HOUSTON (AP) — Houston City Council has denied an effort to reallocate nearly $12 million from the Houston Police Department’s upcoming budget to fund sweeping police reform.
Houston Councilwoman Letitia Plummer proposed redirecting the money to fund several measures, including strengthening a police oversight board by giving it investigative powers and enhancing police de-escalation training.
But City Council on Wednesday voted against Plummer’s proposal to include the measures in Houston’s fiscal year 2021 budget, which begins July 1. Also Wednesday, 786 criminal cases were dropped against Black Lives Matter demonstrators arrested for non-violent misdemeanors, such as obstructing a highway and trespassing.
