Hempstead (Texas) Police Department


The Hempstead Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency in Hempstead, Texas. The Department was established in 1981, replacing the town marshal. It has nineteen full-time and five reserve officers. It includes a number of divisions:
In early 2007, the Department's head, R. Glenn Smith, was given a two-week, unpaid suspension and six months probation because of allegations that he and four officers - all white - had exhibited racism and police brutality during the arrest of a 35-year-old black man. In March 2008 he was fired by the town council. He then ran for and was elected sheriff of Waller County.