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136-696: HPD's jurisdiction often overlaps with several other law enforcement agencies, among them the Harris County Sheriff's Office and the Harris County Constable Precincts. HPD is the largest municipal police department in Texas. Houston was founded by brothers Augustus and John Kirby Allen in 1836 and incorporated as a city the next year, 1837. As the capital city of the Republic of Texas , it quickly grew, and so did

272-436: A 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -hour morning newscast on Saturday morning, hour-long newscasts at 10 p.m. on Saturday and on Sunday morning, and half-hours at 6 p.m. on Saturday and 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunday. The station also airs KHOU 11 Sports Extra, which features extensive Sunday night sports coverage and commentary, following its 10 p.m. newscast on Sunday night. Throughout its existence, KHOU has been widely regarded as

408-501: A 30-minute delay (beginning at 12:07 a.m. CT) since the show first premiered in 1995, fitting a syndicated sitcom, game show or tabloid news program between the two shows. Because the latter program's original host, Tom Snyder , had a simulcast with the CBS Radio Network (which aired locally on KPRC-AM ) and took calls from viewers during his stint as host, KHOU asked via disclaimer for Houston area viewers to not call

544-554: A high definition digital signal. On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo for $ 1.5 billion and the assumption of debt, marking the company's entry into the Texas market and ending KHOU's nearly three decades of ownership by Belo The sale was completed on December 23. Two years later, on June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and

680-583: A 700-square-mile (1,800 km) area. HPD has two helicopters in the air for up to 21 hours a day. All pilots and tactical flight officers are sworn Houston police officers. Most Houston police officers now carry SIG Sauer P229 , SIG Sauer P226 , SIG Sauer P220 , Glock 22 , Glock 23 or the Smith & Wesson M&P40 .40 (S&W) caliber semi-automatic handguns. They are also armed with TASER X26 tasers . Tenured officers whose handguns are " grandfathered in" are still allowed to carry their weapons after

816-541: A CBS affiliate, and has largely cleared the entire CBS network lineup without interruption. In addition to its newscasts, KHOU also airs Great Day Houston , a local talk show hosted by Deborah Duncan with paid segments from local businesses in Houston, following CBS Mornings . The talk show, which has aired on the station since 2005, is taped at KHOU's studios on Westheimer Road west of the Galleria. KHOU also serves as

952-588: A Motorist's Bill of Rights and were required to pay a sum to the City of Houston after the towing had taken place. The program was initially very unpopular among Houston residents. Frequent complaints were that the program unfairly punished lower-income motorists by enforcing a high towing fee and that the program could potentially damage vehicles that required special tow trucks and equipment to be safely towed away. Other complaints were that stranded motorists did not have an option to choose their own garage. The city and

1088-463: A UHF rebroadcaster of KHOU's digital signal (which remains on VHF channel 11). On February 22, 2022, Tegna announced that it would be acquired by Standard General and Apollo Global Management for $ 5.4 billion. As a part of the deal, KHOU and KTBU, along with their Austin sister station KVUE and Dallas sister stations WFAA and KMPX , would be resold to Cox Media Group . The sale was canceled on May 22, 2023. Since its inception, KHOU has been

1224-484: A breakout year for KHOU, with its newscasts reaching #1 in viewership in several timeslots during the May sweeps period, unseating KTRK during the midday hours, and at 5 p.m. (it debuted in May 1974) and 6 p.m., which also coincided with CBS' resurgence to number one in prime time by that year. The station's ratings boost, aided by its continuously strong syndicated lineup and a series of high-profile investigative reports by

1360-456: A competitive ratings race during the 1990s. Its resurgent newscasts, combined with a strong syndicated programming lineup, helped to sustain the station through what would be a turbulent ratings period for CBS, which lost broadcast rights to NFL games in addition to several of its largest affiliates (including its longtime affiliates in Dallas and Austin ) during this time. 1999 proved to be

1496-729: A decrease of 10.4% since Safe Clear's implementation. In December 2004, Chief Hurtt stated that he was looking in to installing red light cameras that would automatically ticket drivers that ran red lights . He had previously overseen the installation of cameras in Oxnard, California , where following the installation, side-impact collisions had decreased by 68 percent. In the same month, the Houston City Council unanimously voted for red light camera enforcement. After, Texas State Representative Gary Elkins (R-TX) introduced legislation to deter Houston from amending its city charter for

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1632-510: A feed from the station's doppler radar for roughly 90 minutes until the station could resume its breaking news coverage which lasted the entire weekend. During Hurricane Ike , which hit the Texas Gulf Coast in mid-September 2008, KHOU's storm coverage was distributed nationwide via DirecTV and XM Satellite Radio , as well as through a live feed on the station's website. On August 21, 2017, KHOU began covering Hurricane Harvey as

1768-480: A joint venture between the City of Houston and the Houston Police Department. The intention of the program was to decrease the freeway accidents and traffic jams that occurred due to stalled drivers. Select tow truck companies across the city were authorized to tow a stalled vehicle as soon as possible after being notified by an HPD officer. Persons having their vehicle towed were provided with

1904-469: A legendary broadcaster for Major League Baseball and NFL Films ) and Ron Franklin (later with ESPN ). Outside of broadcasting, one of its former sports anchors, Dan Patrick , eventually became Lieutenant Governor of Texas . KHOU also has gained a reputation for its investigative reporting staff (currently known as KHOU 11 Investigates ), whose most notable stories include its 2000 investigation into defective tire designs by Firestone – which led to

2040-566: A local mother. She told them that her son, Josiah Sutton, had been tried for rape in 1999 and found guilty based upon HPD Crime Lab testing. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. So KHOU began to take an intensive look at the Sutton case. Raziq and Werner analyzed the HPD lab's DNA report with the help of DNA expert Bill Thompson of the University of California-Irvine. They found obvious mistakes in

2176-445: A local news powerhouse in that city), Belo began to make significant investments into KHOU, which had become one of CBS' weakest affiliates during the 1980s under the final years of Dun & Bradstreet ownership. With the addition of stronger syndicated programming including the popular game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (both of which were picked up from KPRC-TV) and The Oprah Winfrey Show (which KTRK-TV turned down),

2312-547: A main team consisting of anchors Steve Smith and Marlene McClinton (who the station hired from WMAQ-TV in Chicago), chief meteorologist Dr. Neil Frank and sports director Giff Nielsen (a former Houston Oilers quarterback who became KHOU's lead sports anchor following his retirement from the NFL in 1984), along with a new set, graphics and theme music, KHOU began to mount a serious challenge to its longtime competitors, evolving into

