Houston Police Department seeks to hire more officers amid rising crime

HOUSTON – Many say the key to stopping crime from rising further is to put more police on the streets. The Houston Police Department has a major effort underway to do just that, bring in more officers.

“We’re hiring now,” says Commander Kristine Anthony-Miller of HPD Recruiting. “We want qualified candidates who are just ready to serve their community and wear that badge.”

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In fact, the Houston Police Department is expecting a few hundred new faces in uniform, carrying police shields.

“The mayor said we would like to hire more than 400, about 420,” added Commander Anthony-Miller. “We are actively recruiting this and hope to achieve this. We have six academy classes planned for this year.”

As the number of violent offenses increases in the pandemic, bringing in more officers could equate to fewer crimes.

“Having more officers will absolutely allow us to better fight crime and better serve our community,” the commander said.

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As senior officer Eric Carr explains, HPD is looking for a range of recruits.

“We’re one of the largest minority-majority police departments and that’s really important because you want to reflect your community.”

“Diversity is extremely important,” said Sgt. Adds Jaime Ramos of HPD Recruiting.

Women make up 17% of the HPD’s workforce, 4% more than the national average, including 20-year-old veteran HPD commander Anthony-Miller, who is a former high school teacher.

“We have officers of all ethnicities, of all genders, and in fact the HPD is ranked higher than the national average for female officers,” says Commander Anthony-Miller. “I said you know what for my second career I’m going to do this and it was the best decision of my life.”

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Houston Police recruiters have been busy with events including the Run With Your Recruiter at Memorial Park every other Friday.

“They get to talk to recruiters, ask them questions, get a sense of the physical demands of the job,” said Sgt. Ramos explains. “We’re actually going to run and see, kind of a gauge where they’re at in terms of their running, jumping performance. We’re doing push-ups.”

HPD has over 45 divisions ranging from robbery, homicide and domestic violence to working with children and the homeless.

“HPD has it all. If you want to ride a horse. If you want to ride a motorcycle. If you want to ride a bike. If you want to drive a police car, HPD has a role for everyone,” the commander says with a big smile and then a laugh. “You also have the ability to promote. I’ve been very lucky throughout my career to be able to progress through the ranks and if you also look at our women in our supervisory roles, three out of our eight assistant chiefs are women. Just saying.”

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Commander Anthony-Miller says she looks forward to welcoming even more sisters and all qualified HPD applicants.

Visit hpdcareer.com for the full list of qualifications. Recruitment events are open to the public, but you are not required to attend to apply to the department.