Houston's Latest Public Safety Efforts & New Crime Data

In his second month in office, Mayor John Whitmire got a call: HPD had 260,000 suspended cases that had never been investigated. "Let me say it again," he tells the room. "260,000." A year later, Houston's murder rate is down 36% year-over-year — the strongest improvement among major U.S. cities tracked by the Major Cities Chiefs Association — and HPD is at 5,400 officers, the highest staffing level in the city's history.

Episode 8 of 901 Bagby is recorded during National Police Week, and the Mayor talks about it. He explains the multi-agency enforcement surge against non-compliant bars in Houston — and notes that the loudest complainant was a bar owner operating with zero permits who got arrested during a routine inspection. He describes walking into after-hours club raids himself: "crack cocaine on the floor, cash spread around, human trafficking victims." He recounts being robbed at gunpoint in his own garage in 1992 — begging for his life — and ties it directly to why HPD's 5.6-minute Code 1 response time is personal. He names Officer Tim Hearn, a groomsman in his wedding, shot and killed on a drug raid in 1976, bleeding to death in a Sears parking lot on Harrisburg.

The back half turns to what's getting built: $30 million from the Stormwater Fund to tear down abandoned structures choking the city's drainage system, 750 lane miles of road paving already this year with another 1,000 funded, revived plans to extend Metro Rail to both Houston airports, and the expansion of the non-profit Covenant House to serve homeless young adults. The Mayor closes with a story from minutes before the mic went on: a George Brown Convention Center housekeeper stopped him to celebrate her new contract — an immediate raise from $15 to $20 an hour, back pay in hand. "That's what it's all about," he says. "That's why you run for office."

00:24 Bar & Club Enforcement: Setting the Record Straight 

04:24 Crime Down 36% & HPD at Record Strength 

08:23 National Police Week: Honoring Fallen Officers 

11:14 Demolition Day: Clearing Properties To Clear The Drains

13:39 Transportation: Roads, Metro & Airport Connectivity 

16:49 Youth Homelessness & Covenant House 

18:42 Advice to Graduates & the Call to Public Service

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

As they went through a routine inspection, the owner started objecting and C A B C. They don't take lightly the fact that you run in a barn selling liquor without a permit.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

I don't want to take me inside the mayor's office.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Mr. Mayor, welcome back. How you doing? I know we're going to take you. So uh want to get started this week uh with something that's been in the news quite a bit, capturing some of the headlines. Bar owners and club owners that have been claiming they've been shut down for just no reason at all. And I was hoping you could kind of set the record straight here. Are we talking about businesses that aren't permitted? Are there violations? What's the real story?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

There's a very limited number of bar owners complaining because they're the ones not following the city ordinances and the neighborhoods are complaining about them. So we do have a surge team made up of fire marshals, HBDA, and the health department that goes into these uh isolated areas that are uh identified by communities. Uh Durham, uh Shepherd location, the Washington area, uh just obvious violations of city ordinance, particularly the the noise. So we have a a group that visits these establishments. Uh sometimes, as we did recently, the one that's kind of making the most noise, he had no permits. So as they went through a routine inspection, um the owner started objecting and TABC was with the working group, and they don't they don't take lightly the fact that you run in a bar and selling liquor without a permit. So that violation uh and all the events surrounding the inspection landed him in jail. I'm sorry, uh I'm familiar with the bar, but you've got to follow the law. We've had a couple of others complain uh with health department violations, but I've asked all my directors, if it's not a public safety issue, to use it as an education opportunity to let the bars know you need your health permits, you can't violate the capacity, and certainly HBD is going to enforce the sound ordinance. So we support our restaurants and entertainment establishments. They're across Houston, they're valuable. Certainly, I know the revenue that comes into the state and the city of Houston. So that's really just uh some that are not wanting to comply with the law. If you have the permits and you follow the law, follow city ordinances, you have nothing at all to worry about. Now, we do have uh examples of after-hour bars, which I've actually accompanied the police in this same surge team. That's where the human trafficking takes place, that's where drugs, uh, violation of alcohol requirements. So, you know, that's those are bad examples of people violating the law and endangering the public. They leave out of the after-hours club around four o'clock, get on our freeways and streets. So we've really used a strong uh hammer arm against them. You go in, there's crack cocaine on the floor, there's cash spread around, there's human traffic victims. So that's kind of a special category. But getting back to the other establishments, you know, if you follow the law, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. The problem has arisen because of lack of enforcement in recent years. So people have learned you don't have to go the expense of getting a permit. You don't have to follow the law because HBD, the health department, fire department, TABC are not going to come around. Well, we're coming around now, and we want our neighborhoods to be safe. And uh it's it's a matter of a middle ground. Enjoy your entertainment, but don't go above the sound ordinance to where condos and homes near those establishments are disrupted.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

