OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

City Council Committee Meeting: HFSC Update & SafeWatch Dashboard – April 14, 2026

Committees and Commissions — Tuesday, April 14, 2026
BodyHouston, Texas
SessionCommittees and Commissions
DateTuesday, April 14, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:40:48

Transcript — Verbatim
0:22

Mayor Pretem Castax Tatum, Carter, and Martinez's office.

0:26

Thank you everyone for being here today.

0:28

We have two presentations.

0:29

The first will be about the Houston Forensic Science Center, and the second will be SafeWatch.

0:34

Dr.

0:35

Stout, would you like to come up, please?

0:36

And anyone else who's joining you today.

0:42

Good morning, y'all.

0:43

Good morning.

0:48

So I know met most of you.

0:50

I'm Dr.

0:50

Peter Stout.

0:51

I am head nerd of the forensic laboratory.

0:55

This is Dr.

0:55

Amy Castillo, who is our chief operations officer.

0:58

She is head data nerd, I think.

1:02

So if we have questions on detailed stuff, Amy's always a good one for those answers.

1:09

Sorry.

1:09

We got this all set up so that I can share something else here.

1:14

And Dr.

1:14

Stout, while you're working on that, we were also joined by Councilmember Alcorn.

1:20

Let me make sure I've got this in.

1:25

And I think we're running the slides from yours, or do you need to mean run from mine?

1:31

Okay.

1:31

Let's let's go with slides then.

1:38

All right, so first slide there.

1:40

Next slide.

1:41

Um first thing I wanted to give you some update on.

1:44

We've talked a lot over the years about the transition of the property division from HPD over to HFSC.

1:49

So this this is the items that are evidentiary or that actually are in the custody of HPD.

1:56

Next slide, please.

1:59

Um this has been a years-long discussion, and we are now actively in the process of this transition.

2:05

But to remind everybody of where we've started with this, what the idea is is to take the intake and preservation components of property and move that to HFSC.

2:15

So how things come into evidence, how they're maintained in evidence, you can think of it as we become the closet where it's stored, we take care of it while it's there, but the evidence still is HPD's evidence.

2:25

So their investigations, they're the ones that have to make the decisions about the ultimate disposition of the evidence, so that disposition function stays with HPD.

2:34

What this does ultimately is it reduces the risk.

2:37

Um property world over is a high-risk proposition.

2:42

It's detail-oriented, it is heavy on documentation, it is very long timelines, usually decades, is what we're thinking about on these things.

2:51

These are things that are difficult for law enforcement agencies everywhere.

2:54

So move this to an organization lab that basically specializes in documentation details, data, and decades-long processes.

3:03

What I think overall and all the conversations we've had for years about this, it gives us an opportunity to work on standardizing how evidence gets collected, works on how we can improve the quality of evidence for the entire system, not just law enforcement, not just the labs, but it all ends up in the same courts.

3:20

It all ends up with the same adjudication at the other end.

3:24

And ultimately, and this is the same all over the world, nobody really pays attention to making evidence easy for officers to collect.

3:33

Nobody's really spent time on trying to engineer and deal with forms and collection devices and things like that to make it easy for officers.

3:41

Ultimately, what we're hoping to do with this is make that easier.

3:45

So then ultimately that yields efficiencies for the entire system.

3:49

Next slide, please.

4:27

Nothing about this is small, but we've started moving items over into the new space.

4:32

Uh that's what we plan on finishing up here in FY26.

4:36

FY27 will be adding some staff into HFSC to continue policy changes we need to make, continue moving items of evidence, particularly frozen storage.

4:49

And then in FY28 is when we're sketching out, so as we deal with all of the ILA changes and ICAs that we'll need to do with HPD.

5:03

Next slide, please.

5:05

So just a couple pictures to give you an idea.

5:08

These are evidence items that we've already started moving over.

5:12

We're taking the opportunity in this to reorganize, validate, repackage, take care of things, understand where we've got issues, resolve those issues as we're moving them over.

5:21

And the team that's doing this has already moved a lot.

5:25

I mean, this is tens of thousands of items already.

5:28

The last corner in the picture down there is what will ultimately replace the frozen storage at the 500 at the 1200 uh Washington facility with biological evidence that needs to be maintained frozen.

5:42

Next slide, please.

