exam

Case  Study Chief  Lee  Brown  and  

the  Houston  Police  Department

The  City  of  Houston  and  the  Police   Department

• HPD  was  ruled  by  “good  old  boys,”  entrenched  for  many  years  and  therefore  had   developed  its  own  culture.

• HPD  believed  its  support  and  legitimacy  depended  on  maintaining  existing  social   order.  Translation:  Old  style,  hard-­‐nosed  policing  particularly  in  the  minority  areas   of  the  city.

• However,  the  city  was  going  through  a  rapidly  changing  social,  cultural  and   demographic  landscape  with  the  influx  of  highly  educated  and  highly  paid  public   employees  (NASA  Mission  Control)  and  a  growing  number  of  ethnic  minorities.

Houston  Police  Department

• Lack  of  accountability  for  police  excessive  use  of  force  resulting  in   “unprecedented  level  of  violence  against  its  own  residents.

• Final  result:  loss  of  credibility   in  the  community

Change  Comes  to  Houston

• New  mayor,  a  woman,  was  elected. • Mayor  decides  to  hire  an  outsider  for  the  job  of  police  chief. • Lee  Brown  was  hired  to  run  the  police  department

Lessons  from  Lee  Brown  and  HPD

• Brown  had  to  overcome  resistance  from  holdovers  who  are  protected  by   civil  service  rules  and  the  rank  and  file  union.  How?

• First  command  conference  held  in  a  “borrowed”  corporate  board  room   outside  the  department  to  demonstrate  Brown’s  strong  support  in  the   business  community  and  to  put  “old  timers”  out  of  their  comfort  zone.

• Commissioned  a  thorough  study  of  the  department.  What  elements  were   assessed?

Lessons  from  Brown

• Assessment  concluded  by  identifying  key  steps  to  improve  operational  effectiveness   and  resolve  pending  issues:

1. Develop   an  interim  organizational   structure.  Why? 2. Develop   a  plan  of  improvement   to  correct  identified   deficiencies.

• Raising  expectations  and  establishing  accountability  among  commanders. • Field  Operations  (Uniformed  Patrol)  given  organizational  emphasis  and  placed  under  

the  most  respected  and  experienced  Assistant  Chief.  Why?

The  Budget

• Assistant  Chiefs  were  required  to  be  familiar  with  their  respective  budgets.   Reactions?

• Established  accountability  for  spending  and  use  of  resources. • Why  it’s  important  for  managers  to  have  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  

budget.

Results  of  Requiring  Budget  Responsibility

• It  exposed  the  ignorance  of  most  assistant  chiefs  as  far  as  their  own  budgets   is  concerned.

• Budget  responsibility  forced  managers  to  manage  – making  sensible   decisions  on  spending  money  and  resources  – their  entire  operations.

• One  of  the  assistant  chiefs  retired.

Community  Policing

• The  biggest  change  of  all:  Brown  emphasized  the  role  of  the  community  in   its  own  security.  Asked  the  community  to  be  partners.

• Managers  made  aware  of  expectation  for  them  to  engage  with  the   community  proactively;  before  problems  arise.

• Brown  cultivated  his  own  contacts  in  the  community  and  assiduously   courted  their  support.

Parallels  in  Lessons  Learned

• Both  the  Boston  Housing  Authority  and  the  Houston  Police  Department  have   robust  management  systems  on  paper. • Both  have  operations  that  had  worked  well  in  the  past. • Both  had  gone  bankrupt:  In  BHA’s  case,  it  was  literally  bankrupt  – not  taking  in  

sufficient  revenue  to  keep  housing  projects  maintained  with  adequate  security.  In   HPD’s  case,  it  was  financially  well  resourced  but  bankrupt  in  terms  of  credibility   with  its  own  citizens  with  its  erstwhile  supporters  beginning  to  question  its  ability   to  correct  itself.  Among  minority  communities,  it’s  viewed  with  suspicion  and   oftentimes  outright  hostility.