THE BADGE & GUN HAS DECIDED THAT THE NEXT time it wrote the term “Assist the Officer” in this publication it would have to be in italics. Why? Quite simply, Assist the Officer is doing its job like never before. Every issue spotlights the latest accomplishments of the organization’s basic reason for being. While manyRead more
Thank you for the beautiful plant. The Barringer Family HPOA – Retired Sgt. David B. Houston My sincere gratitude for your remembrance of Dave. He thought law enforcement an honorable career and was proud to be part of HPD. He especially loved interacting with the public while on patrol – the good and bad,Read more
Houston Police Officers’ Union, On Behalf of my brothers and myself as well as our beloved Uncle Nelson Zoch, we want to thank you for your beautiful Aralia arrangement in memory of our mother and Nelson’s sister. Her Memory will live on. Sincerely, Lynell Graham-Ellis HPD has been absolutely amazing during this time. TheRead more
Dear Houston Police Officers’ Union, Greetings from Friendswood, Texas! I want to genuinely thank everyone involved for the essay scholarship that I was blessed to receive. HPOU has always been so good to my family and this is no different. With the financial assistance that you all have granted to my family and I, attendingRead more
Det. Mirella Alanis of Hit & Run was assigned a delayed FSRA fatality on June 3. Alanis began her investigation by calling the original witness and got no answer. She then went to the location of the incident, talked to witnesses, and determined the suspect was actually the complainant. One witness said that the deceasedRead more
The Houston Police Officers’ Union will be presenting Officer Adan Ayala its Patrol Officer of the Month honor for August at the September general membership meeting for the officer’s actions to save the life of an infant. This happened on July 17 as Ayala and his Southeast Patrol partner were on patrol in the BroadwayRead more
BAILEY, OFFICER GARY W. “BEETLE” (RETIRED) Retired Senior Police Officer Gary W. “Beetle” Bailey passed away on Friday, July 8, 2022, at the age of 72. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Marianne Bailey. Officer Bailey joined the Houston Police Department on October 6, 1969, Academy Class No. 42. During his tenure with theRead more
ALSUP, CAPT. LELAND B. (RETIRED) Retired Captain Leland B. Alsup passed away on Thursday, June 16, 2022, at the age of 92. He joined the Houston Police Department on September 8, 1958, Academy Class No. 19. During his career with the department, he was assigned to the Central Division, Jail Division, Special Operations Division, NorthwestRead more
Officers are by nature distrusting individuals, as we see the worst of what humanity has to offer. Day in and day out officers go to work knowing that at any moment they could make the ultimate sacrifice.
However, as of late the concerns are not coming from the outside. They are coming from our own department.
I have spoken many times to the chief about the distrust officers have of upper management. He claims he understands it and is working to build the trust with the rank and file. I wrote an article last month regarding traffic stops and why they are down across the city, and this is true with most police agencies.
In this day and time when everyone wants “transparency,” we see that it only goes one direction. The department started this Being First Program to change
There is a lot of discussion going on about the fact that traffic stops are down around the department. A recent report showed that very few patrol officers conduct proactive traffic stops or on-view investigations.
I received a call from several within the command staff asking what can be done to improve the traffic stop numbers. It is well known that traffic stops often lead to arrest for various violations of the law. For a number of years TACT teams and gang units have been using traffic stops for probable cause, that have led to the arrest of crooks.
Over these years, the tactics have changed, so longer investigations are conducted to go after robbery crews, juggers and other violent offenders. This is a big shift in mindset that has allowed our TACT teams to truly thwart cr