I want to move on and talk a little bit about public safety, although that kind of uh teeters, I guess, on public safety to a certain extent. But uh, from a bigger picture, uh, Mr. Mayor, big public safety win for you and our city and the department. Some new numbers came out this past week from the major cities chiefs association. Murders are down in our city 36 percent year over year. If you look at the first quarter, uh, and that's not all. Uh what do you think is driving that drop and how do we keep it going?

SPEAKER_00 4:52

You know, that's interesting, and it's it's kind of a complex uh question. Uh first, I'll be the first to admit that crime is down across our nation. Uh a variety of reasons. I think during COVID, extreme pressures on folks were unfortunately leading them to crime. But the other cities didn't have the challenges that we've had in the two and a half years that I've been mayor. My second month after being sworn in, I got a call that we had 260,000. Let me say it again, 260,000 suspended HBD cases that had never been investigated or pursued. So that was an extreme situation. It took leadership. We had to take uh 80 officers off the street to spend full time for several months investigating those cases. Several people, it led to their indictment, and uh it's just it's almost unimaginable. So we had that challenge. Then we were certainly understaffed. Uh HPD and Houston fire, morale was at an all-time low. We were losing more officers to retirement than we were able to recruit. All that's changed. Since I've been sworn in, we've increased HPD by 800 officers. 800 cadets have been sworn in, 600 firefighters. Morale in each department's at an all-time high. HPD now has 5,400 officers. That's the most in Houston's history. Response time has gotten better. Response time on Code 1, the most serious crimes, is 5.6 minutes. Now I was robbed at gunpoint in 92, begged for my life in my garage, so I know what a minute matters. So we're not satisfied. We're still not satisfied with those crime statistics, but we're headed in the right direction. And I owe it to uh the rank and file, owe it to the leadership, Chief Diaz, Chief Mignoz are both uh outstanding uh public safety leaders, and it's benefiting across helping all of Houston and getting really back to those clubs, too. Uh they're addressing neighborhood conditions, emancipation. We get a lot of calls on emancipation on nice weather days. People are driving through there at night. Uh the neighbors on emancipation are complaining about noise. So we work with the establishments, lower your volumes, cut your spotlights out that shine into people's houses. So this is all quality of life issues. It uh is a partnership with the neighborhoods, super neighborhood leaders. Uh Stacy Fairchild on the Washington has worked for years to improve the quality of life along Washington, and um, they would be the first to tell you we're doing a good job.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Yeah, and there have always been those parts of the city where the the fun and the parties have to find a way to coexist with the neighborhoods.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

We have establishment on Western. There's several, unfortunately, without zoning. So you will have clubs, bars right next to Houston residents. Not a not a good mix, but uh that's the way it's the mix that we have. It's been conducted for years that way. But we can certainly enforce city ordinances. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

And then again, quality of life, public safety. I want to stick with public safety, talk about our officers. Uh this week, at the time of this recording, is National Police Week, and May 15th is designated as Peace Officers Memorial Day. Uh the city of Houston has lost more than 120 officers uh in the line of duty over the years. Uh you attended a police memorial event recently. Mr. Mayor, what do you want people to understand about the weight of each loss and how it affects the families, the department, and really the city overall?

