History of the Houston Police Department

The history of the Houston Police Department started with the founding of the City of Houston. While the department's beginning was humble, it grew more advanced as technology became available and was able to handle the various challenges that would plague various cities as well as some of the more distinctive aspects of its geography.
Chronology.
Early history.
The first constable of the then recently incorporated City of Houston was elected in 1837, making him the city's first law enforcement officer. The police force itself was not established until 1841 by Houston's first marshal, Daniel Busley.
There was little patrolling of the city during the next 20 years. It was up to the individual businessmen to hire guards to protect their establishments. In 1866, Marshal Isaac C. Lord began to establish HPD as a proper police force by setting hiring rules, regulations, and requirements in hiring practices for recruits. The new policies were reviewed by the city council and were added to the City Charter (Art 308–344). Isaac C. Lord lobbied and succeeded in adopting the dress uniform which states, "The dress of the members of the police force shall be navy blue, indigo die and all wool." (Art 333, 1866)
It was also during this period on March 10, 1860, that C. Edward Foley became the first to fall in the line of duty while on patrol.
In 1873, during Reconstruction, R. Van Patton was appointed City Marshal. It was during his tenure that the force hired its first black officers. The officer complement at this time was 12, with an even number of black and white officers. The second-in-command Deputy Marshal was the first black officer to hold that position among those hired. During this year, the "Manual of the Houston Police Force" was written and the salary was set at $60 a month where it would stay until 1915.
1894 was the year where the department hired its first two police detectives and purchased a patrol wagon. The term "Wagon call" is still used to this day when it is required to transport prisoners.
In 1900, The title "City Marshal" was changed to "Chief of Police", however it remained an elected position. J.G. Blackburn was the last person to have the title "City Marshal" and with re-election, the first to have the title "Chief of Police." In the same year, the first female matron was hired and the name of the force was changed to "The Houston Police Department."
1910–1919.
On August 23, 1910, the first police chief was appointed by the mayor instead of being elected. Later that year, Houston purchased its first police car, along with the formation of the city's first traffic squad to help maintain order to Houston's bustling streets at that time.
On April 21, 1911 Mayor Baldwin Rice hires Frank Hamer to assist special officers who were investigating a gang that had killed several HPD officers. Frank Hamer would later become a legendary Texas Ranger.
The first raise in several decades occurred in 1915 from $60 to $75 a month along with the reduction of work hours (from 12 hours to 8) on their shift.
At the beginning of the First World War, there were two military bases in Houston. One was Ellington Field along (Then Known as) Galveston Road and Camp Logan (Later to become Memorial Park). These two camps Trained, Housed Bomber Cadets and The 24th Infantry Regiment, respectively. The Northern troops resented the segregation of Houston and things came to a head when a black soldier was arrested for interfering in the arrest of a black woman. A clash between the black soldiers and the Houston Police Department erupted shortly thereafter that resulted in the deaths of 16 whites (5 of them police officers), several black soldiers, two white soldiers, and one Hispanic soldier. It was only after Mayor Moody called for federal troops and Martial law declared was the riot eventually quelled.
In 1918 HPD hired Eva Jane Bacher as its first policewoman and in 1921 was assigned to the Public Moral and safety squad (Which later turned into the Vice Division), making her the first female Detective.
1920–1929.
In 1920, HPD revised its application examination to cover its duties, responsibilities, various procedures and firearms policies.
Additionally, the following tools and policies were added to the police department in
1921:
In 1925, the City of Houston initiated the delivery of complimentary municipal healthcare services for all city employees at the Historic Jefferson Davis Hospital, located in Houston's Historic First Ward. HPD moved to its new building that same year.
On October 19, 1926, Magnolia Park, the first substation was opened. The assigned officers were close to the ship channel and were kept busy with prohibition violations and were charged with intercepting all forms of liquor. 
The remainder of the decade saw the following milestones:
1927:
1928:
1929:
1930–1939.
In 1930, the Touchy Furniture Store Robbery highlighted a deficiency in the firepower of HPD's weapons. Several .38 caliber shots struck but failed to penetrate the suspect's vehicle as it got away resulting in the deaths of 2 officers. As a result, the city started to issue .44 caliber guns instead.
