METRO PD fully staffed for first time in decade while other agencies struggle to recruit
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- METRO police are calling it a milestone achievement. While many police departments struggle to stay fully-staffed, METRO police have announced it's now at 100% for the first time in a decade and are looking to expand.
METRO police cover over 1,300 square miles across four counties, which encompass 14 cities, towns, and communities.
They stay busy, too. This week alone, ABC13 has covered a serious wrong-way crash in an HOV lane and a bus stop shooting, all investigated by METRO.
"They deal with stuff people in their most desperate moment need their help, and yet they go in," METRO Police Department Chief Ban Tien said.
Keeping employees and patrons of METRO's jurisdiction safe takes a lot of manpower. But now, for the first time in a decade, they are finally fully staffed.
"To hit this historic milestone, it is huge," Tien said.
SEE ALSO: HPD staffing is up compared to 2024, but still far from fully staffed
Tien wouldn't give the exact number of employees in the department, citing security issues, but said that, as of right now, they have more than 180 front-line officers, and he wants to expand the force by 10%. He said upcoming events like the 2026 World Cup will put pressure on the METRO system as Houston welcomes tourists from cities and countries that rely on public transit.
"Can you imagine they come to our country, come to our city, and the first snapshot they need to know and need to understand is that we are able to provide a safe system," Tien said.
Pay has long been acknowledged as a barrier to retaining officers. METRO starts new officers at around $65,000 a year, around $33.33 an hour -- a much lower rate than HPD, which starts officers at $55 an hour.
Tien also said he's been focused on boosting morale. Tien feels that METRO's three goals of enforcing the law, reducing crime, and providing a safe environment can only be met if his team wants to do it.
"We also need to have the ability to have the staffing that we need to protect our ridership and our service areas," Tien said.
Based on METRO data from October 2023 to September 2024, there were 378 major crimes, which is down from the last two years. Chief Tien said he hopes to see crime stats improve even more with more officers now out in the field.
ABC13 recently reported on the Houston Police Department staffing.
An investigation found that HPD has over 1,200 open positions, ranging from starting officers to senior positions.
In that report, HPD Union President Doug Griffith mentioned he wants to boost pay because it's not uncommon to lose starting officers to agencies that pay more. The union and the city are currently negotiating for better pay.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This reporting earlier incorrectly stated that the METRO officers were higher paid than HPD officers. ABC13 has corrected the error.
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