In this day and age, law enforcement agencies across the United States are finding it harder by the day to maintain an adequate roster of officers.
But the Houston Police Department is bucking that trend, as it has reached full staff status for the first time in many years. There are now 10 full-time officers, including Chief Brad Evans, Lt. Matt Woodmansee, Sgt. Travis Thompson and seven road officers.
“We were short-staffed for most of last year,” Evans said, “but now we have at least two officers on duty 24 hours a day the majority of the time. That’s great, and I’m really happy about it.”
Interestingly, the HPD’s workload decreased a bit in 2023, as officers responded to 9,063 dispatched calls compared to 9,127 in 2022 and submitted 729 written reports, compared to 860 the previous year. The calls total includes those that go through 911 dispatch, but doesn’t include some of the officer-initiated activity, such as overnight security checks or contacts made with “walk-ins” at the police station or phone callers seeking information (like directions or other routine matters).
“A lot of those calls aren’t collected,” Evans said. “Something we’re looking forward to is the city installing a new phone system, and when people call here there will be a switchboard and calls related to the police will go to 911, so they’ll be collected. Same with the lobby; there will be a phone there and they’ll talk to 911 first and then us, so that will also be collected.”
One response category that saw a significant increase last year was animal control, which jumped from 444 in 2022 to a 5-year high of 523. Many such calls involve things other than loose dogs, including setting traps for undesirable critters (like skunks or opossums) or dealing with stray cats.
“We handle a lot of animal control calls,” Evans said, “and there has been a steady increase over the previous years.”
Since Houston has a municipal pound, each animal call must be documented and reported to the Missouri Department of Agriculture, which conducts regular inspections (usually unannounced).
“We have to keep track of each animal we collect and what we do with it thereafter,” Evans said. “It’s a time-consuming process, and it’s one of the downsides to having a city pound.”
HPD officers performed 4,091 security checks at businesses and other locations in 2023 and recorded 1,958 public assists.
Violent crime was down in 2023, as there were no murders (compared to two in 2022), only two weapons-related felony arrests (down from 22) and assaults dropped significantly (from 53 to 31). Felony theft arrests were also way down (from 13 in 2022 to 4 last year) and burglaries decreased from 14 to 10.
“Those numbers are great,” Evans said. “We’re happy to see that.”
Another category that saw a huge drop was arrests for possession of a controlled substance, which dropped from 69 in 2022 to 17 in 2023. That’s almost entirely due to the legalization of marijuana.
“That has made for some big changes for us,” Evans said.
HPD officers conducted 1,904 traffic stops in 2023, up from 1,765 in 2022. Officers issued 1,685 warnings (down from 1,815 last year) and wrote only 556 citations (down from 801).
“For us, it’s not about writing tickets,” Evans said, “it’s about educating the public. We’re not in the business of generating revenue off of citations. And there’s no such thing as a quota.”
The HPD had a case clearance rate of 82.95% in 2023, while the average of police departments in Missouri is 28.75%. The clearance rate basically refers to cases that are solved or otherwise closed out (so they’re “off the books”).
“Our officers are good investigators and they work at trying to solve every case,” Evans said. “It also helps to be in a smaller town and knowing a lot of people, and it helps a lot that we have a good relationship with the community.”
THE FLEET
The HPD added a 2023 Ford Explorer early last year, and toward the end of the year purchased a 2023 Durango. The agency’s fleet now includes 10 vehicles, and all but one officer lives within five miles of city limits, which allows them to drive their patrol vehicle home.
“Our city council has worked well with us in implementing that policy,” Evans said.
Each HPD road officer’s vehicle is now outfitted with the same brightly-colored, reflective graphics that are easily visible day or night.
“It makes our officers stand out, and people know they’re police officers,” Evans said. “It’s about presence; the community wants to feel safe and know that we’re there, and we want them to be able to see us. And all the vehicles match, and that kind of uniformity is important to me.”
HPD officers logged 73,758 patrol miles last year, using 7,459 gallons of gas (for an average of just under 10 miles per gallon). The average response time was 5 minutes and 41 seconds, and the average on-scene time was 30 minutes and 52 seconds.
THE TAX
Funding by the sales tax approved by voters in 2019 continues to be a major asset, Evans said.
Tax revenue helps the HPD keep up with technology, maintain good equipment and weaponry (including department-issued handguns and patrol rifles) and participate in valuable training programs.
“The tax really helps us to help the community,” Evans said. “Without it, we wouldn’t be able to make many of the purchases we make or afford nearly as much training as we do, which is a big benefit to the citizens of Houston. And everything in the police world is getting more expensive, so it helps us keep up with that.”
Officers got a financial boost from the Missouri Department of Transportation again in 2023, in the form of about $17,000 toward funding of overtime.
“It provides a bit more traffic enforcement,” Evans said, “and allows the officers to get some overtime they wouldn’t otherwise get.”
Evans’ office is now upstairs in City Hall, detached from the downstairs police station.
“That allowed us to have more space and get some things organized,” he said. “It’s not the best situation to be away from the rest of the officers – because it’s a constant back-and-forth – but we’ve kind of outgrown our little station and it has definitely helped.”
Evans hopes that someday Houston will have a new, bigger police station.
“I would say that is a priority, but it’s not our top priority,” he said. “Our top priority is providing good service to the citizens of Houston and the visitors who come through here.”
Evans has been with the HPD for 20 years and became chief in March of 2021.
“We’re doing great,” he said. “Our equipment and our vehicle program are in great shape, and I really like our staff right now; they all work well together and they’re doing good things.”