2448-469: A move to a second floor conference room proved to only be a short-term option, though critical equipment (such as the studio's robotic cameras) was also moved up to the second floor before the flooding became worse. The station's brand-new news set (which had debuted in November 2016), weather center, newsroom and master control were destroyed by the floodwaters, which rose up to five feet (2 m) within

2584-647: A newscast until January 5, 2020, when it launched a new Sunday Morning newscast from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. prior to CBS Sunday Morning , with the hour instead being filled by one of CBS's three hours of E/I programming which KHOU preempted to carry a Saturday morning newscast in between the two hours of CBS This Morning Saturday . Following the launch of the Sunday morning newscast and subsequent changes in federal regulations on children's television programming , KHOU has since aired two of CBS's three hours of E/I programming from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, followed by

2720-400: A picture–in–picture treatment or split–screen format for viewers in Houston to continue watching the game while the weather report was issued. KHOU made no public apology for the interruption incident. The station's signal is multiplexed : On September 26, 2011, KHOU began broadcasting Bounce TV on its second digital subchannel (which originally launched as a quasi-independent station) upon

2856-641: A secondary street-side studio at the George R. Brown Convention Center along Avenida Houston . The studio opened in the fall of 2018, and is primarily used for its weekday newscasts. This setup is similar to that of Dallas sister station WFAA's Victory Park studio, which opened a decade earlier in January 2007. On March 29, 2018, KHOU announced that it had signed a lease for 43,000 square feet (3,995 m ) of space at 5718 Westheimer Road near Uptown Houston ( Galleria area). The station occupies three floors of

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2992-596: A slicktop roof and gray, reflective "HOUSTON POLICE" graphics on the side as well as on the front bumper, and hidden emergency lights that are driven by uniformed officers. The Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor is also used in this manner - as of late 2011 the stealth patrol vehicles are now painted black. The stealth squads have been supplemented with 14 Ford Taurus Police Interceptors in early 2014 (painted black). Solo (motorcycle) officers use Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The patrol vehicle livery, painted white with blue lettered graphics dating back to 1999 (which replaced

3128-419: A stepping stone for many well-known television news personalities, as many of its reporters have gone on to work for national networks. KHOU's best known former on-air staffers include former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather , NBC News correspondent Dennis Murphy , newswomen Linda Ellerbee and Jessica Savitch , and sports anchors Jim Nantz (now the lead announcer for CBS Sports), Harry Kalas (later

3264-465: A subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet in 1971. In June 1959, the station changed its callsign to KHOU-TV (the "-TV" suffix was dropped from the call letters the week following the June 12, 2009, digital transition, as most Belo stations did at the time) and had its city of license relocated to Houston. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license listed both the Houston and Galveston service areas for

3400-520: A time. On April 24, 1960, the station moved to its first Houston facilities at 1945 Allen Parkway , along Buffalo Bayou in the Neartown neighborhood west of downtown Houston . In 1984, Dun & Bradstreet sold its entire broadcasting division, including KHOU, to the Belo Corporation , who spun off its Beaumont station, KFDM-TV (channel 6) in order to comply with FCC regulations at

3536-561: A tumultuous period during the early 1970s, when Stone departed for a radio reporter role with NBC News in New York and Lasher died from a fatal heart attack in a station breakroom shortly after KHOU's 6 p.m. newscast concluded one night. Stone would eventually return to Houston in 1972 to become the lead anchor at KPRC-TV, and helped that station to overtake KHOU as the leading news station in Houston; both stations would eventually be overtaken by KTRK-TV, whose Eyewitness News came to dominate

3672-614: Is divided further into one or more beats . Stations are operated and staffed 24 hours a day. HPD also operates 29 store front locations throughout the city. These store fronts are not staffed 24 hours a day, and generally open at either 7:00 or 8:00 AM, and close at 5:00 PM. Downtown Houston is patrolled by the Downtown Division, and the Houston Airport System facilities have their own divisions. A map of all stations and store front locations can be found at

3808-515: Is headed by a chief of police appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. This position is aided by two executive assistant chiefs, ten assistant chiefs, 44 captains, approximately 220 lieutenants and 900 sergeants. HPD headquarters, 1200 Travis , is in Downtown Houston . The Chief of Police is J. Noe Diaz. HPD divides the city into 13 patrol divisions. Each division is divided into one or more districts and each district

3944-483: Is headquartered on the first and second floors in the 1200 Baker Street Jail in Downtown Houston . As of the 2010 U.S. census , the county had a population of 4.1 million, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston. The Harris County Sheriff's Office has approximately 3,500 employees and is the largest sheriff 's office in

4080-426: Is planned would be about equal to 500,000 police hours of which would help bolster various departments including, vice, Westside patrol and traffic enforcement, among other areas including a new 60-member crime reduction unit that will serve as a citywide tactical squad. The police chief said the effort will put more officers to work immediately in troubled areas of the city such as Third Ward and Acres Homes , where

4216-525: Is the primary law enforcement agency in the 1,118 square miles (2,900 km ) of unincorporated area of Harris County, serving as the equivalent of the county police for the approximately 1,071,485 people living in the unincorporated areas of the county. In Texas, sheriffs and their deputies are fully empowered peace officers with county-wide jurisdiction and thus, may legally exercise their authority in unincorporated and incorporated areas of their county; they primarily provide law enforcement services for only

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4352-661: The Atascocita boot camp in 1991, but it closed in September 2004 as the county decided that its rehabilitation value was questionable. The vocational programs, once at the camp, were transferred to the Downtown area. On February 15, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened a federal civil rights investigation into the jail after dozens of inmate deaths in the past few years: 21 in 2021, 28 in 2022, and 4 in

4488-477: The E. W. Scripps Company ). In June 2019, KHOU engaged in a similar rebranding process for its 4 p.m. newscast, rebranded as The 411 , emphasizing a conceptual format and on-air graphics style similar to that of its morning newscast. KHOU has since dropped the HTownRush branding for its morning newscast as of 2022, instead rebranding as KHOU 11 Morning News . Unlike most CBS affiliates, the station did not air

