There are big changes in the Houston Police Department as all overtime for Houston police officers is being cut and classes to train new police new officers are also being scaled back.

There is a fear among many inside the department that crime stats will soon rise again, thanks to a big financial cutback quietly handed down by Mayor Bill White.

At city council Wednesday the mayor and police chief loudly announced that despite an increase in homicides in 2006, overall crime stats in our city fell by five percent. Burglary and car theft were down close to six percent.

KHOU-TV

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt

“And that is significant,” said Hurtt.

But what wasn’t said at council officers say should disturb you.

High ranking sources inside HPD told 11 News that overtime programs that have blanketed crime ridden areas for months deterring a lot of crime are now gone.

Police Chief Harold Hurtt reportedly asked the mayor for $15 million to pay for continued overtime patrols through June but that request was refused.

We learned he relayed the bad news to his command staff at a retreat in Galveston Wednesday.

"I didn’t learn until the afternoon when a number of officers started to call and they were very concerned,” said Councilmember Michael Berry.

Berry says the overtime cutbacks are a mistake. “You know the national government found $340 billion to fight the world in Iraq because it’s our highest priority. And our highest priority in Houston is this crisis situation with crime, and we’ve got to find the money to put more officers on the street,” said Berry.

The number of police academy classes will be cut too.

Officers said this was happening just when they thought the department was moving in the right direction.

“I don’t think this is going to sit well with council because we are being told by the public that in very clear terms.  We want more officers on the street,” said Berry.

Berry said he and many of his colleagues would have expressed their concerns during the council meeting Wednesday, but had no idea what was going on behind closed doors.

Mayor White was in Washington, D.C. at the Mayor’s Conference, and he wanted to remind the public that he has increased public safety spending by $114 million since he has been in office and he expects a further increase in the upcoming budget.

He will talk with the federal government to clarify how he can use some of the public safety money earmarked for the state.