Vicki King

Last updated

Inspector Vicki King (born 1960) is a pioneering threat safety scientist in the healthcare sector. She is the leader of the Threat Assessment Unit at the University of Texas at Houston Police Department, which is a component of the University of Texas System. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Houston to a long-standing law enforcement family, King grew up aspiring to become a police officer. When she joined the Houston Police Department in 1985, women in patrol and investigations were still rare. [3] [4] [5] In 2001, King earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and in 2006 a Master's of Science in the same discipline from the University of Houston. She has had additional formal training through the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police at Boston University and Law Enforcement Management Institute Training (LEMIT) for new police chiefs at Sam Houston State University.

Career

King served 27 years with the Houston Police Department, rising to the rank of Assistant Chief and earning a master's degree in Criminal Justice. [6] [7] [8] As Chief of Detectives, Tactical Support Commander, and Director of Forensic Services, she oversaw some of HPD's highest-profile cases, including serial homicides, corruption, domestic violence, sexual assaults, and gangland slayings. [9] King created the Gang Murder Squad within the Houston Police Department, which resulted in homicide clearance rates improving from 62% in 2005 to 94% in 2008. [1] She left the Houston Police Department to serve as an emissary to the Saudi Royal family. She has been an adjunct professor for the University of Houston system and has been the Chief of Police for the City of La Marque, Texas, working with agencies of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DEA and the FBI. [10]

Threat safety research and development

King is one of the pioneers Threat Safety Science for the healthcare industry sector along with her research colleagues at MD Anderson Cancer Center, clinical experts at the Texas Medical Center, and national threat management and patient safety experts. The research and development work is focused on prevention, preparedness, protection, and performance improvement related to manmade and natural threats using a multidisciplinary team approach. As a leader of the Threat Management Unit at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, she and her colleagues are working on evidence based solutions that can deescalate high threat situations that prevent harm to caregivers, patients, and law enforcement staff. [11] [12]

Certifications

Professional affiliations

Honors and awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Paige</span> American politician

Roderick Raynor Paige served as the 7th United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. Paige, who grew up in Mississippi, moved from college football coach and classroom teacher to college dean and school superintendent to be the first African American to serve as the U.S. education chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee P. Brown</span> American politician, criminologist and businessman

Lee Patrick Brown is an American politician, criminologist and businessman; in 1997 he was the first African-American to be elected mayor of Houston, Texas. He was re-elected twice to serve the maximum of three terms from 1998 to 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honolulu Police Department</span> Police Department in Honolulu, Hawaii

The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Department of Public Safety</span> Department of the Texas state government

The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, commonly known as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), is a department of the state government of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and driver license administration. The Public Safety Commission oversees the DPS. However, under state law, the Governor of Texas may assume command of the department during a public disaster, riot, insurrection, formation of a dangerous resistance to enforcement of law, or to perform his constitutional duty to enforce law. The commission's five members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate, to serve without pay for staggered, six-year terms. The commission formulates plans and policies for enforcing criminal, traffic and safety laws, preventing and detecting crime, apprehending law violators, and educating citizens about laws and public safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Police academy</span> Training school for police recruits

A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or to otherwise certify an individual as a law enforcement officer, typically a police officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Police Department</span> Primary law enforcement agency in Houston

The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest municipal police department, serving the fourth-largest city in the United States. Its headquarters are at 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California police departments</span>

Police departments in the University of California system are charged with providing law enforcement to each of the system's campuses.

The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement or TCOLE, serves as the regulatory agency for all peace officers in Texas, which includes sheriffs and their deputies, constables and their deputies, police officers, marshals, troopers, Texas Rangers, enforcement agents of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, investigators of the Attorney General, and game wardens. County jailers and public security officers are also regulated by TCOLE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Houston Police Department</span>

The history of the Houston Police Department started with the founding of the City of Houston. While the department's beginning was humble, it grew more advanced as technology became available and was able to handle the various challenges that would plague various cities as well as some of the more distinctive aspects of its geography.

Clarence O'Neal Bradford, known as C.O. "Clarence" Bradford, is a Houston City Council member, a former chief of police of Houston, Texas, and in 2008 an unsuccessful Democratic Party candidate for District Attorney of Harris County, Texas. On November 3, 2009, Bradford was elected to the Houston City Council from At-large Position 4 and took office January 2, 2010. In the 2011 election, Bradford won a second term as a Houston City Councilmember.

The University of Texas Police at Houston is a full-service Police Department that serves the communities of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. UT Police at Houston patrols the Texas Medical Center and has property in surrounding counties.