4624-604: The Fair Labor Standards Act due to their managerial responsibilities. After 12 years of HPD service and obtaining a TCOLE Master Peace Officer certification, an officer becomes a senior officer. This rank was created in 2001. Promotion to sergeant through captain all occur via a civil service formula that factors into account performance on the written examination for the respective rank, assessment score, years of service, and level of higher education or 4 years of military service. Officers are eligible to take

4760-626: The Glock 30 and Smith & Wesson M&P 45c . Also in 2013, HPD began to issue the TASER X2 in place of the TASER X26. As of September 2015, M1911 pistols in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP are authorized for uniformed officers as well as 9mm and .45 ACP versions of all previously authorized pistols. Plainclothes officers are now authorized to carry the Glock 43 or Smith & Wesson M&P Shield as their primary weapon. As of January 2016,

4896-737: The Houston Rockets ' 1981 and 1986 appearances in the NBA Finals (both losses to the Boston Celtics; all Rockets games broadcast through CBS' NBA broadcast contract were aired on KHOU from 1973 to 1990) and the University of Houston men's basketball team's two NCAA National Championship appearances in 1983 and 1984 —all via their national coverage by CBS Sports . KHOU also carried Southwest Conference football and men's basketball games (with an emphasis on games involving

5032-640: The National Guard to preserve the peace. The jurisdiction of the Harris County Sheriff's Office often overlaps with several other law enforcement agencies, among them the Texas Highway Patrol , the eight Harris County Constable Precincts, and several municipal police agencies including the city of Houston Police Department . The duties of a Texas sheriff generally include keeping the county jail, providing bailiffs for

5168-538: The SIG Sauer P320 in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP is approved for uniformed officers to carry. Also, EOTech electronic optical sights have been removed from the list of red dot sights that are allowed on patrol rifles. However, Aimpoint electronic optical sights are still allowed. Officers graduating from Cadet Class 231 or later are only authorized to carry the SIG Sauer P320, the Glock 17 , or

5304-538: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit . On July 2, 2007, Mayor Bill White started a new program called the "Mobility Response Team". Staffed by traffic enforcement officers patrol within the loop clearing traffic problems. They report traffic light outages, issue parking citations, help clear and direct traffic around minor accidents, or traffic jams during special events in

5440-535: The University of Houston and Rice University ) on Saturday afternoons before the conference folded in 1996, as well as CBS' broadcasts of the 2011 and the 2023 NCAA Final Fours and Super Bowls VIII (1974) and XXXVIII (2004)—all of which took place in Houston. Presently, KHOU may also carry select games from the National Women's Soccer League 's Houston Dash and select SEC football games involving Texas A&M and LSU (which have large fanbases in

5576-498: The "Spirit of Texas" slogan and (initially) TM Productions ' "Spirit" music package that originated at its Dallas sister station WFAA. In January 1989, KHOU revamped the appearance of its newscasts, with an image campaign that included full-page ads in the Houston Chronicle and Post , as well as an on-air promotional campaign that focused more on ordinary citizens throughout Greater Houston than on its news team. With

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5712-689: The "crown Vic" (procurement of the Crown Vic ended in April 2011 when the orders were filled), The department has chosen to phase in the Chevy Tahoe PPV and Ford Police Interceptor Utility (Explorer) as the successor to the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor . The department is continuing to test new Chevy Caprice PPV models and Ford Taurus Interceptors (including the fifth-generation Explorer) as well -

5848-472: The 2010 Texas gubernatorial elections to eliminate red-light cameras passed. The referendum that passed in November 2010 was later invalidated by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes June 17, 2011 citing that the referendum violated the city charter despite the contract with American Traffic Solutions, which provided the camera equipment. The cameras were expected to be reactivated after midnight on July 24, 2011; plans were underway to have this judicial ruling heard by

5984-694: The AFC, most Texans games—including all road games against NFC opponents—are aired on CBS (which has held the contract to carry AFC games since the 1998 season), and are therefore aired locally on KHOU. The station also served as the over-the-air outlet for all of the Texans' appearances on Thursday Night Football until 2018 (when Fox picked up the full rights to the Thursday night package that lasted until 2021, thus moving those telecasts locally to KRIV), and have aired simulcasts of ESPN's Monday Night Football in

6120-551: The Austin or San Antonio PD after 80,000 miles) - some squads dating over 10 model years old which are no longer used for patrol duty are usually reassigned either as bait squads (HPD will park an unmanned squad in a high crime area or illegal dumping site) or the Mobility Response Division - the older HPD fleet used by Mobility Response have been retired and replaced with Ford F150 extended cab pickup trucks from

6256-557: The CBS local TV station KHOU began broadcasting a multi-part investigation into the accuracy of the HPD Crime Lab's findings. Particularly of interest to the reporters were criminal cases that involved DNA analysis and serological (body fluid) testing. Night after night journalists David Raziq, Anna Werner and Chris Henao presented case after case in which the lab's work was dangerously sloppy or just plain wrong and may have been sending

6392-492: The Central and Mountain time zones, as most network affiliates often program a 6 p.m. newscast during the traditional access hour (7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT) before prime time, with KTRK itself having aired an hourlong 6 p.m. newscast in this hour since September 1982. In 1987, KHOU refused to air a television adaptation of the then-popular Garbage Pail Kids trading card series on Saturday mornings, owing to concerns regarding

6528-708: The City of Houston Planning Department, which was renamed the Neighborhood Protection Corps in 2005. Annise Parker , Mayor White's successor, moved the Neighborhood Protection Corps into the Department of Neighborhoods when the new city division was established in August 2011 - the NPC was renamed as the Inspections and Public Service division of the Department of Neighborhoods. In November 2002,

6664-429: The City of Houston's first African-American mayor in 1998. While Brown was considered a successful chief, he also earned the unflattering moniker "Out of Town Brown" for his many lengthy trips away from Houston during his tenure. Brown's appointment was controversial from the start. Traditional HPD officers frowned upon Brown because he was an outsider from Atlanta, Georgia where he was the police commissioner; to become

6800-494: The Columbia Blue livery last used in 1998 and retired a decade later), is being phased out for a black and white color scheme where 100 vehicles are painted from $ 60,000 earmarked from asset forfeiture funds (under HPD policy the previous livery is still used in service until official retirement). HPD squads are usually retired when the vehicle reaches 100,000 miles (they are not reassigned to reserve or secondary duty as with

6936-510: The Gulf of Mexico led to catastrophic flooding throughout the metropolitan area, with much of the flooding being unprecedented in many places. On the early morning of Sunday, August 27, KHOU was forced to evacuate its studios due to rising floodwaters from the nearby Buffalo Bayou. Around 6 a.m., the first floor of the building became inundated with floodwaters, forcing station employees to completely abandon its facility nearly three hours later after

