HOUSTON – 34-year-old Cameo Lamothe works at Herb Baby, a health and wellness store, in Sunnyside.
She greets every customer with a smile and it’s hard to tell she was in a dark place just a few years ago.
“I was in a domestic violence situation with my son’s father," said Lamothe. “I called the police for them to respond, and it took them hours to respond.”
Lamothe said the dispatcher was asking questions about whether there was a gun involved or a history of mental health issues.
“They didn’t hear those words, so they didn’t feel like it was life threatening," said Lamothe.
She said officers eventually arrived about four hours after she called, and she felt like her call wasn’t prioritized.
“When you’re low, as many officers as we are, your response times go down,“ said Doug Griffith, the president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, ”There’s just no other way around it."
KPRC 2 spoke to Griffith after Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced a new 5-year contract between the police union and the city.
The contract, if passed, would give police officers significant raises.
Previously, starting officers made about $64,000 a year, according to HPD’s website. The new contract would bump first-year officer salaries to $81,000.
“We’re hoping this will put us on a better level in which we can retain our officers that are already here and recruit new ones," said Griffith.
Griffith said there are currently about 5,200 officers in the department and it’s currently short about 1,500 officers and there are 300 fewer officers now than 2006. That’s despite Houston’s population having about half a million more people today than in 2006.
“The citizens of Houston and the officers that are on the streets right now today are the reason that we have this contract,” said Griffith.
HPOU members are voting on the contract this week by Friday 3 p.m. If 65% or more of the votes approve the contract, it will then head to city council for its vote next Wednesday.
Griffith said the police recruiting office has already been bombarded with calls and hopes the new contract adds at least 500 more officers to the department.
