The details
Assistant Chief Megan Howard said violent crime increased nearly 5% from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime categories include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, kidnapping and human trafficking, with much of the rise driven by a nearly 9% increase in aggravated assault.
Howard said human trafficking cases also increased from 71 to 92—a 30% increase—largely due to the result of more investigations and reporting, as well as the department’s shift in focus from prostitution to human trafficking.
"Human trafficking investigations are almost exclusively going to be a result of our proactive investigations, and so what this means is when you see the increase, it’s actually a reflection of a shift in priorities,” Howard said.
Although crime rates are higher in 2024 compared to 2023, Howard said crime rates remain lower than in 2020, showing an overall decrease in crime over the last four years.
Howard said 2024 also saw an increase in the number of new police officers joining HPD.
According to the presentation, since Mayor John Whitmire first took office in 2024 HPD has seen over 400 cadets join the department. Whitmire approved a $10,000 raise for new cadets’ salary in September—which is now $52,000—cadets will also receive an additional $5,000 when they graduate and a $1,000 firearm stipend as part of the new package. .
However, Howard said Houston’s base salary for cadets is still behind compared to other municipalities in Texas. For example, the Austin Police Department’s salary for new cadets after graduation is $70,644. Dallas Police Department's starting pay is $75,397 and the Jersey Village Police Department’s starting pay is $66,000.
The city is currently in discussions with the Houston Police Officers Union regarding higher salaries and improved benefits, and although the details of the negotiations and a new contract are not being shared at this time, council member Julian Ramirez said he hopes negotiations will allow the hiring of even more cadets.
“Hopefully when that finishes, HPD will become a more attractive place to work in terms of salary, and that we’ll see the same success that that the fire department is seeing,” Ramirez said.
On the other hand
The annual review also included a discussion on what challenges HPD faced in 2024. Howard said one of the biggest challenges was staffing shortages. She compared numbers from 1998 to 2024, where HPD saw a peak of 5,470 officers and 1,901 civilian staff in 1998. Those numbers have since fallen to 5,238 officers and 884 civilian staff in 2024.
Howard said although hiring is key, retaining staff is equally important for HPD to grow.
“Although this sounds like doom and gloom, we should be very optimistic about our potential to grow and fill our ranks,” she said. “We have proven in our recruiting division that we are capable of recruiting and bringing in new cadets. The key here is to plug the hole [and] to slow down departures.”
She said budget constraints have also been a challenge for HPD with most of the budget going towards personnel costs driven by contractual obligations. She said what remains after fulfilling those obligations is a “very lean” budget that does not provide the flexibility to explore different police equipment or increase overtime capacity.
Looking ahead
The presentation also included discussing the police department’s goals for 2025, which includes opening a new central station and increasing staff.
Howard said HPD is expected to have a new central station by midyear that will be located next to HPD’s Property Room at 1202 Washington Ave. The original station at Riesner Street was damaged by Hurricane Harvey.
“We’ve had multiple divisions that have been displaced and not in workspaces that were properly designed for these divisions,” she said. “One division, for example, is the Vehicular Crimes Division. Once central is out of its current area, we will be able to refurbish that space, repurpose it and make it an effective working space for Vehicular Crimes Division, which is currently spread across two work locations.”