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7072-471: The HPD addressed these concerns with program improvements that provided funds to pay for short tows that removed stalled vehicles from the freeway and then allowed drivers to choose their own garage and tow companies once they were safely off the freeway. Studies released in February 2006 indicate that Safe Clear has been successful during its fledgling year. There were 1,533 fewer freeway accidents in 2005,

7208-536: The HPD installed the city's first traffic light . This traffic light was manually operated until 1927, when automatic traffic lights were installed. As Houston became a larger metropolis throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the HPD found itself growing and acquiring more technology to keep up with the city's fast pace. The first homicide division was established in 1930. During that same year, the HPD purchased newer weapons to arm their officers: standard issue .44 caliber revolvers and two Thompson submachine guns . In 1939,

7344-427: The HPD web site. The Houston Police Department administrative offices and investigative offices are at 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston . The 61 Riesner site houses the HPD central patrol office, the municipal jail, and the transportation department. The 33 Artesian facility houses the communication and maintenance facilities. In December 2013 the city announced that it has plans to build a new headquarters for HPD and

7480-666: The Harris County jail facilities together have a capacity for 9,434 inmates; at time they have held over 12,000. Due to the excess number of prisoners, the HCSO had to ship inmates to other jails, including some in Louisiana ; in June 2010 1,600 Harris County inmates were serving time at other jails. By January 2012 the Harris County jails had 8,573, a decrease by 31% from 2008 to 2012, and there were only 21 inmates serving time in other jail facilities, all in Texas. The county opened

7616-558: The Houston Public Media facilities. On November 16, 2017, KHOU officially announced it would not return to the Allen Parkway facility; the building would eventually be sold to an affiliate of Service Corporation International (whose headquarters are located in an office building adjacent to the former KHOU studios) and was eventually demolished the following May. In December 2017, KHOU announced that it would open

7752-592: The Houston and surrounding areas which out paces national trends. According to the investigation HPD pursued more high-speed chases than Los Angeles; more than Chicago; and more than the next three largest Texas cities after Houston (San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin) combined. The investigation also found that more than eighty percent of the pursuits were done in Black and or Latino communities and were in pursuit of Black and or Brown people. The Houston Police Helicopter Division celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2010. The unit

7888-476: The Houston area) via their leagues' respective CBS Sports contracts. KHOU presently broadcasts 33 hours, 55 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 5 hours, 35 minutes each weekday, three hours on Saturdays, and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours on Sundays). On weekdays, this includes a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -hour morning newscast from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., a full hour at 4 p.m., and half-hours at noon, 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Its weekend newscasts include

8024-502: The Houston market for the next several decades and which had become one of ABC's strongest affiliates by the end of the decade, eventually becoming one of the network's owned-and-operated stations in 1986. While the station did hire former KPRC-TV lead anchor Steve Smith away from KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh to become its lead anchor in 1975 (a role he maintained for the next 24 years at the station), KHOU continued to trail its rivals as

8160-554: The LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting on the campus of the University of Houston . At various times, WFAA, along with Tegna NBC affiliate KUSA in Denver , provided assistance with weather graphics and master control. Due to technical difficulties, WFAA originated the August 27 edition of the 10 p.m. news that was simulcast in both cities. Eventually a reliable signal was established an hour later from KUHT's studios at

8296-598: The Melcher Center and storm coverage continued. KHOU is the third commercial station in Houston to utilize a part of the UH campus for its facilities, after ill-fated KNUZ-TV (channel 39) from 1953 to 1954 and KTRK-TV (channel 13) from its 1954 launch until its 1961 move to its current studios in the Upper Kirby district. On the evening of August 31, the station resumed CBS programming with its prime time lineup. For

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8432-626: The Smith & Wesson M&P in 9mm as their primary weapon while in uniform. These are the current ranks of the Houston Police Department: Those with the rank of sergeant or above are supervisors and are issued gold badges whereas officers are issued silver badges. Lieutenants and above may also be referred to as commanders. For example, they hold position titles including "shift commander", "night commander", "division commander", etc. They are also exempt employees under

8568-547: The Truck Enforcement Unit. Around 2016 the Houston Chronicle revealed that some of the older squads are still in service but the breakdown rate has increased - a 100,000 mile marked squad (or 120,000 mile unmarked vehicle) has the life expectancy of an automobile with 300,000 miles with regular maintenance. At the time HPD ordered 50 new Ford Police Interceptor Utilities for the command staff but not

8704-557: The air on March 22, 1953, as KGUL-TV (either Gulf of Mexico or seagull ). It was founded by Paul Taft of the Taft Broadcasting Co. (no relation to the Cincinnati -based company of the same name nor its associated Taft family ). Originally licensed to Galveston , it was the second television station to debut in the Houston market (after KPRC-TV , channel 2), taking the secondary CBS affiliation from KPRC-TV as

8840-582: The area. The duties will only involve surface streets and not the freeways and will be using scooters and police cruisers fitted with yellow flashing lights rather than the typical red and blue lights. This was part of the mayor's plan to improve mobility in city and is the first of its kind in the United States. The city's mobility response team cost $ 1.8 million a year to operate. Hurtt spent around $ 24 million on overtime pay through 2010. That money would continue to bolster an understaffed force as police commanders try to increase their ranks. The overtime that

8976-499: The black community during the Jim Crow era. In Race and the Houston Police Department , author and academic Dwight Watson writes that "HPD zealously enforced racial segregation in Houston". In 1967, a civil rights protest at Texas Southern University turned into what police say was a riot. One officer was killed and nearly 500 students were arrested. It was as a result of these riots that the still-active Community Relations Division

9112-493: The bodies of seven women have been found in the past two years. The crime rate, particularly for violent offenses, since the latter part of 2005, when an influx of hurricane evacuees increased the city's population by more than 100,000, and incidents spiked in certain neighborhoods. In 2013 Jo DePrang of the Texas Observer wrote that "According to citizens, community activists, a veteran Houston police officer and even

9248-443: The building. Additionally, the station's over the air signal, including its CBS and diginet feeds, were knocked off the air as computers and other equipment became submerged by floodwaters, with staff relegated to providing updates on social media . After KHOU's signal was knocked off the air, sister station WFAA began providing live news coverage for KHOU by live-streaming on both station's websites and social media profiles until

