, state officials hinted Monday morning. “This is the time to get … Continue reading →

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More on police oversight boards

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Ours in Houston isn’t very good. Some other cities do it better. We can learn from them. Houston’s police oversight board is the weakest among Texas’ five largest cities and suffers from “a complete lack of transparency and public reporting,” … Continue reading →

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A bill to ban no-knock warrants

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Probably won’t go anywhere, but well worth the effort. A bill pre-filed this week by state Rep. Gene Wu would ban no-knock warrants across Texas, marking the first major legislative response to last year’s botched drug raid that led to the deaths of … Continue reading →

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Mayor will support the task force recommendations

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good start, now let’s get it going. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday endorsed “almost all” the 104 recommendations laid out last week by his Task Force on Policing Reform. Speaking at a virtual city council meeting, Turner said a few … Continue reading →

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Here comes the police reform task force report

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Now let’s do something with it. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday rolled out his task force’s report on policing reform in Houston, but said he needed more time to digest the 153-page report before taking action on its recommendations. The … Continue reading →

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Turner signs cite-and-release order

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Monday signed an executive order authorizing a new cite-and-release program for the Houston Police Department, aiming to let people accused of certain misdemeanors off with a ticket instead of a trip to jail. Turner and … Continue reading →

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Five things we could do now for police reform in Houston

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a good list to me. Five city council members on Monday sent a letter to Mayor Sylvester Turner outlining police reforms they said Houston can implement immediately, including a “complete overhaul” of the Independent Police Oversight Board, a … Continue reading →

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Wait, you can’t cut that spending!

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is the sort of thing you come up with when you’re out of other ideas. Property tax revenue would be on the line for cities that choose to defund their police departments under a new legislative proposal pitched Tuesday … Continue reading →

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Where are we again with the IPOB?

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Are we moving forward, or are we standing still? A longtime member of Houston’s Independent Police Oversight Board has resigned, saying the organization’s structure prevents it from providing meaningful oversight of the Houston Police Department and should be disbanded. In … Continue reading →

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Introducing the George Floyd Act

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Coming this spring to the Legislature. Black lawmakers at the Texas Legislature unveiled on Thursday the George Floyd Act, a sweeping police reform proposal that would ban chokeholds across the state and require law enforcement officers to intervene or render … Continue reading →

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Give reformers a seat at the police collective bargaining table

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is a clear path forward. Chas Moore watched in shock one night in 2017 as Austin City Council voted on the city’s proposed police contract. He and other criminal justice reformers had spent months observing contract negotiations and lobbying … Continue reading →

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Criticizing the HPD narcotics audit

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s good that it was finally released, but that doesn’t mean that all questions have been answered by it. Standing outside the small house where Houston police officers conducted a raid that killed two and grievously wounded their department’s reputation, … Continue reading →

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Here comes the police task force

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Now let’s see them do something. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday announced the appointment of 45 people to a task force that will review Houston Police Department policies for potential reforms. Laurence “Larry” Payne, a former staffer of Mayor Kathy … Continue reading →

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Steps towards more transparency

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Step One: Mayor Sylvester Turner said Friday he is reviewing an internal audit of the Houston Police Department’s embattled narcotics division and will send the results of the probe to state lawmakers who have called for its public release. Turner … Continue reading →

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Release the audit

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

That’s my three-word response to this. A growing chorus of elected officials is calling on Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo to release the findings of an internal audit on his department’s narcotics division, arguing that the chief’s refusal to do … Continue reading →

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What are we going to do about that Independent Police Oversight Board?

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The easy answer is “make it better”, it’s how you do that that’s harder. As protests over George Floyd’s death swept the nation, activists in Houston cried out for police reform. Among their demands: Give us an independent police watchdog. … Continue reading →

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HISD passes its budget

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And had their own debate about police funding. Houston ISD trustees Thursday approved a $2 billion spending plan for the 2020-21 school year that includes small raises and bonuses for nearly all employees, a compromise between board members and the … Continue reading →

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The current status on local police reform efforts

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Well, the budget amendment process didn’t do much. City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved Mayor Sylvester Turner’s $5.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year, slightly increasing funds for the Houston Police Department even as some cities are under pressure … Continue reading →

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Javier Ambler

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Remember his name. Javier Ambler was driving home from playing poker on March 28, 2019, when he failed to dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic. A Williamson County sheriff’s deputy initiated a stop and began chasing him … Continue reading →

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DA dismisses charges against most protesters

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday dismissed almost 800 cases filed against protesters arrested during the George Floyd demonstrations last week in Houston. In total, prosecutors dropped 796 charges filed against 654 protesters, District Attorney Kim Ogg … Continue reading →

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Executive action on police reform

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Tuesday announced he would sign an executive order to enact some immediate reforms aimed at curtailing police violence, including requiring Houston officers to give verbal warning and exhaust all other options before firing … Continue reading →

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Commissioners Court to address police reform

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

On the agenda for today. Ten police and criminal justice reform items appear on Tuesday’s agenda; seven by Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, two by County Judge Lina Hidalgo and one by Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia. They would:  Examine … Continue reading →

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Time for a task force

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

A good step, but it needs to be followed by real action. Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to appoint a task force to review Houston Police Department policies amid growing calls for reform following local and nationwide protests over the death … Continue reading →

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Let’s talk “meaningful reform”

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Chief Acevedo brought it up, so let’s go there. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo’s voice cracked several times and his eyes welled as he railed against the death of George Floyd beneath a policeman’s knee and implored protesters to demonstrate … Continue reading →

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The George Floyd March

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Impressive. Sixty thousand people joined the family of George Floyd as well as elected officials and religious leaders today in a peaceful Houston march from Discovery Green to City Hall organized by rappers and civic activists Trae tha Truth, Bun … Continue reading →

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We now have data about police shootings of civilians

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron reviews the first year’s worth of data. Texas police reported shooting 159 people in the first year that the state tracked such cases under a groundbreaking new law. Officers in Houston shot 31 of them – compared to … Continue reading →

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“Unholstered”

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Some really good work by the Trib here. The Texas Tribune spent almost a year attempting to collect information on police shootings from departments in the state’s 36 largest cities, which have a population of 100,000 or more, and was … Continue reading →

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Abbott pushes for hate crime status for targeted killing of police officers

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Gov. Greg Abbott wants the targeted killing of a police officer to be deemed a hate crime in Texas and urged lawmakers to send him such a bill to sign … Continue reading →

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Who watches the private police departments?

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not good. A veteran state lawmaker said Monday he is outraged by televised images of Rice University police officers striking a suspected bicycle thief with batons and appalled the university can refuse to release details because it is a private … Continue reading →

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Fare enforcement for Metro

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Dodging the fare on the light rail lines could become more difficult to do. Provided a key piece of state legislation comes through, Metro officials said the plan is to have new monitors in place when the new North, East … Continue reading →

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Cancelling constables

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Like Grits, I see this as an opportunity, not a loss. Budget cuts have led two Harris County constables to cancel their security contracts with several area school districts, leaving the districts scrambling for a fix to cover the end … Continue reading →

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Should we do away with school police forces?

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Grits makes the case. If public school budgets will be radically cut in Texas, a prospect which for the moment appears all but inevitable, which employees should be eliminated first? Judging from the ongoing debate, maybe campus cops. Jason Embry … Continue reading →

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Walle files bills to address school ticketing

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A couple of weeks ago I noted a Texas Appleseed report that discussed an increase in “Class C misdemeanor ticketing and arrest of students for low-level, non-violent behavior that historically has been handled at the school level”, which it believes … Continue reading →

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