Council member Willie Davis announced a new initiative called Police, Pastors, People on Monday, assembling city and county law enforcement, faith leaders and nonprofit partners to address what he described as an “ever growing concern” over violent crime involving young people in Houston.

“The Police pastor and people initiative will aim to strengthen collaboration between law enforcement, faith leaders, community stakeholders,” Council member Willie Davis said, introducing the plan and a set of initial steps he said would begin in April.

The nut of the initiative, Davis said, is to use pastors and faith leaders as liaisons between police and neighborhoods. Davis attributed the data he presented to the National Incident Based Reporting System and to work compiled by Houston-based Crime Stoppers: “Houston violent crime totals for 2024 were up 4.6% overall versus 2023,” he said, adding that aggravated assaults and youth-involved aggravated assaults also rose and that 57 juveniles ages 13 through 17 were in detention for felonies in Harris County.

Mayor John Whitmire, who attended the announcement, said acknowledgement of the problem is the first step. “Before you can fix something, you've got to admit you have an issue,” Whitmire said, calling for coordinated use of data and stronger accountability for violent offenders while also supporting treatment and services for people with substance use or mental-health needs.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said his office has recently handled cases that illustrate the risks Davis described, including incidents involving children who were shot or involved in vehicle thefts and chases. “As a community, we must come together to show our children a better way,” Gonzalez said, urging faith leaders and law enforcement to coordinate to prevent further violence.

Houston Police Department Chief Joe Diaz and other law-enforcement leaders emphasized the department’s interest in closer ties to neighborhoods and to faith organizations for recruitment, outreach and prevention. Chief Diaz highlighted officers’ roles in responding to mental-health crises, domestic violence and quality-of-life issues and thanked families and partner agencies for support.

Crime Stoppers representatives described research and victim services that informed the announcement. Andy Khan of Crime Stoppers said the group had pushed for transparent data and victim resources, and described a Crime Victim Compensation Act and a legislative change he called the “Sir Romeo law” that expanded relocation support for child shooting victims. Khan said the nonprofit is distributing a victim-resource guide to pastors and community groups.

Davis laid out three components of the initiative — police, pastors and people — and said the resurrected Ministry Advisory Board to the Mayor will serve as a primary forum. He said the group will meet monthly at City Hall and that two Houston Police Department sergeants, Brandon Love and Eric Carr, will be initial liaisons to coordinate between law enforcement and faith leaders.

Organizers framed the effort as collaborative and preventive rather than punitive alone, with pastors, police and community organizations pledging to work on prevention, support for victims and interventions for youths at risk. The initiative includes outreach such as the Safe School Institute campaign described by Crime Stoppers and promises of ongoing updates from Davis’s office on next steps.

The event closed with requests for faith leaders to sign up for the Ministry Advisory Board to help distribute materials and receive briefings from police leadership. Davis said his office will circulate further details and that the group expects to convene regularly to monitor progress.