Houston, TX - Not all like Parker's plan for officers

[Thunderbolt]

HOUSTON, Texas -- Mayor-elect Annise Parker's plan to dispatch the closest available peace officer to respond to emergency calls is getting mixed reviews from local law enforcement officials and crime experts, including some who worry the plan could rob other agencies of manpower and complicate criminal prosecution.

Parker's plan for HPD shortage draws mixed reviews | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

 

[loumaag]

It's funny that the main folks who are against this policy are the same folks that campaigned against Parker. This is a political hot potato and will be settled as she starts to clean house of the "deadwood" in HPD.

HPD could be one of the best police agencies in the nation, but it is held back by old school cronies that don't want to institute any change to the way things happen now, and change the cushy jobs they now hold. Just consider that it is not at all unusual to hear an officer clear a non-priority call with no action just because it is several hours old and "the complainant probably isn't there anymore" without bothering to check if that is the case.

That said, I am not sure Ms Parker is thinking completely clearly on this as she has absolutely no control over several of the police agencies she would be tapping for help. Consider that there are cities in the Houston area that are completely surrounded by Houston and have their own police departments, which are not subordinate to Houston in any way (Bellaire, any of villages, etc.) They will (and do now) assist HPD when appropriate, but they are not going to accept taking a call out of their jurisdiction just because the mayor of a different city says they should.

 

[garys]

Maybe those other agencies are different than the ones in my area in that they have all sorts of extra officers to respond to other agencies calls. I've never really seen it, but I suppose it could happen. Of course Houston could have upgraded their radios 20 years ago to be compatible with Harris county, but they didn't.

As always in Texas, it's going to be interesting.

 

[red8]

I was a deputy for over 20 years here in Louisiana, and if we were in the city of Baton Rouge where I was employed and was dispatched to a call with in the corporate limits of Baton Rouge. I had to go on the call, Providing I was the closest to it, And we didn't have interop systems like they do now. Infact if we recieved a call from someone that was inside the corporate limits of Baton Rouge, we had to dispatch a deputy.Even though Baton Rouge PD handled call from inside the city. If we didn't we would get fired. The Sheriff has parishwide or countywide jurisdiction.

 

[DaveNF2G]

The same argument happens every time someone proposes regionalization of police departments, or certain kinds of mutual aid, and a large city is involved. Everyone expects (with some justification) that once the big city is part of the arrangement, most units will be committed to inner city calls.

 

[loumaag]

... The Sheriff has parishwide or countywide jurisdiction.

Yes, but the situation here is not what you may be used to. She is not talking about Harris Co. SO, or even the Constables of whatever precinct may be involved, she is talking about the other police agencies that are operating within the outer limits of the City of Houston. As I mentioned earlier there are several separate cities that are completely surrounded by the city of Houston. I would guess that the city managers of those entities might have something to say about that proposal. :wink:

In fact, right now, and ever since I first moved into the area in 1999, whenever something "hot" is happening there is massive cooperation between agencies in that area without the Mayor of Houston becoming involved. Surprisingly enough they usually have no problem with communications either.

 

[b7spectra]

Here in Cobb County, GA., the Cobb County & Marietta Fire Departments do exactly that (especially easy since they are both dispatched by Cobb County). Personally, I'm all for a wholly county/city based police/sheriff/fire/ems department where the entire county is a single Police Department, Fire Department, etc., that way you have no problem dispatching the closest unit. Also saves LOTS of tax payers dollars just having to pay for a single entity.