Houston Seeks New Police Chief: Community Groups prioritize transparency, community focus, and crime reduction
HOUSTON - What qualities do you hope Houston's new police chief will have? That's just one question. Another? Will acting Chief Larry Satterwhite ultimately be named to that spot for good, as Mayor John Whitmire launches a search to fill the Houston Police Department's top spot.
The Afro-American Police Officer's League, LULAC and NAACP are all brainstorming right now, and coming up with their recommendations, which they plan to take to Whitmire regarding who they believe should be Houston's permanent police chief.
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"For a police chief, we always want our chief to be approachable, transparent, relatable," explains HPD Sgt. Brandon Love, who is the President of AAPOL.
We asked Sgt. Love is he hoping the chief is a minority? "We're just looking for a good chief. A chief should make sure, especially in a city this diverse, the chief should be able to hear perspectives from all backgrounds. Chief Finner, he did a great job. He deserves his flowers right now. We're going to miss him. We are excited at the fact that we have someone in-house, Chief Satterwhite, as acting chief."
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"What we're looking for in a chief is someone who leads from the front. Someone who leads with action. Someone who's open-minded and can think outside the box. I believe with our current administration we have that with Chief Satterwhite," adds HPD Sgt. Eric Carr, who's the Executive Director of AAPOL.
"Having a police chief, like Chief Finner, set the bar very high. We want someone who understands the community and our diversity. That's very important. We saw that with Chief Finner. He was there for every community from white, Black, Hispanic, Asian, inner city, outer parameters. Being from Houston gave him a tremendous advantage. We want to make sure Houstonians all feel safe no matter what neighborhood you're in, and we've got to understand public safety should not favor a zip code," says Houston NAACP President Bishop James Dixon.
"We want the new chief to really focus on the violent crime, those that impact our Latino community. That's what I'm hoping for," says Dr. Sergio Lira, President of Greater Houston LULAC. He said, "My dad's home, eight blocks away, was shot recently. 38 bullet holes in my dad's house. There are some renters that live there, and someone drove by and shot the house 38 times. Thank God, no one was hurt or killed."
"I'm praying for Houston to become a safe city where leaders work together collaboratively to solve problems on the front end. Crime prevention has to happen on the front end, not just intervention. It's not just about arresting the criminal. It's about programs in our community that assist youth," said Dixon.