Police force trying to cover growth area with same officers in 2010, chief says
By Andrea Leptinsky and Suzanne Haberman
Friday, 12 February 2010
Chief Harold Q. Thomas, Hutto Police Department
- Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, attended the FBI National Academy
- Work background: Odessa Police Department
- Date hired: December 2005Contact: 759-5983,
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- What are the Hutto Police Department’s priorities for 2010?
- With the way the economy has been, we’re still experiencing some growth, but not as much as we had been. We are not anticipating additional officers, so we have to manage the increasing call load while not getting to hire anybody.
- How many people are on the police force?
- Twenty-six: We have one chief, two lieutenants, six sergeants, two detectives and the rest are patrol positions.
- What crime-prevention tip do you most often give?
- Lock your doors and put your garage door down because property crime is most prevalent and property criminals are opportunistic. Hutto has been typically safe, and a lot of people leave their stuff unlocked.
- What’s the department’s biggest challenge?
- Not having our own dispatch or emergency communications center. All calls currently go to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, and then they dispatch us on those calls. We’d really like to get dispatch on the ground here because it helps us manage our call load. All the other cities our size in this region have their own call center.
- What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
- We have a pretty strong neighborhood watch program, and I enjoy getting to go out and talk to the people to see what’s on their minds and teach them how to avoid being a victim of crime. The other rewarding part is getting to build a professional organization. Growth gives me the opportunity to build something that will be here for a long time.
- How do police officers maintain the trust of the community?
- By doing the right thing and not abusing our authority. We advocate the police treat people the way they would want to be treated if they were in their shoes. One of our goals is, when writing a traffic citation, to get the violator to thank you before you leave. If a violator will thank you, you just built a relationship with that person.
- How do you coordinate the Hutto Police Department with other cities or the county?
- The chiefs get together every quarter in the region, especially chiefs from our county. But some of the other regional people come over from Travis County that are our neighbors, like Austin. We just exchange ideas and talk about trends that any of our departments are seeing. We share information. That’s the key.
