New Police Chief Diaz said restoring trust in the community after the suspended cases scandal and hiring more officers were top priorities.
Eileen Grench
Eileen Grench covers public safety for the Houston Landing, where two of her primary areas of focus will be the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office. She is returning to local news after a year as the national justice reporter at The Daily Beast. Eileen previously covered juvenile justice for a nonprofit newsroom, THE CITY, in New York as a Report for America Corps member. At THE CITY, she was a 2021 Livingston Award finalist for her coverage of inequities in child welfare, and won the Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Award in Local Investigative Reporting for her series on education in juvenile detention centers during the coronavirus pandemic. Eileen also worked as an investigative reporting fellow at the Global Migration Project at Columbia University, covering immigration issues for outlets such as The New Yorker, The Intercept, The Nation and Documented.
Posted inPublic Safety
Over a thousand attend burial of Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Fernando Esqueda in Houston
Over a thousand mourners came to honor the life of a fallen Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy on Friday morning at Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston. Fernando Esqueda, a five-year veteran of the department, was shot and killed in the early morning hours on July 11 while surveilling the house of an […]
Posted inAround the Region
‘TIRED OF #HOUSTONSTRONG’: How Houston’s poet laureate captured the city’s collective grief
Aris Brown’s callout for personal feelings and stories about yet another hurricane hitting Houston sparked her latest work.
Posted inPublic Safety
Second suspect charged with murder in killing of Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy
Dremone Eugene Francis, 26, of northeast Harris County, faces charges in connection with the fatal shooting last week of Deputy Fernando Esqueda.
Posted inPublic Safety
Suspect charged with capital murder in killing of Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy
Ronald Palmer Jr., 44, is accused of killing Deputy Fernando Esqueda as the law enforcement officer staked out a vehicle near his home.
Posted inAround the Region
Hurricane Beryl causes 10 storm-related deaths across Houston region
Six people died in Harris County, including a Houston Police Department officer, and three people died in Montgomery County, local authorities said.
Posted inPolitics & Government
Auditor says HART vendor may have billed Harris County for hours worked in California
The Holistic Assistance Response Team was created as an alternative response to police for 911 calls involving mental health or homelessness issues.
Posted inPolitics & Government
Harris County halts HART program after Commissioners Court disagrees on paying vendor
The Holistic Assistance Response Teams program aims to reduce non-emergency 911 phone calls from law enforcement to trained behavioral health professionals.
Posted inPublic Safety
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner resigns amid suspended-cases scandal
Chief Troy Finner retired Wednesday from the Houston Police Department in a late-night resignation given to Mayor John Whitmire amid an ongoing probe into how the department has suspended thousands of criminal investigations
Posted inPublic Safety
Harris County justice leaders are re-embracing ‘cite and release.’ Will they follow through?
The county’s leading criminal justice council voted to recommit to the policy, which aims to keep people accused of low-level crimes out of jail.