Officials at the Houston Police Department have decided they will no longer accept a City Council member’s overtime funds for special patrols in his district after expressing concerns about being told what to do by the elected official’s office.
Council Member Edward Pollard has run a program called the District J Patrol using council district service funds since 2020. He calls it his signature program, and said it was designed to help get police officers out into the community and build trust in wake of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer in Minneapolis.
Through the initiative, residents submitted complaints about quality-of-life issues through an online portal, and officers who signed up to respond to the issues received council member-funded overtime to address them…