ASIS-HOUSTON CHAPTER MINUTES

08/17/06

The luncheon meeting was held at the Renaissance Hotel with Programs Co-Chair Andrea Laughlin presiding. 62 members and guests attended.

Prayer: Lewis Eakins CPP

Pledge: Andrea

COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

Newsletter: Articles for the next newsletter are due September 22.

Web: Mike Crocker CPP announced all the sponsorship spots have been filled and the program is fully funded.

Golf: Randy Simpson CPP announced the tournament will be held May 14^th. If you are interested in being on the committee, please contact him.

Treasurer’s report: Distributed.

Training Opportunity: Mark your calendars for the first week in November for our annual training seminar. There will be 5 days of training available.

Public Service Award: Lt. Gary Scheibe, Houston Police Department

Lt. Scheibe has been with HPD for 23 years and is currently assigned to the Mayor’s Office of Public Safety & Homeland Security. He is responsible for All Hazards Planning with Public & Private Sectors (local, state and federal partners) for both man-made and natural incidents. He was accompanied by Dennis Storemski, the Director of Public Safety & Homeland Security for the Mayor’s Office. Mr. Storemski is a former Chief with HPD and has worked with Lt. Scheibe for many years.

Lt. Scheibe is being honored for contributions made throughout his career. He holds a both a BS and Master of Science Degree in Security Management from the University of Houston-Downtown, is a Master Police Officer, State Certified Instructor, Department of Homeland Security Certified Instructor, State/Harris County Certified Mediator/HPD Mediator and State Certified Master Electrician.

Key highlights of his career include being the coordinator for the in-processing of all the Katrina victims arriving in Houston. There were over 65,000 people processed in 7 days, which includes searching, documentation and assigning a location in one of the shelters.

Another highlight was being the Hard Team Lieutenant for the Mobile Field Force for all the World Series events. This included crowd management, as well as disbursement and traffic management, for the downtown event. He also held the same position for the Superbowl, which included the maintenance of a 300-foot security hard perimeter at Reliant Stadium.

Greg Walker Esq, CPP, ARM presented a plaque to Lt. Scheibe in recognition of his outstanding contributions to our community.

SPEAKER: Adrian Garcia, Houston City Council Member, District H

Topic: Houston City Security

Mr. Garcia, a native Houstonian and life-long resident of District H, began his elected public service career as City Council Member of District H in January 2004. He was appointed by Mayor White to serve a Chair of the Minority/Women Business Enterprise and Small Contractor Development and Contract Compliance Committee. He is also the Vice Chair of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee and he continues to Chair the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. He also serves on nine other committees. He was worked closely with our Public Service Awardee, Lt. Gary Scheibe. Mr. Garcia began his public service career in 1980 and served 24 years as a Houston Police Officer in many capacities.

Public and private partnerships are critical, especially to the City of Houston in contrast to other cities. It is the # 1 target for terrorism due to the number of infrastructures located here. If the ability to move fuels were stopped, the country would come to a standstill. Both public and private agencies work long hours to minimize our appeal as a target, in both little and big ways.

One key joint focus is to obtain funding, particularly for radio inoperability. The lack of zoning makes it difficult to install the needed equipment. Residents don’t want “unsightly” towers in their neighborhood, but we must not let that stand as an obstacle to this initiative.

Another focus must be on the awareness of surveillance and the elimination of open records for building plans. A new procedure is being implemented that notifies the building owners when someone requests copies of their building plans. The owner can then deny access and notify the police. Six different owners have registered under this new plan. Downtown camera surveillance, especially along the transportation system, is another initiative. London is a good example of the value of putting together evidence from video. It can serve as a deterrent, as terrorists will look for signs of surveillance. Most people would rather have the police watching and protecting them than worry about their “right to privacy”. However, we must have connectivity of the systems; it cannot be a stand-alone system surveying from a distance. The average citizen must participate and observe and then communicate those observations.

The public must also be able to see that they are safer. In 2000, there were 5400 HPD officers; in 2001 it decreased to 4600 and in 2006 it is holding at 4800. Annual averages of 200-250 officers are lost to attrition and during a good recruitment year, 300 are hired. That’s assuming that every class if full and that every cadet graduates and then completes the probationary period. We need to aggressively recruit. There will be 7 classes this fiscal year, but we need 10 classes to meet the demand. 2,000 applied but only 70 were qualified and accepted for one class. A full class costs $3 million in addition to incremental increases thereafter for benefits. We need to make public service as attractive and competitive as the private sector.

Houston also needs to receive the lion’s share of funding. Last year we received as much money as Des Moines, Iowa. The risk assessment formula needs to change and the first line of defense is not only technological advances, but uniformed public safety personnel.

After a question and answer period, Mr. Garcia was presented with a plaque in appreciation for sharing his initiatives with us.

The next meeting will be September 21. Check the local website for further information.