Acevedo says co-operation is key to combating Houston’s increase in violent crime

HOUSTON Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said on Wednesday that cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the public is key to fighting the increase in violent crime in the city.

Less than a month to 2021, Houston homicide detectives are already investigating 30 cases as of Wednesday morning, according to Acevedo. He said this is an increase over the same period last year. He said this is a problem that is not unique to Houston.

“I was actually telephoning the San Antonio police chief this morning,” Acevedo said. “I called the LA police chief, New York Commissioner, by telephone. This is a phenomenon that we see nationwide, and honestly, we have a lot of work to do in society. ”

Acevedo said the Houston Police Department is doing what it can with the resources it has, including approving extra overtime, recruiting specialized response teams and adding more detectives to the homicide division.

“We need to continue to look internally to be able to summarize as much as possible of what we call 5,300 police officers who have not grown in 20 years,” Acevedo said. “We have to do our part, but in the end we all have to do our part. We need our community to work with us. We need them to stay alert and really report crime. ”

HPD executive assistant chief Matt Slinkard said the goal is to add 20 detectives for murder and that the city is about halfway there. He said the clearance rate of the division for manslaughter is up to 62%.

Acevedo suggested that troops from the Texas Department of Public Safety patrolling the state highway system in Houston would help free HPD officers from concentrating on city streets and urban crime.

“Instead of the rhetoric, it would be very helpful to have the state patrol all highways in the state of Texas,” Acevedo said. “It’s state property. Respond to service, apply the transportation code, investigate accidents, and I think if we did, we could get rid of a lot of our resources. ”

The principal said he is also in talks with Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Harris County and District Attorney Kim Ogg, about how their agencies can work together to combat violent crime. He said tougher charges and fewer effects would address the problem.

“We need to create an environment where the criminals are scared and not victims and witnesses,” Acevedo said.

Acevedo said more funding from the federal government would also help the efforts to combat crime in cities to be cash through the coronavirus pandemic.

You can watch the rerun of Acevedo’s news conference below: