HOUSTON – In Houston, complaints about longer response times, prioritization of calls, and delayed investigations have become commonplace.
While the city’s police staffing issues have been well-documented for years, the root cause of these problems may now be clearer than ever: low pay.
After decades of struggling to maintain a full police force, the Houston Police Officers Union points to compensation as the key issue. This pay disparity is contributing to a staffing shortage that continues to affect the city’s ability to address crime in a timely manner.
Pay disparity: Houston lags behind surrounding cities
A comparison of starting salaries at police departments around Houston shows a significant gap in pay.
Here’s how Houston’s pay compares to neighboring areas:
- Pearland Police Department: $82,000
- Memorial Villages Police Department: $83,000
- Bellaire Police Department: $72,000
- Fulshear Police Department: $74,500
Meanwhile, Houston’s police officers start at just $52,000—the lowest in the region. Moving further out, neighboring cities like San Antonio ($60,000), Arlington ($78,000), and both Dallas and Austin ($70,000) also offer higher pay.
For Houston—Texas’ largest city and the fourth-largest in the country—the pay gap is a major factor contributing to its ongoing staffing problems.
Impact on Crime: A business owner’s perspective
For local business owners, the consequences of Houston’s police staffing shortage are hitting home. Aaron Johnson, owner of Butterfunk Kitchen, experienced his business being burglarized twice. He believes that had the first burglary been investigated more promptly, the second one could have been prevented.
“I guess they got to use their resources in the best ways,” Johnson said, “but when you’re dealing with small crimes, it feels like they don’t have the manpower.”
Despite surveillance footage showing the suspect’s face, Johnson says the police response to the burglary was inadequate, with no detectives following up on the case.
The root of the problem: Recruitment and retention
According to Douglas Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, the department’s slow response times and backlog of investigations started with recruitment but have now worsened due to retention issues. Officers are leaving the force shortly after graduation for higher-paying positions at other departments.
“We’ve already had to resign from the academy class that just graduated three weeks ago,” Griffith said. “One left for Fulshear PD, and another left for the Department of Public Safety (DPS).”
Griffith explains that this trend of officers leaving for better pay is unsustainable for the department. Houston has effectively become a “training ground” for other police agencies offering higher wages, which undermines the city’s efforts to maintain an adequate police force.
The pay issue: A barrier to retention
Houston’s low starting salary is one of the primary reasons officers are leaving for other agencies. Although the city recently raised the starting salary for cadets to $55,000, Griffith points out that this is still far behind what other police departments in the region are offering.
“We spend a lot of money to train officers,” Griffith said, “and we don’t need to be the training ground for other agencies. We have to come up with something to make sure we can pay these officers and keep them here long-term.”
Looking ahead: A sixth cadet class
In response to the staffing shortage, the Houston City Council has approved a sixth cadet class, which will help add more officers to the force. However, even with this move, pay disparities will remain a challenge.
Until the city addresses the pay gap, Houston’s police department will likely continue facing difficulties in both recruitment and retention, impacting response times and investigations across the city.
