HOUSTON — On Thursday, Houston’s mayor plans to announce the implementation of key recommendations from his task force on policing reform.
Members of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration tell KHOU 11 that Chief Troy Finner will also announce policies on the release of police body camera video.
Mayor Turner created the task force in June 2020 following calls from the community for accountability and transparency.
A diverse group of 45 Houstonians reviewed HPD’s policies and procedures before issuing 104 recommendations in September.
After Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the murder of George Floyd on April 20, Mayor Turner promised to implement most of those reforms.
“Over the past several months, my team has reviewed the recommendations, conducted cost analysis of implementation, and selected experienced individuals to lead us,” Mayor Turner told members of City Council during their weekly meeting Wednesday.
Some advocates say reform is taking too long. However, administration officials said the mayor has been “thoughtful and deliberate” on what City Council can legally and financially implement.
“Transparency is huge,” said Bishop James Dixon, President of the NAACP Houston Branch, who served on the task force.
Bishop Dixon said creating a clear policy that lays out when body camera video will be made public is key.
“Of course, there may be some extenuating circumstances in special cases, but you’ve gotta at least have a framework so that the community doesn’t think it’s completely subjective,” Bishop Dixon said.
Douglas Griffith, President of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said he and his officers believe in getting out video from critical incidents like police shootings as soon as possible.
“That way we prevent any false narratives from running out there,” Griffith said. “We believe our officers do it right, so we’re not concerned about that at all. We’re good with them putting it out as soon as they can.”
During an interview Sunday on the CBS program “Face The Nation," Chief Finner said the quicker police release body camera footage, “the better off everybody is going to be.”
The mayor’s press conference starts at 11 a.m. Thursday.