HOUSTON – Today, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced a COVID-19 Related Crime Reduction Program to increase overtime for the Houston Police Department through the end of December 2020. The City will use $4.1 million of CARES Act funding for the overtime program.

Beginning today, through the end of the year, there will be an additional 110 officers  deployed each day to saturate six hot spot areas that are driving the violent crime numbers.

Those areas are:

1. Westside
2. South Gessner
3. North Belt
4. Southeast
5. South Central
6. Midwest

Throughout those areas, HPD officers will be on proactive patrols to reduce crime and address the spike in homicides, shootings and other crimes the city has experienced during the pandemic.

Overall, violent crime is up 11% in Houston.

“Major cities across the nation are experiencing an increase in homicides, shootings and other crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “There is no denying the virus has contributed to anxiety and stress as people cope with job losses, feelings of isolation, illness or death of loved ones, children learning at home virtually and fear of the unknown.”

An Oct. 6 news article in the New York Times, reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has frayed all kinds of institutions and infrastructure that hold communities together, that watch over streets, that mediate conflicts, that simply give young people something to do. Programs devised to reduce gun violence and that proved effective have been upended by the pandemic.

“We’ll be relying on data to add more officers, more eyes, more visibility, and most importantly, more safety for the people of Houston,” said Chief Art Acevedo, Houston Police Department. “We are going to be watching on a daily basis and we will have tactical intelligence and move our resources as needed because we know displacement can occur.”

The City of Houston has worked in these unprecedented times to help people holistically. For instance, the Houston Health Department launched a mental  health hotline, the Mayor’s Office of Anti-Trafficking was expanded to include  domestic violence, to address the increase in domestic violence calls. The program includes a partnership with MAKR  Collective, an economic empowerment program for survivors with wrap around financial services. Through skills training we help survivors achieve financial independence.

The City has also provided two rental assistance packages worth more than $35 million for Houstonians having trouble paying their rent as a result of hardships created by the pandemic. In August, the Houston City Council passed the City’s Small Business Economic Relief Program (SBERP), which will be funded with $15 million of the City’s allocated CARES Act 2020 funds.

METRO has received confirmation a bus operator, a contract driver and three additional employees have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of cases to 202 METRO employees and 56 contractors since March 2020.

Ninety-one of the employees had no contact with the public. METRO tracks and reports all positive cases among its 4200 employees and the various contractors who provide services to METRO. We are also conducting temperature checks of employees and others before they begin their workday at METRO facilities or on our vehicles.

The bus operator last worked Oct. 8 and in the two weeks prior, drove the following routes:

The contract driver last worked Oct. 10 and in the two weeks prior, drove the following routes:

*The charts above reflect the days the operator and contract driver were on duty two weeks prior to their last days on the job.

Among the other three employees are a technician who last worked Oct. 9,  a storeroom attendant who last worked Oct. 10 and an employee in the claims department who was last in the office Sept. 29.  None of these employees had contact with the public.

Anyone who comes in contact with an individual who tests positive should monitor themselves for possible symptoms, contact your health care provider as soon as you develop any symptoms, and self-isolate to avoid possibly exposing others, including refraining from using public transportation.

METRO is working with public health officials so they can identify and notify anyone who traveled the routes driven by the bus operator and contract driver during those time frames as well as anyone else who may have been impacted by the latest positive cases,

Since mid-March, METRO has sought to minimize the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission by operators or passengers by encouraging social distancing. On March 23, the agency temporarily suspended collecting fares to avoid unnecessary contacts.  Shortly thereafter, orange mesh fencing was installed across the aisles of every local bus to assure appropriate distancing between operators and passengers.

More safety upgrades are also being added to buses, trains and METROLift vehicles. Operators and riders will now have access to hand sanitizer while on board and protective shields around drivers’ seats will provide another layer of separation between operators and the public. Operators and riders are required to wear a face covering while on the system.

We appreciate and greatly value our riders. We have taken many actions, including working with the community at large, to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19. To prevent or minimize its transmission on the transit system, METRO asks all riders to use the system only for essential trips at this time,  practice social distancing when you do ride transit (i.e., stand or sit at least 6 feet apart, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, wash your hands for 20 seconds before boarding transit and after deboarding, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, or cough or sneeze into your elbow, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and stay home if you are sick). Additionally, riders should stand or sit no closer than six feet behind the driver.

METRO’s number one priority is protecting the health and safety of our customers, community and employees.