5:44

In this, we also took the opportunity to upgrade some space for both firearms and crime scene.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Health████████████████████████████████32%
Public Safety██████████████████████22%
Forensic Science███████████████15%
Technology and Innovation███████████11%
Property and Evidence Management█████████9%
Budget███████7%
Transparency█1%
Community Engagement█1%
Veteran Affairs█1%
Summary of Proceedings

City Council Committee Meeting: HFSC Update & SafeWatch Dashboard – April 14, 2026

On April 14, 2026, the Houston City Council committee met to receive two presentations. The first was an update from the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) on property division transition, laboratory backlogs, new technologies, and budgetary considerations. The second was the launch update of the SafeWatch Houston Firearm Injuries Dashboard, a public health tool integrating multiple data sources. Public testimony followed, with numerous healthcare professionals and community advocates expressing strong support for the dashboard.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Caitlin Fitzgerald (trauma surgeon, Harris Health Ben Taub): Expressed strong support for SafeWatch dashboard, highlighting its value for understanding patterns and guiding prevention efforts.
  • Elizabeth Kleman (suicide prevention program manager, VA Houston): Supported dashboard as critical for veteran suicide prevention, enabling targeted outreach and collaboration with community partners.
  • Howard Pryor (trauma director, Texas Children's Hospital): Celebrated dashboard as a tool to focus injury prevention on neighborhoods, emphasizing need to address unintentional, self-inflicted, and violent firearm injuries among children.
  • Carrie Bakunis (emergency medicine physician, Memorial Herman): Supported dashboard, noting daily reality of gun violence and need for collaborative, data-driven prevention.
  • Alexander Testa (associate professor, UTHealth School of Public Health): Supported dashboard for providing novel, multi-source data to advance research and attract grant funding.
  • Sandra McKay (general pediatrician, UTHealth): Supported dashboard, highlighting its role in community-based interventions and cross-institutional collaboration.
  • Karen Knapp (District H resident): Thanked council for dashboard, cited 2025 data showing 141 firearm deaths ages 15-24 and 112 non-fatal injuries in children/teens, urged continued investment in prevention and secure gun storage.
  • Carlton Harris (executive director, Forgotten Third): Supported dashboard, noted its use for data-informed decisions to target violence interruption resources to hot spots.
  • Julie Marinucci (safe gun storage advocate): Supported dashboard as essential for managing and measuring gun violence, making Houston a national leader.
  • Dr. Catherine Kathari (pediatric emergency medicine physician, Texas Children's): Supported dashboard for improving EMS response and prevention for children.
  • Doug Smith (public speaker): Noted lack of level 2/3 trauma center data, congratulated HFSC on reducing rape kit backlog, and questioned policy on prioritizing recent cases.

Discussion Items – HFSC Presentation

Dr. Peter Stout (HFSC CEO) and Dr. Amy Castillo (COO) presented:

  • Property Division Transition: Moving evidence intake and preservation from HPD to HFSC; HPD retains disposition. Over tens of thousands of items already relocated; full transition phased through FY28. This reduces risk and standardizes evidence handling.
  • Backlog Updates: Biology/sexual assault kits are largely under the state-mandated 90 days (about 1,200 kits per year). Seized drugs backlog (originating from 2019 hemp/marijuana law changes) is reducing; expected cleared in 9–12 months. Firearms backlog is the greatest challenge: currently ~450 requests with a 382-day turnaround. Nationwide shortage of examiners (estimated 800 in the U.S. vs. 250,000 annual requests).
  • New Technologies: 3D crime scene mapping (Matterport) launching this month; Rapid DNA for reference samples (scope expansion May, online June); YSTR testing returning in-house (scope expansion August, online September); LC-QTOF instruments for drug identification (two instruments, one for seized drugs, one for toxicology).
  • Budget: HFSC board passed a $38.8M FY27 budget (~$1,600 per request). Additional $1.4M would address toxicology backlogs and capital investments. Flat funding would force reduced outsourcing and increase backlogs.
  • Q&A: Councilmember Heyman thanked HFSC and noted prior funding was essential. Councilmember Ramirez questioned firearms examiner staffing (2 full-time comparisons, 3 part-time also training), training efficiency, outsourcing to Tarrant County (limited capacity), and distance determination (not performed). Councilmember Alcorn clarified what moves to Jefferson (sexual assault kits, test fires) vs. HPD property room (drugs, guns) and noted a 30% reduction in evidence intake due to HPD policy changes. Councilmember Flickinger asked about total employees (220) and turnover (6–8%).

