Leaders of the Houston Police Officers Union are sounding the alarm about safety in the city as police grapple with a shortage of officers and criminal suspects roam the streets without bail.
Ray Hunt, the union’s executive director, told Fox News Digital: “In my lifetime, and I’m a lifelong Houstonian, I’ve never seen so many murder suspects and death row inmates in multiple custody on the streets of Houston.” I’ve never seen anyone walking around,” he said.
“I would not, under any circumstances, make my wife and children walk the streets of Houston in the middle of the night,” he continued. “Big cities won’t be safe in 2024, and we won’t be safe here.”
The warning comes as the Houston Police Department continues to struggle with recruiting and retaining officers, an issue plaguing police departments across the country.
“We are in a perfect storm right now,” President Douglas Griffiths said. “The George Floyd effect is over. We can’t hire. We can’t retain officers. People are leaving left and right.”
“Who on earth wants to be a police officer in 2024?” Hunt asked. “Everything they do will be second-guessed by body-worn cameras, and someone will be watching that officer three or four times to determine if their split-second judgments were correct. Who? I don’t know if I want to do that. Under the circumstances, I couldn’t encourage my family to become police officers in 2024.”
Griffith said the Houston City Council became aware of the department’s shortage 10 years ago after a 2014 Sam Houston State University report found the city was short 1,500 employees.
The warning comes as the Houston Police Department continues to struggle with recruiting and retaining officers, an issue plaguing police departments across the country.
“We are in a perfect storm right now,” President Douglas Griffiths said. “The George Floyd effect is over. We can’t hire. We can’t retain officers. People are leaving left and right.”
“Who on earth wants to be a police officer in 2024?” Hunt asked. “Everything they do will be second-guessed by body-worn cameras, and someone will be watching that officer three or four times to determine if their split-second judgments were correct. Who? I don’t know if I want to do that. Under the circumstances, I couldn’t encourage my family to become police officers in 2024.”
Griffith said the Houston City Council became aware of the department’s shortage 10 years ago after a 2014 Sam Houston State University report found the city was short 1,500 employees.
“A survey of investigative unit commanders revealed a disproportionate number of cases with leads were not investigated in 2013 due to staffing shortages,” Hunt continued. “As they write this, it’s 2014. That same year, in robbery and theft, the Homicide Division had 3,000 assaults and 3,000 hit-and-runs, nearly 15,000 cases stopped. We knew that. Everyone knew we were understaffed, and now everyone wants to say, “Wow, these cops are lazy.” They aren’t doing your job. ‘ That’s completely false. ”
“This was submitted to the city council at the time and presented to everyone. It had one council member there saying, ‘Wow, they just let us know that we have a serious staffing problem.’ The tape remains. ”
Mr Griffiths also accused the court system of “not doing its job”.
“Their argument is that we cannot detain anyone. We have to give everyone a bond, yes, for the first time. They can be held in prison. And we put people on six, seven, eight, nine bonds at a time. And that’s a problem that has to be resolved in court. We are working to ensure that these public criminals do not continue to roam the streets and victimize the public.”
Hunt said the suspect in Harris County, where Houston is located, may not appear in court for five to six years. But criminals in Montgomery County, just north of Houston, are being held accountable.
“Criminals in this area know the border between Harris and Montgomery counties. They don’t want to commit crimes in Montgomery County because they know they will be held accountable.”
Last month, police in Austin, Texas, said they were facing staffing shortages and longer response times to 911 calls after the city council voted to defund the department in 2020.
Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association, told Fox News Digital that the city is on the “brink of disaster” due to a steady decline in public safety. In February, some parts of the city were conspicuously absent for several hours on Saturdays.