SPEAKER_00 8:55

You know, those are such tragic uh unnecessary deaths. Uh many of them in car accidents, many of them actually encounter with firearms. Um families never get over. It's it's it's hurtful uh to their colleagues. Uh it's actually 123, and I've been going to those memorials for years as a state senator, as chairman of criminal justice, but also on a personal note. Uh Tim Hearn, Officer Tim Hearn was shot and killed on a drug uh enforcement raid in 1976. Tim and I finished high schools together. He could have been anything he wanted, went off to UT, got a degree in business, came back, wanted to be an HPD officer. It's a calling. And um I got a call at four in the morning that Tim had been shot and bled to death on in Sears Parking Lot, used to be on Harrisburg. He was a groomsman at my wedding. So it was a personal loss. So I always reference that uh memorial uh ceremonies are very personal to me, but uh Houstonians I know appreciate the uh the commitment of our first responders, fire as well. So it's uh it's a moment for us to pause and think. You know, when these officers leave their family, uh fire and police, their families always are worried and afraid they won't return. And you know, I'm in a tough job, but my family knows I'm returning at night. So we want to thank and take this week. But actually, I as I spoke at the memorial, every day ought to be police appreciation day. That's one of the reasons that one of the first things I did was get busy giving them the benefit package uh that they deserve. So we're our recruitment at police and fires at an all-time high. We're not losing uh policemen to retirement or even joining other departments. People want to be HBD and Houston Fire Department uh first responders, and it's improving the public safety of Houstonians.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

And when I talk with officers, they definitely feel that support coming from you. Something else that's happening this week. Uh we're calling it Demolition Day, although there's a there's a couple of them. This week the city's uh carrying out the first demolitions under the stormwater fund program, removing some abandoned buildings that uh, you know, generate certainly quality of life issues, but ultimately clogging up the drainage system. What's so important uh about removing these structures? Can you walk us through why that was a focus for you?

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Well, first of all, multiple reasons. First of all, they become quite often places for drug transactions. I'm talking about abandoned uh houses and businesses. They become a gathering place for drug transactions. Uh often the homeless will occupy them. But what happens is when they've been abandoned for a number of months, they become a drop-off for trash, heavy trash, just garbage. And so what happens is it affects the drainage. It'll fill up the ditches and the draining system. So there's hundreds of them. And they've been a nuisance and a health hazard, safety hazard for years. So through the leadership of Public Works and Solid Waste, uh, several months ago, we got approved by council to take $30 million of the drainage fund, which has got like a $130 million balance, about twice what it was when I got elected, and use $30 million of that to demolish structures, buildings that are contributing to the drainage problem. And so tomorrow is our first one under this program. We actually are meeting tomorrow with Houston contractors. They're actually donating their services this weekend. So we'll be working tomorrow with the first just uh demolition, and then Saturday morning we go back out and keep knocking them down, and this program will last for months and years to go. It will make a difference in our neighborhoods and particularly through our drainage. I'd like to knock them all down like this week. I'm not a very patient person, but we have to do the inspection and approve and agree that it's blocking drainage. But you remove the facility and the uh drop-off place for garbage uh pretty much goes away.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

That's at least two birds with one stone, maybe three or four, right? Depending on how you look at that. Let's talk transportation, if you don't mind, Mr. Mayor. Um you spoke recently at the Tag Houston State of Mobility luncheon. That's uh Tag Transportation Advocacy Group. Um they advocate for government funding for transportation infrastructure. What was your message to that group?

