HOUSTON – After four reported violent crimes on campus since the start of February, including robberies and a sexual assault, the president of the University of Houston says an outside consultant will be hired to improve safety on campus and she’ll create a task force to provide input.
UH President Renu Khator made the comments alongside Board of Regents Chairman Tilman Fertitta to KPRC 2 on Wednesday, which was the first time university leaders have gone on camera and answered questions about the campus crimes.
KPRC 2 has been reporting on the mishandling of the rape case for a week now, after Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said communications broke down with the UH Police Department and his office which resulted in the suspect’s mistaken release from jail less than 24 hours after the attack.
UH Police Chief Ceaser Moore took questions at a Crime Stoppers press conference on Tuesday, when he admitted there could have been better communication but couldn’t answer the extent of training his officers have when it comes to submitting charges to the D.A.’s office.
“President Khator, the district attorney told us that there were some problems with the way that the university’s police department submitted charges to the office for the sexual assault suspect. What is your assessment of how the department has handled and responded to that case?” KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry asked.
“I cannot answer about what happened between the police and the DA’s office. I mean, I cannot be part of the investigation, so I do not know that. But one thing I know for sure is that we are going to look into everything and see if there are any loops or any holes there that we fix them,” Khator said.
On Saturday, Feb. 8, the university posted a statement on social media that indicated the suspect, Eric Brown, had been taken into custody. But there was never a public alert that he got released from jail later that day until court documents became available on Wednesday, Feb. 12, which indicated Brown was wanted again.
“Why did the university not communicate that he was back out?” KPRC 2 asked.
“Well, there have been communications that have gone out from the police department or there have been communications that have gone out from the university. And I’m not so sure what communication was considered appropriate to send and what not, because any time the investigation began, after that, I step back,” Khator said.
She said she understand students were upset about transparency and not knowing he had been released.
“They should be upset because four incidents has happened in the same week. I mean, I am upset and I’m concerned. So obviously. But the second thing is, I guess students feel that there’s no transparency. I’m going to learn more when I meet with this ad hoc committee to find out what exactly are the issues of transparency. That’s the whole purpose for us to look for the long term, because I want our campus learning environment, working environment to be safe,” she said.
“Will there be any reviews of the police department and how the sexual assault case was handled?” KPRC 2 asked chairman Fertitta.
“I and she doesn’t know exactly what has happened. And that’s why she’s put a task force together to look into it. But this happens all the time between D.A. offices and police departments. We’re focused on this one incident because it’s at the University of Houston,” Fertitta said. “This happens every single day. Okay. It’s unfortunate that it happened in this incident, but it happens.”