New METRO police chief aims to make public transit safer and address the rise of major crimes

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Metro Houston has a new department leader after Chief Ban Tien was officially sworn in Friday.

The once long-time HPD officer has been tasked with curbing crime on the city's transit system.

As the first Asian American to lead Metro Houston's police department, Chief Ban Tien knows what it means to accomplish a goal.

Tien became an HPD officer in 1997 and was promoted to Executive Assistant Chief last year. Part of his new role is to help make public transportation safer.

"I don't know what tomorrow is going to look like, but you have a chief committed to your safety," Tien said.

According to METRO's website, major crimes, which include sex assaults, have nearly tripled over the last two fiscal years.

"This is terrible. Every single crime is not just a statistic. It involves someone, a person itself. I'm committed to making sure all those get looked into," he said.

His first step to lowering those numbers is assessing the department so he can determine the best plan of action.

"The key is to make sure I get some feedback from all the stakeholders involved. The board, my boss, the CEO. In order to talk about a specific strategy, I have to go in asses. There's no way around that," Tien said.

The department currently has 300 officers. Tien didn't give a specific number, but he did say he'd like to add more.

"Perhaps (recruiting), is one of our strategies as well," he said. "To bring in more officers. The city is growing, rapidly growing."

Tien also wants to see more collaboration with nearby agencies, and he feels his experience with HPD will help him do that.

"I have an intimate relationship with HPD. I have been in this region for a long time and have made these friends and partners along the way, from the sheriff's office, Harris County, constable's office, DPS, and to a large degree a lot of our federal resources too," he said.

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