Last week, KPRC-2’s Stephen Dean uncovered more problems within HPD with this story on the police department’s failure to provide most homicide investigators with access to computer programs and databases which are critical in the first hours of an investigation:
The officers told KPRC Local 2 Investigates that they are routinely locked out of three of the most fundamental crime-fighting computer systems they need to track down killers and kidnappers. They said access to those programs has only been granted to a handful of homicide squad employees and those people are often off-duty or unavailable when seconds count.
Smaller departments often access these basic programs from most investigators’ desktop computers, but HPD homicide investigators said they have been required to wait in line for crime analysts, employees who are not officers, to handle the duties for them because of department policy.
“Small cities, small departments don’t have those obstacles,” Wiseman said. “The fourth-largest city in the country does; it’s no wonder we have problems.”
Wiseman said there is “a problem in management.”
That’s a HUGE understatement.
HPD has limited access to its computer link with the Texas Department of Public Safety, which can allow officers instant access to driver’s license photographs of suspects. HPD acknowledged it only allowed 11 employees access to those photos, even though DPS officials told KPRC it would cost nothing to add access for every single detective.
But that’s not all:
The second issue involves police computer searches known as “skip tracing.” The department admitted it only had seven employees with access to those programs from the homicide squad.
Skip tracing pinpoints addresses, relatives, registered automobiles and other information about potential suspects. HPD officers told KPRC Local 2 Investigates they would sometimes have to wait for others to access those databases during kidnapping investigations.
The third technology hang-up involves accessing crime reports from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Officers said they could not access routine crime reports or crime analysis from that neighboring jurisdiction, even though sheriff’s office employees can access that data from HPD.
[snip]
Just like the DPS driver’s license photos, a linkup to the Harris County sheriff’s office computer would cost nothing, according to city and county officials.
Dirden insisted, “That may be the case, but it’s not an issue that has jeopardized public safety.”
The homicide squad chief is fairly new in his command and admitted he learned about some of these technology hang-ups from KPRC Local 2 Investigates.
It is inexcusable that HPD’s homicide investigators do not have every possible resource available to them in the course of an investigation. The incompetence of HPD’s leadership is just mind-boggling, especially as we add this to Mark Greenblatt’s reporting on how HPD flat out misreports homicide numbers.
A pattern is clearly emerging of a police chief who is much more interested in surveilling Houstonians, rather than doing what it takes to keep Houstonians safe (not to mention, alive!), and of a mayor who tacitly approves of said police chief.
