Tracking Houston Police Department: How the Story Came Together

We spent a few months trying to figure out how bad HPD's short staffing really is. The union says Houston need 1000 more officers.  The mayor is aggressively pursuing overtime programs and adding cadet classes.  But what does the short staffing mean right now when you call 911.  Look at our work here.

HPD has 4800+/- officers on the payroll.  2669 of them are assigned to patrol - but on average a tenth of those officers are on the streets ready to respond to a 911 call at any given time.  Sometimes far less.

We wanted a way to show you what that means in your neighborhood and we think we came up with one.  I heard one day this summer that HPD installed GPS devices in patrol cars and was tracking patrol unit movements.  We got the data and started looking at it.  In its raw form it looks like this:

080022:376|A=P:U=17E45D:|UNT5|P|137163607-N|ENR|17E45D||3500|P|P|PSW|17-Sep-2007|N|6200 W BELLFORT ST #267 ,HO |-95510760|29655530|
080025:548|A=P:U=91E32:|UNT5|P|137198907-C|ONS|91E32||3900|P|P|PSW|17-Sep-2007|N|4898 W BELLFORT ST + 10301 S POST OAK RD ,HO |-95461980|29669600|
080025:767|A=P:U=18G66A:|UNT5|P||AV|18G66A|||P|P|PWS|17-Sep-2007|N|8600 SANDS POINT DR #110 ,HO |-95512900|29709630|

After some data work, we were able to get hourly snapshots of the city.  We figured they would show where HPD units generally are. 

The GPS system sends pings to the system every few seconds for a moving vehicle, every 30 minutes or so for an on duty car sitting still.  With the help of colleagues at the National Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting we sucked out the first instance of a unit closest to the top of the hour.  Those are the maps we have here.

You can decide what they show.

You won't see an on camera interview from HPD on the television side of this piece.  We asked several times and HPD turned me down.  They did offer an off camera brief with an Exec. Asst. Chief - which we went to. 

Usually I refer to our efforts here as a "we" effort, but HPD made it clear they would not talk to "me".  HPD brass is upset at how I reported a story on Taser use more than a year ago.  The HPD Public Affairs Office has only made one person available to me on camera since - and they are clear the Taser story is why.  While this is not the forum to debate that, for better or for worse that is why HPD is sitting this one out.  I hope the unofficial policy changes soon.

Comments

[Rebecca]

I am appalled at the stupidity of showing this information on TV. Why in the world would you want to teach the community to find out where the police are located at any given time? I have become acutely aware since my son entered the HPD Academy how the local stations are driven to report as much as negatively possible about our police department. What is the reason for that? In any profession there are people of integrity and people who have no integrity, but I am finding that the local media are hellbent on slamming the entire force. How about supporting them for a change?

[Not Rebecca]

My neighborhood organization has recently looked into hiring off-duty police to patrol it. Apparently this is a well organized racket with different levels, from "weekday hourly guy cruising around" to an "unofficial police substation with 24-7 presense." If you have the cash, you can have the protection--why can't my current tax dollars go to this rather than trains, ball fields and all manner of frivolities?

Paying for extra police attention is nothing new and has nothing to do with peace officers making an honest living. This is about Mayor White and the city council abdicating their municipal responsibilities in favor of toy railroads and the like.

[Gerrald Trehane]

"...but I am finding that the local media are hellbent on slamming the entire force."

First I wish the best to your son.

I for one appreciate this type of data as it gets past the PR to real and useful information.
COH administration and HPD management are responsible for this. Sadly this is approaching Kathy Whitmire levels of BS and failure.

[Gerrald Trehane]

"...but I am finding that the local media are hellbent on slamming the entire force."

First I wish the best to your son.

I for one appreciate this type of data as it gets past the PR to real and useful information.
COH administration and HPD management are responsible for this. Sadly this is approaching Kathy Whitmire levels of BS and failure.

[Rebecca]

I too thought the showing of this information was pure STUPIDITY. I've never seen more stupidity than that of the local media. These officers are out there risking their lives to take care of the City of Houston and this is how you pay them back? Why don't you try reporting something good about the Houston Police Department instead of reserving that time only for when one of them gets killed. I would like to ask the same question, "Why aren't the tax dollars being spent on our officers instead of ballparks, day labor sights and such?" These officers lives are being put on the line everytime they put on that uniform so lets go ahead and blast how short-handed HPD is right now. My fiance has been with the police department for over a year now and loves his job, but hates the way the media portrays them. He was involved in a car chase the other night and was initially the only officer involved in the chase until the suspects bailed from the stolen vehicle when another officer (coming from another call) wrecked his patrol car into a tree trying to get to the scene as quick as possible to assist his fellow officer. Well, the media decided they would report on the police cruiser that was wrecked into a tree instead of the suspects that weren't caught. Not once was a description of the suspects ever mentioned. Oh! The reason that the cruiser was wrecked.........the brakes failed on it. Not to mention that the brakes had failed a couple of times before, but were unable to get fixed because the city doesn't have the money fix the police cruisers. Now, if you're going to report something report the full GD story. I would like to challenge the news media, hell even the mayor and/or city counsilmen.......Give up some of your yearly salary (as you are grossly overpaid for the despicable job that you all are doing and don't deserve the salary anyway) and give it to the police department to help take care of the officers.

[Rebecca]

Oh! One more thing!!!!!! We are all concerned about donating to the 100 Club and other organizations for the family of the "Fallen Officers" killed in the line of duty, but what about an organization for the officers that continually risk their lives everyday and by the grace of God get to go home to their families at the end of their shift? What about that organization asking for donations to get more police officers out on the streets to help the officers that are already on the streets without back-up.

[lynn k miller]

most the cops are driving around harrassing people walking down the street, or just standing outside a bar smoking, seeing that you can't smoke inside one now. they're stopping and wanting id, for no reason thats aparent. i always thought they needed cause or reason to detain someone

[Angie]

If I were involved in a major story, I'd go to ANY other station. Sick of the one-sidedness and hostility against the people that work for our community.

I've seen firsthand how the police have been proactive in the city getting people with warrants behind bars. My part of town has gotten more walkable at night. They can ask for my ID anytime! They're just doing their jobs!

It would help more if you did a story on when to call 911. Not when you're screaming at your kids, not when your neighbor's dog went in your yard, not when somebody's driving crazy, but true life or death situations. All others should call non-emergency.

And yes, they might sit still. They have mounds of paperwork because if they don't cover their butts, then you go after that with demands of documentation audits! They can't win.

Kudos to public affairs for refusing you. Every time you do a story on law enforcement or the city, I like them even more.

I don't think there's one person at KTRK who appreciates or deserves the service of our police force. But they are there for you anyway.