Also in 1930:
In 1933 The Police and Fire Departments were merged briefly under the Department of Safety. Two-way radios were installed in the patrol cars and received called from the police radio station KGZB. This allowed for "Scout Cars" to be deployed more effectively and designed to create a feeling of friendliness and safety between the department and citizens.
The milestones of the 1930s included:
1935:
1936:
1937:
1939:
Additionally in 1939, HPD started its first Police Academy Class held at the Sam Houston Coliseum under the direction of Captain L.D. Morrison that lasted 5 weeks. The first class that graduated was on August 16, 1939 and is referred to as the Class of '39.
1940–1949.
In 1940, HPD had grown to 466 officers. With the increased use of the police radios, a PBX operator was hired to handle police calls.
In the same year the Department started giving voluntary blood tests to determine the intoxication of suspected drunken drivers.
In 1941, Neal Picket was elected Mayor of Houston named Ray Ashworth as Chief of police. This move sparked controversy because he was originally the Chief of Police from San Antonio. Counsel members were hoping to hire a new chief from within the rank and file of the current police department. Ashworth quickly instituted the following changes:
In 1945, The Houston Police Officers Association (HPOA) was established.
1950–1959.
In October 1950, a new City ordinance took effect that reduced the police work week from 48 to 40 hours.
In 1951, Chief Morrison announced a "booster squad" designed to be deployed at certain crime-infested parts of the city that proved to be quite effective in cutting down crime in areas they worked in.
Also in that year, the first of the three-wheeled motorcycles to direct traffic and write tickets.
In 1953 The 100 Club, a 501(c)(3) charity, was founded by Leopold L. Meyer, Ray R, Elliot, R.H. Abercrombie, William A. "Bill" Smith and James Marion West Jr to help Police officers by providing assistance when officers are hurt or killed in the line of duty.
In 1954, Chief Jack Heard was appointed Chief of Police. Under his tenure he implemented the following changes:
Chief Heard would also be elected to Harris County Sheriff in 1972.
1956 Carl Shuptrine was appointed Chief and in 1957 he reassigned 70 officers from downtown foot patrol to patrol cars to help get to Houston's newly annexed areas. This was an effort to "decentralize" the Police Department and to economize manpower. This included 17 civilian jailers and in 1959 purchased two lots for future substations.
1960–1969.
In 1960, some of the requirements were trainee applicants during this time frame were to be:
Other milestones for the 1960s include:
1960: The Central Intelligence Division was created to track "hoodlums".
1962:
1964: Herman B. Short was appointed as the New Chief.
1965: The State of Texas established the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education (TCLEOSE)
1966:
1967:
In May 1967, protests erupted at Texas Southern University due to the Vietnam War and racial tensions of the time. In the aftermath of the police raid, one officer was found dead and 488 students were arrested. Mayor Welch then planned community relations training program for police officers in the aftermath of the riot. He appointed 300 neighborhood aides from impoverished areas to provide a communication link to City Hall.
In 1968, the Department incorporated a hookup system between the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles in Austin for immediate vehicle registration verification purposes and established a direct link with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in Washington, DC. Another feature added was the teleprinter, which simultaneously typed an offense report as a new record was entered into the system.
By the end of 1969, the department had grown to 1,577 Officers and 223 civilian personnel.
1970–1979.
In 1970, the Helicopter Patrol Division was formed with three leased Hughes 300 helicopters which gave the city the largest helicopter division in the nation. Bulletproof vests were also introduced to the rank and file and an initial purchase of 30 were made.
The Houston Police Department and the "People's Party II" clashed in the area of St. John's Baptist Church on 2800 Dowling Street. Members of the People's Party II had dared any HPD unit to drive down Dowling. As a result, Chief Short declared that any citizen of Houston or HPD would not be denied access to any public street. This resulted in a gun battle in which the leader, Carl Hampton, was killed.
Other milestones in the 1970s include:
1970:
1972: Chief Short issued a written version of a long-standing verbal policy against officers accepting rewards.
1973: City Council approves time-and-a-half overtime for all city employees.
