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State, cities send roughly 100 officers to assist Houston amid widespread outages
Summary
Mayor Whitmire announced that about 100 officers from multiple Texas police departments are en route to Houston to work alongside HPD and DPS in neighborhoods left dark by storm-related power outages; state officials said the state will cover costs.
Mayor Whitmire announced at a press briefing that about 100 officers from across Texas were on their way to Houston to assist the Houston Police Department and the Department of Public Safety after a storm left large parts of the city without power.
The mayor said the officers, from major cities and jurisdictions statewide, will pair with HPD in mixed crews — for example, a marked Dallas police car may include a Dallas officer with a Houston officer — to maintain presence in neighborhoods that lost electricity. "They will be here to work with HPD in our communities that are dark from lack of electricity," Mayor Whitmire said.
Chief Sarabhai explained the operational plan, saying incoming personnel will be dispersed to divisions most affected by outages and to high-crime areas. He said the outside officers will take part in routine patrol and traffic-enforcement duties so Houston officers working 12-hour shifts can return home to tend to families. "We're bringing officers in that do not know these neighborhoods. So we partner with us — an HPD officer and an outside agency partner together," the chief said.
Acting Governor Dan Patrick told the briefing the state would fund the deployment. "We have to write the check, and we'll write the check," he said, describing prior state programs that pay for personnel sent into disaster zones. Nim Kidd, identified in the briefing as the state's emergency director, said the approach builds on emergency-mobilization programs the state has used for decades.
Officials listed several jurisdictions sending personnel, including the San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas and Corpus Christi police departments and multiple others from the region. The chief said roll call for the incoming officers is scheduled for tonight at Union Hall; the transcript recorded the roll-call location name but a clear street address was not provided. City and state leaders said they expect the outside personnel to be in Houston for about four days but that the deployment could be extended if power restoration lags.
Officials asked residents not to be alarmed by out-of-town marked cars and to contact law enforcement with tips; they asked anyone with information about the homicide that prompted part of the mobilization to contact Harris County or HPD.
