Government
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ & MELISSA ENAJE
HPD adjusts policies for body-worn cameras The Houston Police Department is making a policy change for body-worn cameras meant to help recover footage after critical incidents. The overview Body-worn cameras are used by the HPD to increase transparency and assist in situations where police o cers interact with the public, HPD Chief Troy Finner said at a Jan. 25 news confer- ence. The department will now require o cers to activate a feature called “record-after-the-fact,” which allows the department to retrieve videos in situations where an o cer is not able to or fails to activate the camera. The details Existing HPD policy requires the release of footage within 30 days of a “critical inci- dent,” including o cer-involved shootings.
Harris County to pilot solar energy hubs O cials with Harris County’s O ce of Sustainability are anticipating breaking ground by the end of 2024 on a couple of locations, including community centers and libraries across the county, that will serve as a pilot program for solar and alternative energy hubs. The big picture Jesse Dickerman, O ce of County Administration chief of sta , said one of Harris County’s clean energy strategies is to decrease its reliance on the energy grid and increase its use of alternative energy. Once the pilot program is complete, it will encompass at least 12-15 chosen sites across the county that will be installed with solar, battery storage and electric vehicle charging stations, o cials said.
Whitmire orders withdrawal from re ghter lawsuit
‘Food Farmacies’ are coming to more Harris County health centers Harris Health System o cials are expanding the Food Farmacy intervention program to at least three additional sites after Harris County commis- sioners approved allocating close to $500,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding Dec. 19. Food Farmacies serve all adult patients experi- encing food insecurity by connecting them with healthy foods, dietitian support, bene ts enroll- ment navigators and other community resources, according to the program’s website. What happened Before the commissioners’ approval to allocate the funds, Harris Health’s Food Farmacies existed at Acres Home Health Center and Strawberry Health Center, as well as Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital. The services have been expanded to:
Existing food farmacies
Pending food farmacies
“It’s not perfect. There will still probably be incidents where we don’t capture [footage], but we certainly, by introducing record-after-the-fact, are going to increase the likelihood we capture what we need.” TROY FINNER, CHIEF, HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT
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Following talks with re ghter union leadership in early January, newly elected Houston Mayor John Whitmire said he directed City Attorney Arturo Michel to have the city withdraw an appeal from a lawsuit related to contract negotiations. The context The city and the Houston Professional Fire ghters Association have been at odds since 2017, when the two groups were unable to reach an agreement in contract negotiations. Whitmire and union leader- ship both directed attorneys to begin meet- ing immediately until there is agreement on a path forward.
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Record-after-the-fact has been in use since Dec. 21, but Finner said the department is working on new policy details that will explain when footage can be retrieved, taking o cer privacy into account. For now, Finner said he is the only one who can decide when a video needs to be retrieved. In terms of how far back in the past HPD can go to retrieve a video, Finner said he couldn’t give a number of hours, but said they are working to determine those details.
SOURCE: HARRIS HEALTH SYSTEM COMMUNITY IMPACT
• Precinct 1 : Martin Luther King, Jr. Health Center • Precinct 2 : Gulfgate Health Center • Precinct 4 : El Franco Lee Health Center The date for service expansion in Precinct 3 was not set as of press time, but Cypress Health Center and Squatty Lyons Health Center were being considered.
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