9384-404: The chief with the approval of the mayor. Such individuals must hold at least a master's degree and have 5 years of HPD service. It is not required to move through every rank below to achieve a higher rank. For example, many officers promote directly to sergeant without ever being senior officers. Also, many assistant chiefs are promoted directly from the rank of lieutenant. Councilman C.O. Bradford

9520-404: The city courts. By the end of 1989 the police department had established 19 storefronts and planned to open 10 additional storefronts in 1990. In 2023, HPD had the highest median overall pay of all City of Houston departments, at $ 97,792. A 2023 investigation found that the rate of officers per capita is above the national median for large cities, at 2.23 officers per 1,000 residents. As of 2015,

9656-413: The county and district courts within his county and serving process issued by said courts, and providing general law enforcement services to residents. The current sheriff of Harris County is Ed Gonzalez, elected in 2016 and has been in office since January 1, 2017. John Moore was sworn in as the first sheriff of what was then called Harrisburg County (later renamed Harris County) in February 1837. Among

9792-584: The crime lab. The New York Times asked the question, "Worst Crime Lab in the Country?" in a March 2003 article. Beginning in early 2003, the HPD Crime Lab began cooperating with outside DNA testing facilities to review criminal cases involving cases or convictions associated with Crime Lab evidence. However, this again came as a result of some prompting investigatory work done by the TV station KHOU. Reporters David Raziq, Anna Werner and Chris Henao got an e-mail from

9928-496: The decade from NBC's strong prime time programming of the 1980s. Its newscasts fared even worse than CBS' own floundering network programming itself at the time, occasionally even placing behind syndicated reruns on independent stations in the Houston market. Having achieved considerable success with the news department of its flagship station in Dallas, WFAA, since the 1970s, Belo sought to seek similar results for KHOU, and beginning in

10064-418: The decade progressed. A string of notable departures also did not help the station's cause, including the 1976 departure of chief meteorologist Doug Brown (who himself succeeded Lasher) to KTRK where he became that station's longtime morning meteorologist, and the subsequent departures to KPRC of news anchors Bob Nicholas (one of Houston's first African-American news anchors) in 1979 and Bill Balleza in 1980, with

10200-628: The department proudly presented its first police academy class. The Houston Police Officers Association (HPOA) was created in 1945. This organization later became the Houston Police Officers Union. The first African American woman police officer on the force, Margie Duty , joined the HPD in 1953, starting in the Juvenile Division. Some historians have asserted that the HPD enforced an oppressive racial system that targeted blacks for harassment and failed to protect

10336-731: The department uses a large number of Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors as their main fleet of patrol vehicles which was first ordered in 1996 replacing the Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 (used between 1988 and in patrol service until 2004 (replacing the Ford LTD Crown Victoria squads to 1987 along with M-bodied Mopars (primarily the Plymouth Gran Fury (both R and M platform) last used in 1989)). They have Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor models from dating from 1999 to 2011. Since Ford no longer produces

10472-452: The diginets, which would finally return on October 12. Around the same time, the station's on-air look returned to normal with full news and weather graphics restored and program guide listings on the terrestrial signal. A temporary news set, similar in design to its previous news set destroyed in the Harvey floods with additional brick accents, would eventually be constructed for the station at

10608-524: The dismissal of several HISD officials. All of these stories were initially reported by investigative reporter Anna Werner, who eventually went on to become the chief investigative reporter for CBS News . Despite not being historically associated with a major newspaper, and being based in Galveston for most of the 1950s, news has always played an integral role in the history of KHOU. The station gained notoriety in 1961 when then-anchor Dan Rather showed what

10744-553: The employees' punishments . Irma Rios was hired in 2003 as Lab Director, replacing Interim Lab Director Frank Fitzpatrick. In May 2005, the Houston Police Department announced that with much effort and coordination on their part, they had received national accreditation through the American Society of Crime Lab Directors (ASCLD). The ASCLD stated that the lab had met or exceeded standards for accreditation in all areas except DNA. Through independent research and testing, it

10880-403: The establishment of the Harris County Sheriff's Department, 45 officers have died in the line of duty. The Harris County Sheriff's Office's correction facilities are located in Downtown Houston , all within a block of one another. They include the 1200 Jail (located at 1200 Baker Street), the 701 Jail, and the 1307 Jail. Previously 1301 Franklin and 301 San Jacinto were jails. As of 2012

11016-457: The first month, the station only broadcast its main HD channel while its two subchannels (at the time Bounce TV and Justice Network ) remained shut down. The following week, on September 4, KHOU began to reuse parts of its previous 2011–2016 news set in the temporary studio. On October 4, the subchannels returned as widescreen SD simulcasts of the main channel in preparation for the eventual return of

11152-482: The first station in the market to do so. On September 7, 2009, KHOU-TV expanded its weekday morning newscast with the addition of the 4:30 a.m. program First Look ; despite being the last station in the Houston market to launch a 4:30 a.m. newscast, KHOU was the only station in the market to announce its intentions to do so (three of Houston's major network affiliates – KHOU, KTRK-TV and KPRC-TV – launched 4:30 a.m. newscasts within three weeks of each other in

11288-512: The first two months of 2023. KHOU KHOU (channel 11) is a television station in Houston, Texas , United States, affiliated with CBS . It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Conroe -licensed Quest station KTBU (channel 55). The two stations share studios on Westheimer Road near Uptown Houston ; KHOU's transmitter is located near Missouri City , in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County . The station first signed on

11424-610: The following year), Face the Nation began airing its full hour at 9:30 a.m., where the first half-hour had already been airing for years, with the religious broadcast from Second Baptist Church continuing to air at 10:30 a.m. In 2002 , the Houston Texans joined the NFL as the league's 32nd franchise, as part of the American Football Conference 's newly formed South Division . Being part of

11560-602: The full broadcast of CBS Saturday Morning leading into KHOU's Saturday morning newscast from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. On November 24, 2022, KHOU was criticized for interrupting a Thanksgiving Day game between the Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions for a tornado warning with 23 seconds left in the game, causing viewers to miss a last second game-winning field goal by the Bills. The station did not incorporate

11696-499: The high-rise in facilities that include two studios, two control rooms, an open collaboration space for all content producing departments, technical operations, sales and executive offices. The station began its operations from its new facility on Sunday, February 17, 2019, during its 10 p.m. newscast. On January 21, 2020, KHOU would gain a sister station when Tegna acquired KTBU (channel 55) from Spanish Broadcasting System which had been airing its Mega TV service over that station;

