Houston police won’t see major troop increase in 2025 budget

A proposed $1 billion budget won’t be enough to solve the personnel problems that have plagued the Houston Police Department in recent years, department officials said Tuesday at a city budget hearing.

Former Police Chief Troy Finner, who abruptly retired earlier this month amid an investigation into 264,000 suspended cases, said that in the past the department would have needed 2,000 additional officers in order to adequately serve the city through patrols and investigations.

But department leaders said the proposed budget would not significantly increase enrollment beyond the existing budget, with the standard five cadet classes they hope to fill. At most, it would only bring in 100 additional officers, interim Police Chief Larry Satterwhite estimated.

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While denouncing what they called a widespread personnel shortage, Satterwhite and his staff recommended at Tuesday’s hearing that cadet pay be increased to attract additional applicants, that overtime funding be increased and making some hires in specific areas as measures that could alleviate some of the problems.

If the budget passes as requested, an entry-level officer at HPD would earn $57,000 annually with the pay raise and bonus, up from the current starting salary of $42,000.

HPD also requested an additional $185,000 to fund 10 mid-level lieutenant positions, $4.9 million to hire 49 other redlined civilian positions and $2.2 million to pay retired officers who help the department .

HPD is also seeking an additional $955,000 to fund 14 positions covered by limited American Rescue Plan Act funds that will expire in the next 30 days.

“No pressure, but we need it,” Satterwhite said.

Satterwhite told the Houston City Council budget committee that HPD would need 150 additional investigators to maintain a constant staffing level, but they are not covered in this year’s budget.

The department will not increase the number of classes under this year’s budget, but instead will seek to fill each class with 82 cadets, with enough budget for 75 of them to go through the academy. This year’s budget will fund five cadet classes at $4.5 million each.

Department leaders also requested $6.9 million to help better pay its cadets and an additional $11 million to cover overtime in its 2025 budget, as it continues to face staffing issues that became the heart of his scandal of 264,000 suspended cases.

“It’s no secret in the room that we’re extremely understaffed and we need to hire and we need qualified cadets,” Satterwhite told the Houston City Council budget committee Tuesday.

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For years, department leaders have argued they need more personnel to staff the patrol and investigative divisions. Satterwhite told members of Houston’s budget committee that the department has 300 fewer officers than it did 25 years ago — a drop from nearly 5,500 officers in 1998 to fewer than 5,200 last month.

The ministry’s civilian staff has also halved over the same period, from 1,900 in 1998 to 878 today. Satterwhite said the department has hired 550 officers in the past two years.

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The city’s budget constraints and the department’s slow hiring call into question the ability of more staff to solve the problem. Experts said changes made by departments should include more than just recruiting officers.