Houston Newsmakers: HPD police oversight: Aiming for transparency

Houston Police Reform and Accountability (KPRC-Pixabay)

Office of Police Reform and Accountability

Crystal Okorafor is the deputy inspector general for the Office of Police Reform and Accountability. She is the gatekeeper for complaints by the public against the Houston Police Department. She is a guest on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall and says her background as an attorney in the district attorney’s office makes her a great fit for this very important responsibility.

“At the district attorney’s office, it wasn’t about pursuing convictions,” she said. “It was about pursuing justice for me. And that’s exactly what I’m doing now. I’m not going out and saying all police are villains or anything like that. It’s the opposite. I’m going to make sure that we are having the best police department we have for the city, so we’re pursuing justice and that’s all anyone wants.”

UH-Downtown is unique in UH System

The University of Houston-Downtown is a shining star for the city of Houston. That is the qualified opinion of Loren J. Blanchard, Ph.D., President of UHD. He says his school is a model of diversity and opportunity.

“If we found you qualified enough to enter our university then we have a collective responsibility to know that you will earn a degree, have the knowledge skill and dispositions that will empower you for readiness for the workforce, graduate or professional school and that you’ll become leaders in your communities and leaders in your fields,” he said.

Storm tree damage can be limited by actions we take

Nicholas was a tropical storm by the time it reached the Houston metro area, but it was strong enough to knock down enough trees to cause many thousands to be without power and many thousands of dollars spent to remove them.

Tim Jackson is an arborist for Davey Tree and says professional advice ahead of storm season is key.

“Really you need to do it when the necessity is there,” he said. “When the evaluation occurs and we look at the tree and say we’ve got too much weight on this limb or we’ve got a structural problem here or a hazard tree there , we address those things right away. More advice on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.

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