11832-514: The innocent to prison while letting the guilty go free. As a result of those broadcasts, at the end of the week the Houston Police Department declared they would have a team of independent scientists audit the lab and its procedures. However, the audit's findings were so troublesome that one month later, in mid- December, HPD closed the DNA section of the laboratory. Not only did the audit bolster KHOU's report but also found that samples were contaminated and

11968-409: The lab's files were very poorly maintained. The audit revealed that a section of the lab's roof was leaking into sample-containment areas, lab technicians were seriously undereducated or unqualified for their jobs, samples had been incorrectly tagged, and samples had been contaminated through improper handling. Worse, many people had been convicted and sent to prison based upon the evidence contained in

12104-419: The last ABC-owned station to carry the quiz show. However, KHOU continues to carry Wheel of Fortune at 6:30 p.m., making Houston one of the few markets in the United States where both game shows air on separate stations; in most markets, both game shows are sold as a package, often airing next to one another on the same station in prime time access. Both shows rarely air next to each other in most markets in

12240-519: The late 1980s hired several high-profile people to its news team. The most notable was former National Hurricane Center director Dr. Neil Frank , who was hired as the station's chief meteorologist in July 1987. In another key move, KHOU also hired former KTRK morning anchor Sylvan Rodriguez (then a correspondent with ABC News ' West Coast bureau) to anchor the station's early evening newscasts. During this time, KHOU also commissioned an image rebrand using

12376-468: The late summer of 2009 with little fanfare). On August 1, 2011, KHOU debuted a new half-hour newscast at 4 p.m. on weekdays to replace The Oprah Winfrey Show ; this would expand to a full hour in 2015 after losing the Houston rights to Jeopardy! to KTRK. Like many CBS and ABC stations in other markets, KHOU has also expanded its weekend 10 p.m. news broadcast to a full hour, including the aforementioned KHOU 11 Sports Extra on Sunday nights. In 2018,

12512-437: The latter also joined that year by the aforementioned Ron Franklin, who moved to KHOU to fill the same role of sports director at KPRC. As a result, channel 11 crashed to last place, and would largely remain entrenched in this position throughout the 1980s. When Belo acquired KHOU in 1984, the station continued to trail behind dominant KTRK and NBC affiliate KPRC, which usually placed a strong second and would further benefit in

12648-604: The local television broadcaster of Houston's annual Thanksgiving Day parade, the H-E-B Holiday Parade . Despite being in a market with an ABC-owned station (KTRK-TV), Jeopardy! aired on KHOU from 1986 to 2015 and Wheel of Fortune has aired on that station since 1986 despite their presence on ABC's other network-owned stations along with another ABC O&O syndication staple, The Oprah Winfrey Show , which KHOU carried for its entire run from 1986 to 2011. Jeopardy! moved to KTRK on September 14, 2015, making it

12784-403: The mainstream vehicle fleet (the department has procured newer vehicles but the budget crunch has taken in a few new orders whilst the older squads are still operational. A budget crunch in major Texas cities is partly to blame where municipal budgets are usually slashed including priority spending for first responders. Most modern HPD Patrol cars today are Blue and white saying " HOUSTON POLICE" on

12920-471: The mandated .40 (S&W) requirement. This allows some officers to still carry .38 Special , .357 Magnum , .44 Magnum , and .45 Colt revolvers. Chief Charles McClelland while chief, carried a Colt 1911 Mk. IV Government Model as his sidearm. Officers are also allowed to carry an AR-15 rifle, Ruger Mini-14 rifle, Remington 870 shotgun, Benelli M1 Super 90 shotgun and M2 Super 90 shotgun. The SWAT unit uses several kinds of automatic weapons, and

13056-573: The mandatory recall of Wilderness AT, Firestone ATX and ATX II tires, as well as numerous lawsuits (the defective tires resulted in a number of deaths, including that of KTRK reporter Stephen Gauvain), a story in the early 2000s that led to the shutdown of the Houston Police Department 's crime lab, and allegations of dropout rate fraud in the Houston Independent School District , which resulted in

13192-465: The need for a cohesive law enforcement agency. The Houston Police Department was founded in 1841. The first HPD badge issued bore the number "1." The early part of the 20th century was a time of enormous growth for both Houston and for the Houston Police Department. Due to growing traffic concerns in downtown Houston, the HPD purchased its first automobile in 1910 and created its first traffic squad during that same year. Eleven years later, in 1921,

13328-453: The network on March 27, 2020; in February 2021, the fourth digital subchannel became an affiliate of Twist . The fifth digital subchannel, Circle , which is 50 percent owned by Gray Television with the other half owned by a subsidiary of Ryman Hospitality Properties ' Opry Entertainment Group , debuted with the network on January 1, 2020. Bounce TV moved to KPXB-DT2 in January 2022. Twist and Circle were both shut down on December 31, 2023;

13464-479: The network's late night offerings of the era were considered to be less lucrative compared to syndicated offerings. Beginning in 1993, KHOU (like most CBS affiliates) began carrying the Late Show (then hosted by David Letterman ) at 11:05 p.m. CT , eventually moving it to immediately following its 10 p.m. newscast (at 10:35 p.m. CT) by 1995. However, the station had always aired The Late Late Show on

13600-485: The network's launch. The station had previously signed on to carry the .2 Network on one of its digital subchannels, although .2 Network never debuted. In 2015, the station began carrying programming from the Justice Network on its third digital subchannel. Quest was added to the fourth digital subchannel on January 16, 2018, and was changed to a simulcast of sister station KTBU after that station switched to

13736-474: The network's new primary affiliate, and has stayed aligned with the network ever since. One of the original investors in the station was actor James Stewart , along with a small group of other Galveston investors. The studio was located at 2002 45th Street in Galveston. In 1956, the original owners sold the station to the Indianapolis -based Whitney Corporation (later Corinthian Broadcasting), which became

13872-564: The oldest law enforcement agencies in Texas, the department has grown from a single man on horseback to a modern agency with 3500 employees, including over 2500 sworn officers. On May 31, 2017, John Hernandez died after being placed in a choke hold after a fight by officers Terry Thompson and Chauna Thompson, a married couple. The death was ruled a homicide by the Harris County medical examiner on June 6, 2017, and both Thompsons were charged with murder. Harris County sheriffs: Since

