Houston rejects effort to reallocate $12M in police
HOUSTON — Houston City Council on Wednesday denied an effort to reallocate nearly $12 million from the Houston Police Department’s upcoming budget to fund sweeping police reform and other measures.
Houston Councilwoman Letitia Plummer proposed redirecting the money to fund several measures, including strengthening a police oversight board by giving it investigative powers, enhancing police de-escalation training and creating a program that would provide no-interest loans to minority-owned businesses.
But City Council voted against Plummer’s proposal to include the measures in Houston’s fiscal year 2021 budget, which begins on July 1.
Also Wednesday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has dropped prosecutions of 786 criminal cases against Black Lives Matter demonstrators arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors, such as obstructing a highway and trespassing.
Another of Plummer’s proposals — to use funding from one police cadet class to pay for the creation of a mental health mobile response unit to help police with non-threatening lower priority calls — was referred to a council committee for further study.
The debate over police funding in Houston mirrors similar ones that have taken place across the country following the killing of George Floyd. The black man died last month after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck, pinning him to the ground. Floyd was laid to rest in Houston on Tuesday.
Community activists have called for more transparency from the Houston police department following six deadly police shootings since April 21.
The council on Wednesday approved a new city budget that increased the nearly $1 billion police budget by about $20 million, despite financial challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Plummer said her proposals were not about eliminating the police but about making officers’ jobs easier and having conversations about transparency. She said it was also about dealing with the root of the problem that has led to the death of Floyd and other black men.