SPEAKER_00 13:57

That we're moving in the right direction, and we're collaborating with the county and the state. We have a great relationship with the state of Texas. They give us resources, they uh collaborate on mobility. Uh we all know we have a congestion issue. Uh a lot of that is about the suburban residents coming into Houston each day, about 700,000 each day. So it's kind of hard to address that satisfactorily, except maybe these quality of life issues I'm talking about. We want people to live in Houston. We want them not only to work, but we want them to live in Houston, but to the tag uh engineers that were there and mobility uh advocates was we're moving in the right direction. Public Works is paving a thousand roads a year in the city of Houston. We're at this year 750 miles. So we'll hit a thousand, the new budget. We'll allow another thousand. So we're improving our infrastructure. Uh metro is improving their service. Uh that's an option for people to take. We want to encourage people to look at all their options of transportation. Also, downtown, we're paving 125 blocks of central Houston. Want to thank Central Houston for their collaboration. So uh it's a good time one to be uh an engineer. Uh I told them not only are we improving our streets and drainage, the airport will seem like it will always be under construction, so there's an opportunity there to improve uh that transportation um system in and out of the airport. I have certainly dusted off all the discussion in previous plans to take Metro Rail all the way to our airports. You know, we've got to find the funding. We're talking to the federal government. So I gave the advocates a very upbeat message about City of Houston going forward, improving its infrastructure, uh, giving people options and maintaining and moving in the direction of the best mobility possible. We uh, you know, Houston did not design its transportation system or certainly public transit, rail, subways, others, like the northeastern cities, because they built their system as they went along. Houston being so spread out, uh, it kind of became an automobile focus uh mobility, but we're trying to expand all those options.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Uh something else I want to chat about. Um I know fighting homelessness is big for you. And and recently uh you were a guest at the Covenant House, Gala. And for those that don't know, the the Covenant House for decades has been working with young people 18 to 24 who are experiencing homelessness. They've raised millions of dollars. Another one of these great Houston collaborative groups that really does great work in our community. Um, why do you believe in the Covenant House so much and why was it important for you to be part of that?

SPEAKER_00 17:19

Because I understand their clientele, being 18 to 24 years old, would have no other residence if it wasn't in treatment, if it wasn't for the Covenant House. Having grown up in Houston, gone to U of H, I've gone by the Covenant House, and it was small, located in Montrose. Uh, not a large clientele because of the limited facility, but they just expanded. Uh the celebration at their gala was the fact that they were able uh to raise $56 million. You go there today, which I was there last month, it's uh it's expanded to accommodate the homeless young adults, men and women. Uh, if they have siblings or some of them actually have children, they get to go there and uh get a holistic uh approach of treatment, give them the opportunity to have a uh workforced uh employee to come talk to them. And uh it's just one of our real assets that uh the private and for philanthropic uh community took care of and fund and funded. So it's something to be sell something to recognize and celebrate.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Before we go, Mr. Mayor, it's uh it's graduation season across the area. Well, all over, but across Houston. A lot of young graduates out there that are thinking about a career, a life maybe in public service. Sure. The way the way you are. What kind of words of wisdom or advice would you have for those young people today?

SPEAKER_00 18:55

I'd say prepare yourself, um, establish contacts, uh, answer the calling. I think we're all public servants, whether you're ever on the ballot or not. So it's a great opportunity. If you like people, there's nothing more rewarding. I was coming out of George Brown a moment ago, and one of the housekeepers just was carrying on, and uh, she recognized the mayor. She knew she got a new employment contract this week, uh, got a immediately $5 raise from $15 an hour. It went to $20. In the next two years, it'll get to $22. Not to mention, she got her uh back pay for the last year. So she got a couple of thousand dollars to uh be able to meet her needs. So, you know, that's what it's all about. That's why you run for office, that's why you go to work. You don't have to be an elected official to reach out and help people. You need to be a public servant. So I would encourage young people to consider that. But uh, how do you get ready? You get your education, you you hopefully uh will practice being nice to people and uh be ready when when it when it's your time.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

But there is something about that calling, right, for the young people to start looking with the code.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Certainly I talked to you know our first responders, it's a calling. Why why would somebody want to go out and enforce laws and put your life on the line? It's a calling. So I do understand the anxiety of our graduates this year, high school and college, because of the status of our economy and jobs. That's the reason when we and I look forward to talking to you about the budget, affordability of uh living in America and in our community is uh is a concern. So you have to get prepared. Um and also we as public officials need to keep uh taxes and the cost of services as low as possible. I will leave it there this week, Mr. Mayor. Appreciate it. Thank you for time. Thank you for it.