Greater progress

City’s police reforms are a milestone in a marathon journey, with more work ahead.

When it comes to progress, the great quandary is usually whether to measure it by the miles already traveled or the inches yet to go.

While we celebrate the police reforms announced last week by Mayor Sylvester Turner as a milestone in a marathon journey, the fact is that the national reckoning brought about by George Floyd’s murder has moved the finish line toward greater expectations.

Houston has indeed come many miles since 1977, when six police officers infamously arrested Vietnam War veteran Joe Campos Torres for disorderly conduct and proceeded to beat him to a pulp before forcing him into Buffalo Bayou, where his body was found three days later.

We’ve come far since 2013, when a Chronicle investigation revealed Houston police officers had been cleared by Harris County grand juries 288 consecutive times in shootings involving civilians, more than a quarter of them unarmed.

We can even measure progress since 2019, when officers killed an innocent couple and their dog in a botched drug raid on their Harding Street home enabled by a no-knock warrant that also left officers injured, one paralyzed. Under Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, 12 officers have been indicted, two for murder, in the shooting and related corruption.

Turner’s long-awaited announcement Thursday built on smaller achievements to push Houston even further toward our ultimate goal: a city where police officers protect and serve rather than prey, where they build trust with communities rather than fear, where bad apples are held accountable rather than untouchable.

Among the most significant reforms, all of which this editorial board has called for: officially banning no-knock warrants for nonviolent offenses, setting a 30-day deadline for releasing body cam footage when officers injure or kill civilians and empowering a toothless police oversight board with competent leadership, broader authority and a full-time investigative staff.

The oversight board, rather than just reviewing investigations conducted by HPD internal affairs, will finally be able to initiate its own probes, similar to the power of a grand jury in Texas. But unlike grand juries, the group will not have subpoena power — a significant obstacle that we urge Turner to address as well.

Another change with potentially outsized significance is Turner’s streamlining of a byzantine police complaint system. Houston is establishing a system where residents can start the process online or even submit concerns through trusted groups such as the ACLU or LULAC.

Notably, the decision to allow anonymous complaints may not only persuade residents to come forward but also fellow officers who want to report bad behavior from colleagues but fear retribution.

The fact that Turner announced the reforms at a press conference attended by Police Chief Troy Finner, the head of the police union, and passionate reform advocates, shows the mayor’s commitment to building consensus around implementing recommendations of his police reform task force, appointed after Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

But Kumbaya consensus shouldn’t keep the city from embracing other difficult reforms. Steps such as strengthening disciplinary rules and police protocols after shootings to ensure fair investigations that aren’t biased toward officers are vital. Turner should pursue such changes in negotiations over the union’s expired contract.

We welcome Turner’s nod to transparency in providing online dashboards where the public can monitor police interactions including use of force and other areas such as diversity and disciplinary actions at the department. We urge Turner to ensure that such information is available in a user-friendly format comprehensive enough to provide an accurate picture of problems and progress.

Lastly, we are buoyed by Turner’s sensible foil to poorly phrased cries of “defund the police.” What many in that movement actually seek is smarter allocation of resources to reduce the overuse of police and prevent tragic encounters with mentally ill residents that could have been safely resolved without armed intervention.

Turner plans to use $25 million in federal pandemic relief funds to expand programs to either divert 911 calls to a mental health professional, or summon a response that pairs a mental health counselor with a police officer. This will go a long way in avoiding deadly encounters such as the shooting last April of 27-year-old Nicolas Chavez, who was suffering a mental health crisis during a prolonged encounter with police when they opened fire on him after he reached for a Taser they didn’t know was empty.

Chavez, a father of three, might still be alive today if a counselor trained to deescalate the situation had navigated the response rather than officers who surrounded the agitated man with guns drawn while their lights flashed and sirens blared.

Reformers cheered Turner’s announcement, with Council Member Letitia Plummer likening the approval of long-sought reforms to “Christmas.”

“I feel safer with my (sons) driving around the city now,” she said.

Meanwhile, Brennan Griffin at the social justice nonprofit Texas Appleseed declaring the changes “pretty weak sauce.”

“It’s progress, and I’ll take it,” he tweeted. “But there’s still a lot to do if Houston wants some real change.”

Both are true — progress was made and more progress is needed. Houston has come miles on its journey toward a police force that is consistently skilled, formidable and humane. We still have a few miles to go, but Houstonians should take heart that our mayor is leading the way.