Resident urges Humble County to merge city police and sheriff’s office, citing pay and cost concerns

Michelle Si, a Humble County resident, urged the board during public comment to consider combining the Humble city police department with the county sheriff’s office to address disparities in pay, inter‑department friction and the cost of maintaining two separate law‑enforcement organizations.

"To me the main underlying issue is the city police officer pay versus the deputy sheriff's county pay," Michelle Si said. She told commissioners many officers move from city to county because of higher county pay and benefits, and argued a single department could create "a fair salary pay" and eliminate duplicated leadership and costs.

Si listed four practical concerns: pay and benefits differences, conflicts between department leaders, the expense of running two departments in a small county, and whether a formal split would actually resolve the underlying personnel and culture problems. She suggested Humble be added to an existing 28‑agreement that covers several towns in the county, which she said might allow a countywide law‑enforcement structure without extensive legal restructuring.

Board members and staff discussed the suggestion at length. Commissioners and staff noted the proposal would require the city’s agreement and careful mapping of responsibilities such as code enforcement and city‑level duties. One commissioner said officers currently perform well responding to calls and arrests, and that most operational cooperation happens in the field; board discussion focused on the difficulty of convincing the city and the practical steps required if consolidation were pursued.

Several participants cautioned that consolidation would change personnel classifications and compensation; staff reiterated that implementing any countywide change would require negotiation with the city and careful planning to avoid service disruptions. A number of residents and board members told the speaker they shared concerns about costs and relationships between departments.

The board did not take action on the request during the meeting; commissioners discussed the idea as a topic for further conversation and said it would require city participation and additional study before any formal proposal could be pursued.