14008-406: The other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KHOU was retained by the latter company, which would be named Tegna . Being situated near Buffalo Bayou in an area that had become prone to flooding, KHOU's longtime studios had become vulnerable to damage from major hurricanes and severe weather as the Houston area grew exponentially over the last six decades. On the night of June 8, 2001,

14144-608: The past (due to ABC's live broadcast of Dancing with the Stars on KTRK conflicting with the games). The Texans are one of two teams never to have been blacked out at home, the other being the Baltimore Ravens ; this stands in contrast to the city's previous NFL team, the Houston Oilers , who were often blacked out at home in their twilight years in Houston before moving to Nashville in 1997 for reasons related to

14280-423: The police chief in Houston, an officer has to advance through the rank and file although the " good old boy " culture was prevalent. The HPD paved a new road again in 1990 when Mayor Kathy Whitmire appointed Elizabeth Watson as the first female chief of police. Elizabeth Watson served from 1990 to 1992 and was followed by Sam Nuchia , who served as police chief from 1992 to 1997. In 1997, Clarence O. Bradford

14416-510: The president of the local police union, the scenario of multiple officers beating an unarmed suspect happens nearly every day." From circa 2007-2013 there were 588 times observers reported what they deemed inappropriate "use of force", and the internal affairs division dismissed 584 of them, with the other four being pursued. In the morning of May 2, 2020, HPD's helicopter crashed in an apartment complex in north Houston, killing officer Jason Knox and injuring another. The Houston Police Department

14552-487: The red light camera rule to be enforced. After this measure failed in the Texas Senate although in 2005, four intersections in downtown Houston were used as testbeds for red light camera equipment. When a contract was approved, enforcement went online on September 1, 2006. Those running a red light at one of the 50 locations with cameras are fined a $ 75 civil fine as opposed to a $ 225 moving violation which goes against

14688-467: The report that the lab should have known about. Not long after that broadcast, the HPD agreed to an immediate retest of the DNA evidence in the Sutton case. Those tests showed the DNA collected in the case did not belong to Sutton. He was released from prison in March 2003 and given a full pardon in 2004. As a result of the scandal, nine Crime Lab technicians were disciplined with suspensions and one analyst

14824-416: The revamping of its news department, and the carrying over of both its Dallas flagship's theme music and popular image branding, The Spirit of Texas , KHOU began to challenge KTRK and KPRC in the local ratings, and eventually became one of CBS' strongest affiliates by the 1990s during a very challenging period for the network. In 1998, KHOU became the first television station in the market to begin broadcasting

14960-443: The sale was completed on March 24 with KTBU moving its operations three days later into KHOU's Westheimer facilities and dropping Mega TV in favor of Tegna's digital multicast network, Quest , which had previously been airing on KHOU's fourth digital subchannel. While KTBU may serve as an alternate CBS affiliate should KHOU need its main signal for long-form breaking news and severe weather coverage, its primary role has been to serve as

15096-552: The second half-hour of the Sunday morning talk show Face the Nation , which had been tape-delayed to 2:30 a.m. the following Monday morning due to KHOU's longstanding broadcasts of religious programs from Houston-based Lakewood Church and Second Baptist Church , with the former also airing on Sunday night following its 10 p.m. newscast and KHOU 11 Sports Extra (see below). After Lakewood's broadcasts moved to KTRK in 2020 (only to return to KHOU at 11 p.m. only on Sunday nights

15232-423: The sergeant's promotion exam after 5 years of service. Sergeants and lieutenants are eligible to take the promotion exam of the next higher rank after 2 years of service in their current rank. Candidates for lieutenant must hold at least 65 college hours or an associate degree. Candidates for the rank of commander must hold at least a bachelor's degree. Assistant chiefs and executive assistant chiefs are appointed by

15368-482: The show's ridicule of the disabled and its abundance of heavy violence; as a result of these decisions and concerns, CBS decided not to air it on their Saturday morning schedule for the 1987–88 television season, and the series, to date, has never been telecast in the United States. Like most CBS affiliates prior to 1993, KHOU often carried syndicated programming (including Entertainment Tonight and reruns of M*A*S*H ) in late night following its 10 p.m. newscast, as

15504-456: The side. Newer models use a mixture of black and white paint now with 911 EMERGENCY listed on the rear side of the car or truck. A 2023 Houston Chronicle investigation found that high-speed chases by HPD officers rose significantly between 2018 and 2022, leaving hundreds of bystanders injured or dead. At least 240 bystanders were injured or killed during the five-year period as a result of these chases. Chases of these kinds have increased by 47% in

15640-1026: The state of Texas and the sixth largest in the nation. The number one and two largest sheriff's offices in the nation are respectively the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in California and the Cook County Sheriff's Office in Illinois. The third, fourth, and fifth are the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in Florida, and the San Diego County Sheriff's Office in California. The Harris County Sheriff's Office

15776-506: The station rebranded its weekday morning newscasts as HTownRush , with a format emphasizing social media interaction including its own namesake hashtag, a summary of top stories during the first five minutes of each half-hour, and special segments including in-house features exclusive to Tegna stations such as Deal Boss , one-minute business/technology news briefs from Cheddar , and consumer reporter John Matarese's Don't Waste Your Money consumer segments (which usually air on stations owned by

15912-407: The station was able to resume broadcasting on its own. The station's staff then evacuated to the nearby Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Houston Branch building on higher ground while a new contingency plan was drafted. With the assistance of PBS member station KUHT (channel 8) and master control from WFAA, KHOU eventually resumed live broadcasting later that night from temporary facilities at

16048-463: The station's newscasts in September 1999, and 6 p.m. anchor Sylvan Rodriguez, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and eventually succumbed to the disease in April 2000. Two former local newscasters in New York City, Greg Hurst of ABC flagship WABC-TV and Len Cannon of Fox flagship WNYW (the latter also a former NBC News correspondent and substitute anchor), would respectively join

16184-409: The station's studios flooded during Tropical Storm Allison , resulting in damage to much of the station's offices including its newsroom. The damage was so severe that the station had to cease its ongoing coverage of the ensuing flash flood emergency (which itself had interrupted regular programming that night) and instead broadcast a West Coast feed of the Late Show with David Letterman , followed by

16320-545: The station, also included an exclusive interview with Serbian and Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic during the Kosovo War , just a month before his indictment, that drew international news coverage. This news came despite the station losing three of its core anchors key to the station's resurgence: longtime anchor Steve Smith, who retired from broadcasting in May 1999 to pursue other interests, his fellow anchor Marlene McClinton, who abruptly resigned during one of

