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Mayor Turner and HPD announce initiative to combat violent crime

Mayor Turner and HPD Chief Troy Finner were joined by community partners to unveil their new initiative on fighting crime.

HOUSTON — Following the shooting of three Houston Police officers last month and a growing number of incidents involving gun violence, Mayor Sylvester Turner today announced his One Safe Houston crime reduction initiative. 

RELATED: HPD: Third officer released from hospital after shooting, chase in Third Ward

Mayor Turner says the initiative has four key areas:

  • Violence Reduction and Crime Prevention
  • Crisis Intervention, Response and Recovery 
  • Youth Outreach Opportunities 
  • Key Community Partnerships

"Much work is already underway within these primary focus areas, but additional work and commitment is needed to have the greatest impact and measure of success," Mayor Turner said.

In an effort to reduce the surge of violent crime, Mayor Turner says the city is investing more than $44 million in several initiatives.

They include adding 125 Houston Police Department officers per day on overtime and a gun buyback program to remove illegal or unwanted firearms from the street.

RELATED: 'A horrible week for law enforcement' | Law enforcement officials respond to violent trends

He says they will also focus on the most violent neighborhoods to address crime.

"Let there be no question that this city is with you, stands with you, supportive of you, wants you working with HPD," Mayor Turner said in a message to law enforcement. "We stand with you but we also recognize that for so long we have asked police to do everything and they cannot." 

You can watch Mayor Turner's full announcement of the initiative below:

Harris County has also launched a $50 million Clean Streets, Safe Neighborhoods program that uses data to target areas where decayed buildings, dark streets and unsafe structures drive violent crime.

Wednesday, the county tore down a Cypress Station apartment building that was damaged two years ago in a fire as a part of this program.

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