As mayor, Gene Locke’s highest priority will be to keep Houstonians safe. Crime in a city as large and diverse as Houston is a complex problem that requires a flexible and balanced approach. Under a Locke administration, public safety will be proactive and reactive; it will be community oriented and intelligence-based; it will have patrol and investigative strategies; it will have uniform, plain clothes, and undercover operations; it will have a mix of well trained personnel, technology, science, and equipment; and it will be a coordinated effort at all levels of government - federal, state, and local.

Under a Locke administration, public safety will be a priority and Houstonians will feel safe.

1.  MORE POLICE ON OUR STREETS  Gene knows that the key to safer neighborhoods is more police on our streets and in our neighborhoods. Houston is the 4th largest city but we are 15th among the top 25 largest cities in number of officers per 1,000 population. With only 2.3 officers per 1,000 population, we are behind Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles. In the coming years, more than half of all current officers will be eligible for retirement. It is vital that we recruit and graduate enough police officers every year to ensure the safety of our citizens.

With more police on the streets, our officers will be afforded the opportunity to use two-officer patrol units.  Not only will this result in more effective solutions regarding crime and disorder issues that impact our neighborhoods, but it will also provide an additional measure of officer safety.

Gene Locke will put more police on our streets.

2.  MAKING NEIGHBORHOODS SAFER  In other cities, programs such as ComStat have shown us the value of using real time statistics to fight crime. We need to use the Real Time Crime Center to measure and track more than just the major index crimes that are used to measure the crime rate. Crimes such as disorderly conduct, drug dealing, prostitution, simple assault, attempted burglaries and vandalism create unsafe conditions in our neighborhoods and we need to fight these crimes as diligently as we fight major index crimes. Gene will ensure that our police officers are used more efficiently. HPD needs to use a differential response strategy for lower priority calls. More than one million calls for service are dispatched annually. Managing these calls more efficiently and effectively will allow officers to spend more time investigating crimes.

Gene Locke knows that decreasing all types of crime will make Houstonians safer in their homes and communities. 

3.  COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING Gene believes that the best way to address crime and public safety is for the police to have a strong partnership with the community. That partnership should include neighborhoods, religious communities, and the business and corporate community. Houston’s neighborhoods need more police storefronts and more support for neighborhood watch programs. Community Oriented Policing is more then just a philosophy, it is a long-term commitment to making our city safer.

Gene Locke will make Community Oriented Policing a reality in Houston.

4.  UTILIZE 21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGY Gene knows we need improved technology to help our officers do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Officers need to be able to submit reports from their patrol cars, giving them more time to police our communities. We need to take advantage of the new public safety broadband that will soon be available, thereby allowing our officers to create interoperable radio communications with all jurisdictions within the region. Gene Locke will look to federal and state grants to pay for modern technology.

Gene Locke will make our police department more efficient.

5.  REGIONAL CRIME LAB  For years, leaders have talked about creating an independent regional crime lab—Gene Locke will do it.  Many of our partners in the region would benefit from a facility where costs, management experience and case management are shared. With an independent crime lab, the police can focus on investigating crimes and the lab can focus on producing scientific results. An independent regional crime lab will make sure more criminals are put behind bars and make Houstonians safer in their homes and communities.

As a person with extensive experience working closely with both the city and the county, Gene Locke is the leader who will finally realize this vision.

6.  PARTNERING WITH HARRIS COUNTY ON JAILS  The city needs to get out of the jail business. Everyone will benefit if the regional criminal justice system is more efficient. Houston should partner with Harris County to build a joint jail/booking facility and contract with the Sheriff’s Department to process and house city prisoners.  This will free up additional police officers for patrol duties.  More importantly, it provides more efficiency for the overall criminal justice system, and relieves the taxpayers of the burden of operating two separate jail systems.

Gene Locke was the first candidate for mayor who advocated for Houston to get out of the jail business so that our police officers can spend more time keeping Houston safe.

7.  HOMELAND SECURITY  With the growing importance of Houston to the economy of the nation and the world, Gene knows we need to take special care to protect institutions like the Port of Houston. Gene will lead the way in developing a regional plan to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from an act of terrorism or any other type of catastrophic event. Safeguarding our engines of economic development will make Houstonians safer in their homes and communities.  

Gene Locke knows that the threat of terrorism has not abated and that we must protect Houston’s areas of vulnerability.