HOUSTON, Pa. — On Wednesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner approved a $1.5 million increase in Houston's police overtime hours to increase security for tax-free weekend.
This comes after two mass shootings claimed the lives of 31 people and injured dozens more over the weekend.
Mayor Turner said there will be extra police presence in shopping areas this weekend as parents shop for supplies and prepare to send their kids off to school.
During a news conference, Chief Art Acevedo said there’s no specific threat of a mass shooting in Houston, but he wants people to know that police presence will be enhanced to ensure Houstonians are safe.
“We know that there’s copycat issues,” said Chief Acevedo.
The chief declined to talk specifics about the weekend plans for security reasons but told reporters more officers – some visible, some not – will be at busy shopping spots.
“It’s gonna be data-driven, it’s gonna be intelligence-led, and it’ll be very strategic,” said Chief Acevedo.
Council Member Brenda Stardig of District A, who leads the council’s Public Safety and Homeland Security committee, says its council’s responsibility to ensure HPD is held accountable for the new money.
“We’ve got to do the right thing for the right reasons and be responsible with our overtime money,” said Council Member Stardig, who also says she’ll keep a close eye on the bonds of those arrested. “We also do not want a catch and release program.”
Mayor Turner says he’ll also take another look at his recommendations from his Commission Against Gun Violence, launched in 2018 after the school shootings at Parkland and Santa Fe.
Background checks, safe storage, and working with the Houston Area Women’s Center to limit gun access to domestic abusers are all on his radar.
“The state has laws that kind of prohibit what you can and cannot do with guns, so we’re looking at that,” said Mayor Turner.
Joe Gamaldi, President of the Houston Police Officers Union, said council has helped the department add 100 additional officers in the last fiscal year and funded another 100 officers for the upcoming year.
On Saturday, Aug. 3, police said 21-year-old Patrick Crusius walked into an El Paso Walmart during broad daylight and killed 22 shoppers. Hours later, another deadly attack unfolded in the middle of the night in a Dayton nightclub district.
Crusius was taken into custody and booked on capital murder charges. He could face the death penalty. The alleged Dayton shooter, identified as 24-year-old Connor Betts, was shot and killed by police just 30 seconds after the deadly shooting.
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