New chief meets youth advisory council
After two months on the job, Houston’s new police chief had his first meeting with the department’s youth advisory council Saturday, part of his effort to meet Houstonians, build trust and advance community-oriented policing
The 50 or so high school students on the youth council — whose 1997 founding makes it the first in the nation, according to the Houston Police Department — discussed sexting, dating violence and human trafficking with Chief Art Acevedo and panelists from the Houston Area Women’s Center and United Against Human Trafficking.
Acevedo was sworn in on Nov. 30 as Houston’s police chief after nearly a decade at the helm of Austin’s force. He’s started his tenure with a flurry of community meetings, media interviews and public appearances. He also enrolled in HPD’s upcoming citizens’ police academy.
In the social-media-friendly spirit of the new chief — who operates his own Twitter and Instagram accounts — the department broadcast the discussion on Facebook Live. ‘Plant seeds of trust’
Wearing a casual uniform without a gun on his belt, Acevedo greeted teens as they arrived for the meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday, asking their school and grade.
He made sure to also inquire about their college plans. Though a native Californian, he was quick to encourage aspiring University of Texas and Texas A& M students to “Hook ’em’” or “Gig ’em,” respectively.
The council members come from across the city and apply to join the group, motivated by different combinations of civicmindedness, interest in policing and the need to rack up school-mandated volunteer hours. One student said she joined because she wants to be an FBI agent in the future, but also to fulfill her school’s volunteer requirements.
During interviews in English and Spanish, the bilingual Acevedo told reporters he hoped to “plant seeds of trust” in young people whocan serve as ambassadors for the police in their communities. Perhaps most important, he said, was to gather adults, police officers and experts to “tell them we care.”
About 20 teens sat around a square of folding tables to discuss sexting and relationship violence. They said sending nude photos has become a social norm at their schools, and many teens, especially girls, are distraught after their pictures get shared. One high school girl said she regularly ignores pictures that male classmates send of their genitals.
“Actions have consequences,” Acevedo told the teens and the Facebook Live audience. “Once you click send, you lose control of images, which can live on forever.”
Acevedo emphasized that the only people likely to love you forever are family members. He elicited a chuckle around the room when he asked whether highschool relationships were likely to last a lifetime. Girlfriend slapped him
One young woman said she imagined adults also did things like sexting when they were younger, but some adults pointed out that cellphone cameras weren’t around back then.
“We had to draw,” Acevedo joked, drawing more laughs. He used humor to smooth over the awkwardness of teenagers talking with adults about anything related to sex. When a student’s response showed an in-depth knowledge of laws about sexting, he asked, “Are you a cop?”
The teens, chief and experts also talked about legal consequences for minors who take or distribute nude or semi-nude pictures, technically producing child pornography. Acevedo said he thinks lawmakers in recent decades have made overly harsh punishments for youthful indiscretions.
“We’ve kind of criminalized childhood,” he said, adding that some Texas legislators like Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston-area Democrat, have sought to address the penalties for infractions by minors.
Acevedo shared a story from his own teenage years to illustrate the point that males also can become victims. He said when he was 15, his girlfriend slapped him. He said she had grown up in an abusive household and learned that behavior, but he told her he would end the relationship if she ever hit him again. About six months after the first incident, she raised her hand again. He left.
“You don’t wait,” Acevedo told the teens. “Walk away.”