More Houston police officers were charged this week for their actions related to the Harding street raid last year that resulted in the deaths of two civilians and the firings of several other officers. It is just one of the incidents that led to the formation of the Houston Task Force on Policing Reform. Laurence “Larry” Payne is the chair of the task force and says the goal is clear.
“Our task is to submit a clear plan of action and to submit those to the Mayor to put forward a comprehensive and very coherent plan for transformational change,” he said. “One that will be reflective, resourceful, robust and one that will allow things to be clearly understood in a transparent way with accountability.”
Four Committees of the Task Force:
- Police Department Policies and Procedures
- Community Policing/Independent Police Oversight Board
- Body Camera Criteria/Use of and release of footage
- Best Practices and Training
How the committees will work and what kind of input is expected from the community on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.
Here’s what else you can expect on this week’s Houston Newsmakers:
Democrats in runoff to fight for chance to face Senator John Cornyn
M.J. Hegar led 12 others in the Democratic primary on March 3rd. Her 22% beat 2nd place finisher State Senator Royce West who captured almost 15% of the vote. They’re now in the runoff that takes place on July 14th and both are guests this week on Houston Newsmakers.
On why he’s the better candidate, Senator West said, “I think if you look at my experience, my demonstrated track record of bringing people together, my demonstrated track record of being a true democrat and the references that I have.”
On why taking on Senator Cornyn is the main goal, M.J. Hegar said, “I’m laser focused on taking on a system that is not working for every day Texans and I’m critical of career politicians if they don’t force themselves outside of the political echo chamber.”
Catch Houston Newsmakers Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
More Information:
Laurence “Larry” Payne, Chair, Houston Task Force on Policing Reform
· Website: https://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/press/2020/police-review-task-force.html
· Phone: 713-837-0311 or 311
· Twitter: @HoustonTX
State Senator Royce West (D), Candidate for U.S. Senate
· Website: https://www.roycewest.com/
· Phone: 832-426-4776
· Twitter: @RoyceWestTX
· Email: info@roycewest.com
M.J. Hegar (D), Candidate for U.S. Senate
· Website https://mjfortexas.com
· Twitter: @mjhegar
· Email: https://bit.ly/31COFxi