1975:
1976:
1977:
1978 The department hired a psychologist (Dr. Gregory Riede) to screen police applicants and provide counseling services.
1979: The department announced a new neighborhood crime program called, "Houstonians on Watch". The program combined police patrol with citizen awareness and designed to cover selected high-crime areas.
One of the more significant advances came in 1979 when The Houston Police Department became one of only five police departments in the nation to have an automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS). AFIS was described as a computerized minutia-based fingerprint identification system, capable of storing approximately 375,000 criminal fingerprint records with descriptive information and an additional 12,000 unidentified latent fingerprints.
1980–1989.
In 1982, Mayor Kathryn J. Whitmire was elected the first female mayor of the City of Houston and appointed Lee P. Brown as Chief of Police, who was the first person of color appointed to be Chief of Police and the first to hold a Doctorate. Brown succeeded Harry J. Caldwell.
He instituted several changes including "Neighborhood Oriented Policing. " which is described as the following:
"Neighborhood Oriented Policing is an interactive process between police officers assigned to specific beats and the citizens that either work or reside in these beats to mutually develop ways to identify problems and concerns and then assess viable solutions by provided available resources from both the police department and the community to address the problems and/or concerns."
Along with community policing, he instituted the following changes as well:
1983:
1984:
1985:
1986:
1987: The first command station (Westside) was opened.
1988:
1990–1999.
In 1990 Chief Brown left Houston to be the Police Commissioner for the New York Police Department. On January 20 of that year, Mayor Whitmire announced that Deputy Chief Elizabeth "Betsy" Watson as the new Chief of Police making her the first female to hold that position.
Chief Watson established the Personal Concerns Program that gave attention to and provided action to employees demonstrating behavior problems. The Chief also requested and was approved by city council to abolish the deputy chief rank and replaced it with assistant chiefs to flatten the department's hierarchy.
Since the Police Academy was closed for three years, this resulted in the loss of 600 positions, dropping the number below 4,000 personnel. Against the wishes of Chief Watson, the 60 College credit hour requirements were dropped.
In March 1991, The Texas Supreme Court ruled on the long running lawsuit known as Lee V. City of Houston. The Court held that "if a particular job assignment require no knowledge of police work in the Department, and entails no supervision of classified officers, the position need not be classified." But it held that the Act did prohibit non-classified employees from supervising classified employees.
With the election of Robert "Bob" Lanier in November 1991 and his swearing in ceremony two months later, he pledged to put the equivalent of 655 additional officers on the streets of Houston. After 47 days in office, Mayor Lanier announced the replacement of Chief Watson with former HPD Deputy Chief Sam Nuchia who was then serving as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Houston.
Immediately up on his appointment Chief Nuchia he went to a "back-to-basics" policing approach that would make crime fighting his first priority. He did away with one man units in patrol cars and made as many two-man units as possible.
Of the 655 officers added to the patrol duties, 361 were on patrol, 150 in investigative positions, and 144 on special assignments. The Airport Police department and City Marshals were merged into the HPD.
Other achievements of the decade included:
1993:
1994:
1995:
1996: Planning for police services were undertaken with the beginning of the Kingwood annexation process.
In January 1997, Chief Clarence Bradford was sworn in as the new Chief of Police.
One of the first priorities he accomplished was the elimination of the promotional ranks of sergeant and lieutenant. Judge Lynn Hughes granted a motion making it possible for the Police Department to fill vacant sergeant and lieutenant through promotions. However, the promotions were to be acting positions and would not accrue pension or seniority until the case known as the Edwards Lawsuit was settled. 
It was also during 1997 that then Governor George W. Bush signed into law the new "meet and confer" legislation for the Houston Police Department. The legislation provided for officers to vote for a representative organization to negotiate for them with the City administration on a compensation package that would be brought before City Council.
On April 6, Houston Police Officer Cuong Huy "Tony" Trinh (Badge No. 5891) was killed in an armed robbery while working off duty in a convenience store. The robbery suspect, Chuong Tong, was sentenced to death awaiting execution by lethal injection. Trinh was a 2-year veteran of the department.