Discussion Items – SafeWatch Dashboard Presentation

Kamel (senior analyst, Houston Health Department) and Dr. Lauren Hopkins (Chief Environmental Science Officer) presented:

  • Development and Data Integration: Dashboard launched December 2, 2025, in partnership with Councilmember Kamen’s office. Integrates data from health department syndromic surveillance (ED/urgent care), HFD EMS (911), HPD (non-fatal injuries), Harris County Medical Examiner (deaths, manner), and three level 1 trauma centers (Memorial Herman, Harris Health Ben Taub, Texas Children’s). First in the nation to integrate trauma center clinical data with other sources.
  • Trends: Quarterly updates. 2025 data shows no statistically significant monthly trend but all sources show downward slopes. Comparing 2024 to 2025, average monthly counts decreased in all datasets, with statistically significant decreases in ED visits, EMS calls, and trauma center visits.
  • Key 2025 Statistics: 194 unintentional trauma center visits (nearly half in ages ≤24); 141 firearm deaths ages 15–24 (48 suicides); 112 children/teens (under 10 to 17) with non-fatal injuries reported by police.
  • Next Steps: Integrate level 2/3 trauma center data; continue quarterly task force meetings (partners include Texas Medical Center, council office, health department, etc.). Councilmember Kamen announced 1,000 gun safes funded and being distributed through health clinics and pediatricians.
  • Q&A: Councilmember Kamen thanked partners and noted the dashboard’s bipartisan support. Vice Chair Jackson highlighted its use for the city’s credible messenger program to identify hot spots. Councilmember Ramirez noted the high suicide numbers and veteran suicide rate (73–74% using firearms in Texas). Several council members encouraged continued outreach and safe storage education.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken. Council members expressed strong support for both HFSC’s ongoing work and the SafeWatch dashboard.
  • Councilmember Kamen committed to continued distribution of gun safes and locks through health department facilities and pediatrician offices.
  • The SafeWatch dashboard will be updated quarterly (January, April, July, October).
  • HFSC will continue the property transition and seek budget support to maintain operations, particularly addressing firearms and toxicology backlogs.
  • The next committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 4, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Mayor Pretem Castax Tatum, Carter, and Martinez's office. Thank you everyone for being here today. We have two presentations. The first will be about the Houston Forensic Science Center, and the second will be SafeWatch. Dr. Stout, would you like to come up, please? And anyone else who's joining you today. Good morning, y'all. Good morning. So I know met most of you. I'm Dr. Peter Stout. I am head nerd of the forensic laboratory. This is Dr. Amy Castillo, who is our chief operations officer. She is head data nerd, I think. So if we have questions on detailed stuff, Amy's always a good one for those answers. Sorry. We got this all set up so that I can share something else here. And Dr. Stout, while you're working on that, we were also joined by Councilmember Alcorn. Let me make sure I've got this in. And I think we're running the slides from yours, or do you need to mean run from mine? Okay. Let's let's go with slides then. All right, so first slide there. Next slide. Um first thing I wanted to give you some update on. We've talked a lot over the years about the transition of the property division from HPD over to HFSC. So this this is the items that are evidentiary or that actually are in the custody of HPD. Next slide, please. Um this has been a years-long discussion, and we are now actively in the process of this transition. But to remind everybody of where we've started with this, what the idea is is to take the intake and preservation components of property and move that to HFSC. So how things come into evidence, how they're maintained in evidence, you can think of it as we become the closet where it's stored, we take care of it while it's there, but the evidence still is HPD's evidence. So their investigations, they're the ones that have to make the decisions about the ultimate disposition of the evidence, so that disposition function stays with HPD. What this does ultimately is it reduces the risk. Um property world over is a high-risk proposition. It's detail-oriented, it is heavy on documentation, it is very long timelines, usually decades, is what we're thinking about on these things. These are things that are difficult for law enforcement agencies everywhere. So move this to an organization lab that basically specializes in documentation details, data, and decades-long processes. What I think overall and all the conversations we've had for years about this, it gives us an opportunity to work on standardizing how evidence gets collected, works on how we can improve the quality of evidence for the entire system, not just law enforcement, not just the labs, but it all ends up in the same courts. It all ends up with the same adjudication at the other end. And ultimately, and this is the same all over the world, nobody really pays attention to making evidence easy for officers to collect. Nobody's really spent time on trying to engineer and deal with forms and collection devices and things like that to make it easy for officers. Ultimately, what we're hoping to do with this is make that easier. So then ultimately that yields efficiencies for the entire system. Next slide, please. Nothing about this is small, but we've started moving items over into the new space. Uh that's what we plan on finishing up here in FY26. FY27 will be adding some staff into HFSC to continue policy changes we need to make, continue moving items of evidence, particularly frozen storage.

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