...K P F T news

The Baytown city council selection of Byron Jones as the new police chief has critics of the highly disputed decision concerned about public safety - especially for minority members of that community.

Mercedes Renteria, the only dissenting city council member in the decision to make Jones the new Chief, said he was not surprised with the confirmation:

"It went as expected - a shoe-in for Bryon Jones. I don't think that his being put in office has met the healing process that needs to be started. I think that there's still a lot of distrust in the police department among the community, and I understand why."

Jones was the interim Police Chief during the investigation of the death of Luis Torres while in the custody of three Baytown police [officers]. The Harris County medical examiner ruled Torres' death a homicide resulting from mechanical asphyxiation, or compression of the airways, with blunt impact trauma. In May, a Harris County Grand Jury cleared the officers of any criminal wrong doing in the death of the Mexican National. However, critics have continued to view the incident as an example of excessive use of force. Attorney Will Harrell, executive director of the Texas ACLU:

"You have an overweight man, handcuffed, and the police officers then applied pressure to his neck, and to his chest, and then administered pepper spray - that equals death, and they know it."

Harrell explains why the Grand Jury decision and the selection of Jones as Police Chief in the wake of the Torres investigation are cause for concern:

"There has never once been a Grand Jury charge against a police officer related to the death of a Mexican in their custody. Currently elevating the very person who ratified the killing of Mr. Torres is to send a signal that we will protect our officers even in abusive situations."

Without clear signals from Jones that law enforcement practices perceived to be biased and unfair will not be tolerated in Baytown, communities of color are less likely to feel comfortable reporting crimes or requesting assistance.

"In this case the Hispanic or African American community has good reason not to have confidence in their police. So what you'll see arise is potential public safety crisis. There's various sorts of local crime that won't be reported because of people's fear of how the police will handle it in their community."

Last week such concerns about public safety prompted the League of United Latin American Citizens to proclaim Baytown and its police department one of the most unfriendly and feared in Texas towards minorities.

I'm Renee Feltz for KPFT News.

E-mail Renee Feltz at chickpea_@ziplip.com .