HOUSTON — Houston Mayor John Whitmire is proposing a merger with two of the city’s police agencies.
He wants to merge the METRO Police Department with the Houston Police Department. Whitmire told KHOU 11 News about his plans on Tuesday.
He said the METRO transit lines are considered not safe by a lot of people.
"There’s a concern about the safety on our transit lines, which I think if we had additional HPD resources applied there, likewise in the community, we’d use transit officers in the community, it’s a partnership that makes a lot of sense," Whitmire said.
He said a merger would add about 300 officers to HPD, allowing them to patrol METRO lines as well as surrounding communities.
"We’re in the planning stages. It is moving rather quickly. There’s a lot of support for it in the community -- certainly in the law enforcement community," Whitmire said.
METRO said it's looking forward to working with Whitmire on the proposal.
Here's a statement from METRO Board Chair Sanjay Ramabhadran:
"We look forward to working on the details of Mayor Whitmire’s proposal. The METRO Police Department has long partnered with other law enforcement agencies, including HPD. It is always good to see what more we can do for public safety. The mechanics of it need work when you are talking about departments, service areas, labor, and pension matters. As an agency, we are committed to seeing what all we can do. There is the decision to say we should collaborate and merge, and then there are the nuts and bolts of it. At the end of the day, we are all dedicated to public safety."
Whitmire said it would save money on all the support systems a police department needs to operate. He also claims that with a potential merger, METRO officers’ jobs are also safe.
"I’m going to look out for the officers' benefits, I’m going to look out for officers' job security -- if they want to do the crime fighting that I’m looking for," Whitmire said.
The METRO Police Officers Union president didn't want to comment until he got additional details about the plan.