In December 1997 the new 26-floor high-rise police headquarters (the former Houston Natural Gas Building) located at 1200 Travis was dedicated. The Mayor, Past chiefs of Police, other dignitaries and guests were on hand for the opening ceremony. The new facility was equipped with the latest security system and would house 2,200 employees.
Lee P. Brown, the former Chief of Police, was elected as City Mayor in November 1997 and took the oath of office in January 1998. He had become the second former head of the police Department to become the Mayor of Houston (I.C. Lord was the first in 1875).
On May 23, 1998, Sergeant Kent Dean Kincaid, a 13-year veteran, was murdered while confronting two criminals who threw an object at his car's windshield. The several suspects, were arrested and sentenced to death.
On May 19, 1999, Houston Police Officer Troy Alan Blando was shot to death while investigating auto theft on the Southwest Freeway. Blando was a 20-year veteran of the force and leaves behind a wife and son.
2000–2005.
2000:
The Houston Police Department announced the discontinuation of their "baby blue" livery that was painted on their Chevrolet Caprice Police vehicle and on their popular fleet of 1997, 1998 and a small percentage of some 1999 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor patrol cars. The paint was a special order and cost significantly higher and the city settled with white cars utilizing the blue "Houston Police" logo. The last remaining "baby blue" car was retired from the department in late 2006 or early 2007. Some of the retired "baby blue" cruisers are sold at auctions with all police equipment stripped and returned to be reused in other cruisers.
September 20, Police Officer Jerry Keith Stowe died in the line of duty due to trauma injuries he suffered on August 27, 1986 when he was ambushed and beaten with a 2x4 wood and a metal pipe when investigating a disturbance call.
2001:
On January 10, Officer Dennis E. Holmes died in the line of duty suffering from a fatal heart attack while apprehending a suspect.
On May 22, Officer Alberto Vasquez (Badge 5437) was shot and killed in the line of duty while patrolling an apartment complex in Southwest Houston. He and three other officers were arresting the suspects of narcotics violation.
2002:
On March 7, Officer Keith Alan Dees (Badge 3807)was killed in a motorcycle accident on the North freeway. His motorcycle crashed into a stopped car, killing him.
On November, an investigative report made by KHOU about improper lab procedures and accuracy of results. It also pointed out various deficiencies of various lab personal in experience and education. The severity of the lack of credibility lay question of a number of cases, including those that were later convicted and put on death row. The scandal involving the DNA Lab would last well into the decade. The other major milestones affecting HPD are:
December: HPD suspends DNA testing after an investigate report and audit.
2003:
January: Harris County District attorney Chuck Rosenthal announces plans to retest DNA evidence from hundreds of cases.
March: Josiah Sutton, convicted with faulty DNA evidence, is released from prison after serving more than four years for a rape he did not commit.
April: On April 3, 20-year veteran Officer Charles Roy Clark (Badge No. 4018) was shot and killed in the line of duty during an exchange of gunfire at a robbery at the ACE America Cash Express on 6408 Martin Luther King Boulevard, near the 5700 block of South 610 Loop. Clark returned fire, unfortunately his weapon jammed on him, leading him to be killed. The clerk who was working there was also murdered by the armed robbers. All suspects were arrested, charged with capital murder, and was sentenced to death by lethal injection.
October: The toxicology division, which tests for alcohol and drugs, is shuttered after its head fails a proficiency test.
2004:
August: Police Chief Harold Hurtt reveals that evidence from thousands of cases dating back to the 1970s was improperly stored in HPD's property room.
October: George Rodriguez is released from prison after serving 17 years for a rape he did not commit. He was convicted on faulty work of the lab's serology division.
2005:
2006–2009.
2006:
2007:
2008
2009
2010—2019.
At the beginning of the year, HPD's Theft Division acquired access to LeadsOnline, a privately owned online database of pawned merchandise to tap into the databases of the city's 133 pawnshops, junk yards, and thrift stores, as well as across the country. The access to this database allows to be able what was pawned, by who, and where. It has been considered a success because of the amount of property recovered and arrests made and has been said that it has more than made up for its $90,000 cost.
2011:
2012:
2019: