Houston community groups are pressing city leaders to reverse the closure of the Houston Police Department’s long-running Community Affairs Division, saying the move weakens neighborhood relationships at a time the department is facing heightened scrutiny.
Advocacy organizations including LULAC, We The People Organize and the Houston chapter of the National Lawyers Guild say that Mayor John Whitmire announced the division’s closure without notice.
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The Community Affairs Division has historically assigned liaisons to work with civic clubs and neighborhood groups across the city.
Organizers tied the closure to recent controversies involving the police department, including the revelation that HPD had more than 254,000 criminal cases that were not investigated, a scandal that led to the firing of a former police chief. The statement also referenced allegations that HPD “secretly illegally” arrested people and delivered them to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The advocacy groups said many ICE detainees in Houston do not have criminal warrants and were not suspected of crimes. They emphasized that being in the United States without legal status is a civil violation, not a criminal offense.
Civil rights attorney Randall L. Kallinen, quoted in the statement, cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Rodriguez v. United States (2015), which limits prolonging traffic stops without reasonable suspicion of a crime. Kallinen argued that an administrative warrant from the Department of Homeland Security “is not evidence of a crime,” and questioned why Houston would participate in such actions if other Texas cities do not.
Houston police officials did not immediately provide details about the division’s closure. A police public information officer told KPRC 2 that the department would not comment on the Community Affairs Division until after the planned news conference and directed the station to remarks made by Whitmire and Police Chief Noe Diaz at a March 11 press conference.
At that event, Diaz said the department’s community engagement continues and is expanding. “Our officers are building relationships and constantly engaging with the community,” Diaz said, adding that officers have attended “hundreds of events” in recent months.
Diaz also described plans for a nearly $1 million mobile community policing vehicle intended to bring outreach programs directly to neighborhoods, including apartment complexes. “So community affairs didn’t go away,” Diaz said. “It’s 100% better. It’s on steroids.”
It was not immediately clear how the city will reassign or replace the liaisons who previously worked through Community Affairs, or whether the division’s functions will be folded into another unit. Organizers said they plan to ask city leaders to retain the division and address concerns about immigration enforcement activity during the City Council session.