16456-512: The station, with Hurst succeeding Smith as lead anchor in 1999 and Cannon joining the station in 2006 to replace longtime anchor Jerome Gray, who went to rival KPRC-TV. Cannon himself became lead anchor in 2017 after Hurst left the station (with Hurst eventually joining fellow CBS affiliate WREG-TV in Memphis ). On February 4, 2007, following CBS' coverage of Super Bowl XLI , KHOU began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, becoming

16592-549: The storm was projected to hit the Texas Gulf Coast with extensive rainfall expected in the Greater Houston area. The station began wall-to-wall coverage on August 25, 2017, with extensive coverage of the storm's landfall in Rockport (near Corpus Christi ). While initial coverage focused on storm damage and cleanup in parts of KHOU's viewing area, by the following Saturday, August 26, massive and continuous rain bands from

16728-412: The team's controversial management under owner Bud Adams . Beginning in 2014 , with the institution of 'cross-flex' rules, games in which the Texans play an NFC opponent at home can be moved from Fox O&O KRIV (channel 26) to KHOU, with the same standard also applying for AFC road games at NRG Stadium being moved over to KRIV. Other notable appearances by Houston sports teams on KHOU have included

16864-662: The test mules as of 2015 have been integrated into the mainstream vehicle fleet. It also uses pickup trucks from the Big Three , such as the Chevrolet Colorado , Ford F150 , and Dodge Ram for their Truck Enforcement Unit. There is also a small fleet of Dodge Chargers and Chevrolet Camaros , which are mainly used as "stealth traffic patrol vehicles" (which is part of the Traffic Enforcement division). The stealth vehicles are plain white police cars with

17000-557: The time. KFDM provided at least grade B coverage to much of the eastern portion of the Houston market, with portions of Liberty County getting a city-grade signal. In those days, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of two stations with overlapping signals, and would not even consider a waiver for a city-grade overlap. Known for its ownership of The Dallas Morning News and its flagship TV station in its home city of Dallas, WFAA (historically one of ABC 's strongest affiliates and

17136-439: The toll-free call-in number due to the tape-delay. This practice would continue under later hosts Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson , as well as the first few months of James Corden 's tenure as host. On September 8, 2015, it began airing The Late Late Show at its network-approved time (11:37 p.m. CT) following Stephen Colbert 's debut as host of The Late Show ; leaving the station's only CBS preemption being that of

17272-499: The unincorporated areas of a county, while yielding to municipal police or city marshals to provide law enforcement services for the incorporated areas. Sheriffs and their deputies also have statewide warrantless arrest powers for any criminal offense (except certain traffic offenses) committed within their presence or view. They also may make arrests with a warrant anywhere in the state. In an emergency, sheriffs along with mayors and district judges are empowered by state law to call forth

17408-464: The vehicle operator. There are fifty intersections with red light cameras in the city with cameras (twenty intersections were added where dual cameras were installed). A majority of them are located at a thoroughfare at a freeway intersection - primarily in the Galleria and southwest Houston. During a Houston City Council meeting on 6.11.08, council member James Rodriguez suggested the installation of an additional 200 cameras. A voter referendum during

17544-579: Was appointed as chief. In 2002, Bradford was indicted and later acquitted of perjury charges, stemming from an incident in which he allegedly lied under oath about cursing fellow officers. Since 1992, the Houston City Marshal's division, Houston Airport Police, and Houston Park Police were absorbed into HPD. In early 2004, during Mayor Bill White's first term in office, HPD absorbed the Neighborhood Protection division from

17680-488: Was believed to be the first radar image of a hurricane broadcast on television during Hurricane Carla ; this report, which was credited for saving thousands of lives that otherwise would have been lost, would later become a catalyst in his eventual hiring by CBS News. In 1970, KHOU had boasted of the top-rated news team in Houston, led by anchorman Ron Stone (who had been discovered by Rather in 1961), weatherman Sid Lasher and sports director Ron Franklin. The station entered

17816-561: Was created within the HPD. In 1970, the Helicopter Patrol Division was created with three leased helicopters. That year also marked the department's first purchase of bulletproof vests for their officers. The HPD's first Special Weapons and Tactics squad ( SWAT ) was formed in 1975. In 1982, the Houston Police Department appointed its first African-American chief of police, Lee P. Brown , who succeeded B.K.Johnson. Brown served as chief from 1982 to 1990 and later became

17952-509: Was determined in January 2006 that of 1,100 samples reviewed, 40% of DNA samples and 23% of blood evidence samples had serious problems. On June 11, 2007, the HPD crime lab reported its DNA section had gained full accreditation from ASCLD. In the October 6, 2007 The Houston Chronicle published allegations of Employees cheating on an open-book proficiency test. The Safe Clear program was implemented by Mayor Bill White on January 1, 2005, as

18088-570: Was formed with three leased Schweizer-Hughes 269B helicopters and has flown almost exclusively Schweizer or McDonnell Douglas helicopters. With 16 helicopters, the division is the third largest air support unit in the United States after the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department . In 2008 the department acquired new MD500E helicopters. The department also has Schweizer 300 helicopters for training. The helicopter division patrols about

18224-469: Was promoted to assistant chief from the rank of sergeant. Jack Heard was promoted to chief from the rank of sergeant. It is entirely possible to become chief as an outsider such as in the case of Lee Brown, who went on to become mayor, and Harold Hurtt. Harris County Sheriff%27s Office The Harris County Sheriff's Office ( HCSO ) is a local law enforcement agency serving the over four million citizens of Harris County , Texas , United States . It

18360-469: Was terminated. However, that analyst was fully reinstated to her previous position in January 2004, less than one month after her December 2003 termination. Many HPD supervisors and Houston residents called for more stringent disciplinary actions against the Crime Lab employees. However, the city panel responsible for disciplining the lab technicians repeatedly resisted these arguments and instead reduced

18496-661: Was the first local law enforcement agency in the United States to adopt the FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon. Former Chief Art Acevedo carried a Smith & Wesson M&P and it is also the standard sidearm of the Austin Police Department from which he came. As of November 2013, HPD has allowed officers to carry pistols chambered in .45 ACP . The Glock 21 , SIG Sauer P227 , and Smith & Wesson M&P 45 are approved sidearms for uniformed officers. Plainclothes officers may carry

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