Left to right -
Supervising HPD Sergeant Gary K. Flynn
HPD Officer Edward L. Wisenbaler
Greg Walker, Esq., ARM, CPP

With the escalation of crime in and around the Houston area, particularly attributed to criminal street gangs, the Houston Police Department formed the Gang Division in March of 2005. It became the division’s responsibility to maintain an intelligence database that contained not only gang information but also that of individual gang members. Regulated by specific state and federal laws, the database can and should be a valuable law enforcement tool to both investigators and patrol officers.

The database currently being used however, proved outdated and inadequate for the surmounting task ahead. In an effort to bring state-of-the-art technology to the Gang Division, the division solicited the assistance of Officer Edward Wisenbaler of the department’s Technology Services Division. Officer Wisenbaler gladly accepted the challenge to build the new database known as “Gang Tracker.” In ascertaining the needs and requirements of the database, Officer Wisenbaler began to work on the complex, web-based program. The program is tied to the HPD personnel system, offense report system, and jail booking system to integrate the relevant information and decrease redundant data entry. The main components are the subject area where all relevant data about the gang member is stored; the offense report section where police reports are flagged for review, the jail booking section for anyone arrested matching gang descriptors, and entering new gang member information.

Officer Wisenbaler completed this extensive project and it was unveiled to officers department-wide. He has continued to listen, assist and modify the program to build a progressive tool that will allow unprecedented insight into the city’s gang phenomenon. As a result of his technical achievement and dedication, Officer Wisenbaler has become known nationwide as the architect of one of the finest gang databases in the country.