The Houston Police Department gives a HUGE Shout-out of appreciation to all our partners with Houston Area Women’s Center

The Houston Police Department (HPD) is a proud and long-standing partner with the Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC). HAWC is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing critical resources for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Trained advocates are available on their 24-Hour Hotline to provide survivors with information and resources to assess their danger, make a safety plan, find shelter, and access services such as counseling and legal help.

Coordinated responses have been recognized as a best practice in reducing domestic violence since the Violence Against Women Act was enacted over 20 years ago. This is particularly effective in our community when close-knit relationships develop and highly engaged domestic violence partners come together for collaborative efforts. Over the years, current and newly assigned investigators and supervisors attended the tours at the HAWC. The HAWC tours are conducted as part of our investigative training requirement for investigators and supervisors as it is beneficial to us to be able to share resource information with the survivors. On the HAWC tours, investigators meet with HAWC professionals and get to know each other by asking questions and sharing information on how to enhance supporting survivors. When Hurricane Harvey and the pandemic hit the Houston and surrounding areas, our strong relationships and trust allowed us all to streamline efforts to support and protect survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. When face-to-face communication was not an option, we instantly continued communicating through Zoom meetings, electronic mail, and phone calls. We are excited to resume our in-person HAWC tours again for information-sharing regarding support and resources for survivors and their families. Recently, we had thirty new investigators and supervisors added to our Family Violence Unit and Adult Sex Crimes Unit who toured HAWC. Our investigators and supervisors are passionate about ending the epidemic of domestic violence and sexual assault. Each investigator and supervisor enhanced their individual knowledge regarding resources and how best to support the recovery after such a violent crime. A huge shout out to Deputy CEO Sonia Corrales and Thank You for always welcoming and guiding us through the HAWC and how survivors navigate the processes and take steps to recover from the violence. Also, we were joined by Director of Residential Services Pamela Ellis, Manager of Legal Service Jacklyn Guerra and Director of Violence Prevention and Training Michelle Sacks who are all hardworking dedicated professionals. We cannot express enough gratitude for all your continuous hard work that you put into everything you do for survivors! We are so grateful to have you as partners over the many years and thank you for all the hard work you are doing each day providing critical resources to the survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault!