Larry Satterwhite oversees a lot of public events as HPD’s Assistant Chief for Homeland Security. He says people have a right to protest, but the key to keeping those events safe is to maintain a dialog with organizers whether they’re from here in Houston or somewhere else.
“We obviously don’t want to ever escalate a situation,” says Satterwhite. “Each step is always measured in how do we do it.”
Satterwhite adds most demonstrations in Houston are peaceful but there have been situations where they’ve had to shut things down. Then they have to make sure that people don’t get into disputes as they’re leaving the protest site.
“It is a judgment call,” explains Satterwhite. “It is always about public safety, not allowing groups to make contact and engage in the kind of riotous behavior that we’ve seen around the country sadly.”
To try to prepare for protesters, Satterwhite says they keep a close eye on events around the country and around the world to predict what could happen here in Houston as a result.