The Houston Police Officers Union is all for partnering with the Houston area news media to educate the public about the realities of police work, to offer crime prevention tips and to explain use of force incidents from an officer’s perspective.
However, HPOU can no longer tolerate the repetitive issues that have arisen with the Houston Chronicle.
The HPOU board hereby notifies the membership that HPOU will no longer provide comments to, or answer questions from the Houston Chronicle.
The reason behind this issue is that the editor of the editorial section has repeatedly misstated the position of the department and the HPOU.
HPOU’s comments provided to the newspaper have been misquoted, changed in ways that alter the meaning and intention of the original content, and edited to purposely mislead the newspaper’s readership.
HPOU’s attempts to discuss and rectify these issues with the Houston Chronicle have fallen on deaf ears and have not been productive.
As long as the current editorial editor remains in place, HPOU will not respond to any requests for comment received from anyone at the Houston Chronicle.
This decision by the HPOU to refrain from providing comments is also driven by the Houston Chronicle’s negative portrayal of police officers and the Houston Police Department. HPOU will not be a party to, and cannot tolerate or condone the severe anti-law enforcement stance taken by the Houston Chronicle.
Until the time this situation is rectified, readers of the Houston Chronicle will continue to see “no comment” from HPOU.
HPOU is cognizant that the Houston Chronicle readership is not aware of why HPOU has decided not to comment.
HPOU felt compelled to inform the membership of the situation with the newspaper in case any of you were asked about the no comment responses.
During these trying times between police and the community we serve and protect, HPOU regrets having to take this position.
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