In United States civilian law enforcement, a Threat Management Unit is a police department team that provides criminal and behavioral analysis and risk assessments in an attempt to review, and ultimately mitigate, the potential for violence with an emphasis on prevention. Threat Management Units identify risk factors, patterns of escalation, and construct an environment that inhibits or prevents violence. The services provided cover a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to terrorism, school violence, sexual crimes, stalking, cyber crimes, domestic violence, arson, sabotage, communicated threats, insider threats and pre-attack behavior. Research in this area of law enforcement is known as Threat Safety Science.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Watson was Houston's first female police chief. She served for two years before becoming the police chief in Austin, Texas, and then becoming a law enforcement consultant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoonah Police Department</span>

The Hoonah Department of Public Safety - Police Services (HPD) is the only municipal police agency on Chichagof Island in Southeast Alaska. It is a full-service municipal police department for the City of Hoonah, an Alaskan First-Class City of 875 residents. HPD also provides police protection to surrounding areas on the local road system and operates a short-term detention facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Houston Police Department</span>

The University of Houston Police Department (UHPD) is the campus police for the University of Houston. The officers of UHPD are peace officers of the State of Texas whose primary jurisdiction is any county in which the University of Houston owns, leases, rents, or controls property. Their authority is derived from the Texas Education Code Sec. 51.203 which allows the University of Houston System Board of Regents to employ and commission peace officers. The University of Houston Police Department serves as a division of the University of Houston Department of Public Safety (UHDPS). Its headquarters are at 4051 Wheeler Street at the southwest corner of the University of Houston campus in the Stadium District.

The United States Department of Justice defines school resource officers (SRO) as "sworn law enforcement officers responsible for safety and crime prevention in schools". They are employed by a local police or sheriff's agency and work closely with administrators in an effort to create a safer environment for both students and staff. The powers and responsibilities are similar to those of regular police officers, as they make arrests, respond to calls for service and document incidents.

William H. Adcox is the Chief Security Officer for the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a pioneer of Threat Safety Science in healthcare. He is also the Chief of Police and Chief Security Officer at the University of Texas at Houston Police Department, which is a component of the University of Texas System. He has had a longstanding career as a police officer and Deputy Chief of Police in El Paso, Texas.

Gregory H. Botz is an intensive care specialist physician at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and one of the pioneers of the field of Threat Safety Science. He is a University of Texas System Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He is the medical director for the University of Texas at Houston Police Department, a center of research and development for threat safety management. He is fellowship-trained as an expert in the use of simulation in healthcare at Stanford University Medical Center where he is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesia in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine.

On January 28, 2019, in the Pecan Park area in the East End district of Houston, Houston Police Department (HPD) officers initiated a no-knock raid on a house, killing the two homeowners, a husband and wife: Dennis Wayne Tuttle and Rhogena Ann Nicholas. They were aged 59 and 58, respectively. Five HPD officers sustained injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Acevedo</span> American police chief (born 1964)

Hubert Arturo Acevedo is an American police officer who is the interim chief of police of the Aurora Police Department as of December 2022. Previously, he was the chief of police of the Houston Police Department, Austin Police Department, and Miami Police Department. Before becoming a police chief, he was a member of the California Highway Patrol.

References

  1. 1 2 "Improving Student and Police Interaction on Historically Black Colleges and Universities". Teen and Police Service Academy. TAPS Academy. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  2. ↑ Wilson, Lea. "MD Anderson research lab evacuated after employees sickened, hospitalized". Click 2 Houston. Graham Media Group. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  3. ↑ Belkin, Lisa. "Woman Named Police Chief of Houston". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Musick, Earl. "Here's a history of the HPD Patrol Cars, All of it in black and white – well, almost". Houston Police Officers' Union. HPOU. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  5. ↑ Musick, Earl. "Our ladies in blue – they first wore skirts with their badges and guns". Houston Police Officers' Union. HPOU. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  6. ↑ Lee, Renee. "1.7 million warrants out in Houston area". The Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  7. ↑ Muhammad, Jesse. "Project ProtectHER initiative teaches proper protection of women". The Final Call. FCN Publishing. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  8. ↑ Connelly, Richard. "Hurtt So Good". Houston Press. Houston Press. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  9. ↑ Wetenhall, John. "Safety Measure or Just Another Tax? Debate Over Red Light Cameras Intensifies". ABC News. ABC News. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "Texas ATAP Chapter Meeting". Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Gray, Robin. "A New Attitude Toward Hospital Security: The Wellness Approach". Campus Safety Magazine. EH Publishing. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "Spotlight on Director of the Year Finalist William Adcox". Campus Safety Magazine. EH Publishing. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.