Sunny Side /South Park Super Neighborhood

Sunny Side/South Park Meet with Chief Hurtt (2)

Public Safety and the Community

April 18, 2007

Chief Harold Hurtt
Houston Police Department
1200 Travis
Houston, Texas 77002

Dear Chief Hurtt:

On behalf of our committee, we thank you and your staff for receiving and responding to our specific concern with, “TASERS AND RELATED INCIDENTS” as well as our general concerns with public safety and police and community relations. We have distributed all the communications related to this process to 30 civic club presidents and 12 pastors in the southeast corridor. This is our short list.

Our intent is to create a common form of communications and a service delivery model that will improve our dual responsibility and service to a shared consumer base in southeast Houston. Since stakeholders relay on both of our services and information – it would be impractical for us not to work together in a more unified command format as standard operating procedures. The features and benefit of that type of model will protect more children and elderly. The following format is designed to be open for correction, discussion, flexible and easy reading.

NEXT STEPS:
1. Our responses to your letter dated February 16, 2007.
2. Our response dated April 18, 2007
3. A follow up meeting with the committee
4. A public safety focus meeting with approximately 100 community stakeholders to dialogue about public safety strategies that will improve service delivery and public awareness.
NOTATION – we could convene the follow up meeting and the public safety focus meeting on the same day. We are requesting a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday in May by May 10, 2007 from 6:00PM to 8:30 PM or Saturday May 5, 2007 or Saturday June 2, 2007 from 10:00AM. – 12:30PM.

STATEMENT:
Chief, for the past one hundred years the relationship between the African American community and the police has been loosely defined based on whose speaking at the time. However, in this case we are addressing concerns affecting all citizens that fall under the “protect and serve” banner of the Houston Police. The existing lines of protocols and relationships are based on a 100 hundred year paradigm which consists of stereotypes from both sides. It was and is panoramically clear in your conversation with us and your written response --- we need to achieve a unified command format so to speak that accommodates the multi-ethic demographics in the southeast corridor.

PREMISE:
The intent is to establish a process that includes elements and protocols of forensics science, sterile environment, quantitative programmatic outcomes, qualitative research that is beneficial to all concerns. In other words we want to produce a scientific based set of protocols that will minimize personality conflicts, personal agendas/special interest agendas, and political favoritism, nepotism, cronyism etc. Houston politics is known for contaminating the community’s needs by appointing community-heads, camera-heads, and talking-heads and want to be talking heads. Although all talking heads serve a purpose --- we are attempting to establish standard best practices, and promising practices models that properly implemented will lead to sustainable and accountable service delivery models that will change and improve the paradigm, suitable for the 21st century with your cooperation.


We know some political community leaders are picked and pass on from election to election and the result is that the various community representatives become divided on meaningless or personality issues and service needs go unmet. We are not about to turn a blind eye on that type of trick-nology passively.

Response to your letter dated February 16, 2007

• Questions: 1, 2, & 3 – either the questions weren’t understood or you thought you answered the questions. Your reference was not reliable or verifiable data without a standard formula to confirm answers in 1, 2 & 3. Chief, please refer to the agenda page that I gave you when we met. We are well aware of the history, scope, mission, capacity, commitment and limitations of the groups that you referred to. However, the sector of the city we are speaking of has roughly 90,000 people. There are at least 400 meetings every 10 months related to public safety by groups that you have not included as a reference. Southeast Houston is referred to by the police department as having one of the highest crime rates in the city at various times. My involvement with PIP started in 1985 (northeast & southeast), as you stated, “in many of the community meetings you attended, you are the youngest person in the room”. Whatever the department has done before now, it did not include recruiting new and younger members to a standard operation. This is just one example why we need to establish a sustainable process.
• Question: 4 – You have no process in place.
• Questions: 5, 6 & 7 – You misinterpreted or over interpreted my questions- All my questions were data based with you providing the data, not me assuming or injecting any numbers, if any numbers exist. There was no assumption just questions; Is there, Are there, and How many.
• Question: 8 – No
• Question: 9 – No
• Question: 10 – Yes
• Question: 11 – Funding (national) cut or reduced for community outreach programs.
• Question: 12 – Unclear answer or we just don’t understand the answer.

I do understand that if my/our view of your written or stated responses are not exactly correct that you will correct them at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner. We mean no disrespect to you, your staff or this administration however, we expect our concerns to be accurately conveyed and processed with fairness.

We do understand the need to work together. Thank you again for your consideration and time.


Respectfully,


Charles X White