Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Community Affairs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Community groups urge city to keep full-time HPD minority liaison officers
Summary
Speakers representing immigrant, Korean‑American and LGBTQ communities urged City Council to retain the Houston Police Department’s community‑affairs liaison officers as full‑time positions, citing trust and rapid response benefits.
Several community representatives urged the council on June 10 to maintain Houston Police Department community‑affairs liaison officers—particularly minority‑community liaisons—as full‑time positions, saying the liaisons build trust, respond quickly to urgent community needs and cannot be replaced by a part‑time or centralized model.
Casey Young, representing the Korean American Association of Houston, said liaison officers who regularly meet with immigrants and seniors have helped build trust and encourage reporting of crimes. “When I was growing up in Korea…we were afraid of police officers. Now we need officers who come to us and become our friends,” Young said.
Conchita Reyes and other speakers echoed those remarks and highlighted examples where liaisons expedited urgent responses—Reyes recounted a liaison helping a bereaved family arrange transportation of a loved one’s body within 24 hours. “That doesn’t happen if you decentralize our liaison,” she said.
Speakers asked council to reconsider any plan that would reduce the liaisons’ authority, to preserve community outreach efforts, and to ensure specialized liaison staffing for LGBTQ, immigrant and minority neighborhoods. Council members who spoke to the comments acknowledged the role liaisons play and pledged to raise the issue with HPD. No administrative change was approved during the meeting.
