Browsing by Author "Krause, Matthew"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Collaborations and Overlapping Services in Harris County Law Enforcement
    (Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2018) Shelton, Kyle; Fulton, William; Villegas, Carlos; Krause, Matthew; Zhang, Mingming; Lightbourne, Jesseca
    In Harris County, there are more than 60 law enforcement agencies. In general, these agencies provide a high level of service to area residents. However, there are possible efficiencies and improvements to be found. The funding that supports these entities mostly comes from local general funds and, on average, accounts for about 30 percent of local government budgets. The sheer number of agencies creates multiple overlapping services and duplicative costs. While several existing collaborations between local agencies have been successful, this more in-depth look at local law enforcement operations lays out possible options for improving service and cutting costs.
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    Governing a Growing Region: Addressing Challenges of Service Provision and Development in Houston
    (Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2018) Shelton, Kyle; Fulton, William; Villegas, Carlos; Krause, Matthew
    Most MUDs are on firm financial footing and effectively help communities function. But, zooming out from individual communities and taking a regional view, major issues with the regional governance system appear on the horizon. This report analyzes how government entities in the Greater Houston region are struggling to provide urban-level services to all residents, especially those in unincorporated, non-central suburban areas known as municipal utility districts. The current system of providing services is uneven. The purpose of this report is to highlight how cities, counties and MUDs relate to one another and provide services, in order to identify issues associated with the current governance system and to provide possible alternatives where appropriate.
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    Lessons from Harvey: Crisis Informatics for Urban Resilience
    (Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2018) Villegas, Carlos; Martinez, Matthew; Krause, Matthew
    Social media systems and crowdsourced data sites were incredibly active during Hurricane Harvey. Residents, first responders and officials all turned to these systems to impart information and make calls for assistance. These systems will likely continue to hold a central informational and communication role in future disasters. Analyzing the trends and information that come from these sources in real-time could aid the recovery process and help public agencies, first responders and researchers more quickly assess damages during and immediately after a disaster. This report demonstrates some of the work that could be done with this type of information. It suggests that public agencies work closely with social media companies and the operators of crowdsourced sites to install plans to incorporate these systems into the disaster recovery process.