12,504 TO PROTECT, SERVE US IN COUNTY

Twelve Thousand Five Hundred And Four (12,504).

That's how many cops I've counted in 114 agencies from all levels of
government found in Harris County, provided my addition is correct.

I came up with 66 agencies containing 7,525 officers at the city level,
including school and college police forces, fire department arson
investigators, and city marshals.

At the state level, I counted eight agencies with 124 officers.

Three railroads in the county have forces totalling 18 certified peace
officers.

At the federal level, I wound up with 25 agencies and 1,137 agent-cops.

About that last category, however: it includes several estimates and one
flat-out guess. Some of our federal agencies like to keep it mysterious how
many enforcers they have amongst us.

The CIA, as expected, is the most secretive and mysterious of the entire
big bunch. The local federal government fellow who provided phone numbers
for many of the agencies said he had none for the CIA.

Topic not for discussion

A spokeswoman at the CIA office in Washington, D.C., said on the phone that
not only would she not tell how many CIA agents are stationed in Harris
County, she wouldn't even tell whether the CIA has an office here.

However, I heard from a local fellow in the oil business who has done
considerable traveling about the globe over the years, and who said he had
some contact with the CIA in Houston back in the mid-1980s.

The first occasion was when he returned after spending a couple of months
in Libya, "during the time the two Libyan military planes were shot down
when they came too close to a U.S. Navy carrier force off the coast of
Libya," the source said.

He asked me not to use his name. Given the circumstances, that seems fair.

He said he was "interviewed several times by CIA agents for information
about the internal situation, various documents and passes in use and
particulars on the politics in Libya. Of course, I knew absolutely nothing
about the politics of Libya and in any case would never discuss politics in
any foreign country -- especially Libya."

Two CIA agents he met with gave him their cards which bore a phone number
that he used when returning their calls. He said whoever answered the phone
always just recited that number rather than saying something routine like,
"Good morning, Central Intelligence Agency, agent John Smith speaking."

If you tried calling that number yesterday, you got a phone company
recording telling you it wasn't a working number. But I'll bet there are
some of them still in Harris County, somewhere.

A "lucky" guess?

I guessed the number at 12. And the only reason I can offer is that is the
same number used for the ATF agents. The ATF wouldn't provide an actual
number, either, but an anonymous message containing other helpful
information that proved reliable, said there are "about 12" ATF agents
stationed in Houston.

The entire cop inventory list would take up too much room to print on the
edge of the page, but it can be found on the Internet version of the
Chronicle (www.houstonchronicle.com). It is a sure bet that I missed a few
agencies with one or two cops each in Houston, especially at the frequently
secretive and mysterious federal level. But with the list always handy in
the computer files, it can be revised and updated from time to time.

Keep in mind that I counted only full-time employed official cops. Many
agencies -- especially police and sheriff's departments -- have large
numbers of volunteer or reserve officers who perform the same duties on a
part-time basis. I would like it if someone else would count them.

By the way, if we divide our Harris County total population, most recently
estimated at 3,206,063, by those 12,504 cops, we find that we have one
law-enforcement officer for every 256.4 men, women and children.

[The follow does not appear in the printed version of the column but is
reprinted from the Houston Chronicle website.]

(http://www.chron.com/content/story.html/metropolitan/326040)

Law enforcement agencies

Law enforcement agencies operating in Harris County and the number of
officers employed:

CITY-LEVEL AGENCIES 1. Aldine ISD Police Department - 22 2. Alief ISD
PD - 30 3. Baytown Fire Department - 4 4. Baytown PD - 145 5. Bellaire
FD - 5 6. Bellaire PD - 38 7. Deer Park PD - 49 8. Friendswood PD - 41
9. Galena Park PD - 18 10. Hedwig Village PD - 17 11. Houston Baptist
University PD - 9 12. Houston Community College PD - 27 13. Houston PD
- - 5,390 14. Houston FD - 61 15. Houston ISD PD - 175 16. Humble ISD PD
- - 6 17. Humble PD - 49 18. Jacinto City PD - 18 19. Jersey Village FD
- - 1 20. Jersey Village PD - 20 21. Katy ISD PD - 21 22. Katy PD - 34
23. Klein ISD PD - 21 24. Lakeview PD - 10 25. La Porte City Marshal -
1 26. La Porte FD - 1 27. La Porte PD - 62 28. League City FD - 2 29.
League City PD - 62 30. Memorial Villages PD - 31 31. Metro Transit
Authority PD - 191 32. Missouri City FD - 5 33. Missouri City PD - 50
34. Morgan's Point PD - 6 35. Nassau Bay FD - 2 36. Nassau Bay PD - 13
37. North Forest ISD PD - 15 38. Pasadena City Marshals - 7 39.
Pasadena FD - 5 40. Pasadena ISD PD - 18 41. Pasadena PD - 238 42.
Pearland FD - 4 43. Pearland PD - 65 44. Port of Houston PD - 47 45.
Rice University PD - 25 46. San Jacinto College PD - 19 47. Seabrook
PD - 29 48. Shoreacres PD - 10 49. South Houston PD - 32 50. Southside
Place PD - 10 51. Spring ISD PD - 20 52. Spring Branch ISD PD - 22 53.
Spring Valley PD - 19 54. Stafford PD - 35 55. Tomball PD - 28 56.
Texas Southern University PD - 25 57. Texas Women's University PD - 5
58. University of Houston-Clear Lake PD - 21 59. University of
Houston-Downtown PD - 18 60. UH Main Campus PD - 40 61. University of
Texas PD - 63 62. Village FD - 4 63. Waller PD - 7 64. Webster FD - 1
65. Webster PD - 35 66. West University Place PD - 21

COUNTY-LEVEL AGENCIES
1. Harris County Attorney - 8
2. Precinct 1 Constable - 175
3. Precinct 2 Constable - 43
4. Precinct 3 Constable - 73
5. Precinct 4 Constable - 217
6. Precinct 5 Constable - 268
7. Precinct 6 Constable - 32
8. Precinct 7 Constable - 60
9. Precinct 8 Constable - 53
10. District Attorney - 55
11. Fire Marshal - 15
12. Municipal Utility District No. 180 - 1
13. Sheriff's Department - 2,700

STATE-LEVEL AGENCIES 1. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission - 29 2.
Texas Comptroller's Office - 1 3. Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- - 2 4. Texas Department of Public Safety - 70 5. Texas Lottery
Commission - 4 6. Texas Parks and Wildlife - 13 7. Texas Racing
Commission - 1 8. Texas Rangers - 4

CERTIFIED RAILROAD PEACE OFFICERS
1. Burlington Northern-Santa Fe - 3
2. UP-SP - 10
3. Port Terminal Railroad Authority - 5

FEDERAL-LEVEL AGENCIES 1. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -
(estimate) 12 2. CIA - (estimate) 12 3. Customs - 286 4. Department Of
Agriculture Office of Inspector General - 2 5. Department of Commerce
National Marine Fisheries - 1 6. Department of Defense Criminal
Investigative Service - 6 7. Department of Health and Human Services -
4 8. Department of Housing and Urban Development - 3 9. Department of
Justice OIG - 2 10. Department of Labor - 4 11. Department of Veterans
Affairs - 39 12. Department of Treasury OIG - 7 13. Drug Enforcement
Administration - (estimate) 100 14. Environmental Protection Agency -
5 15. FBI - (estimate) 200 16. Fish and Wildlife Service - 2 17.
Immigration and Naturalization Service - 227 18. IRS - 62 19. Secret
Service - 47 20. Social Security OIG - 6 22. Tax Administration OIG -
9 23. U.S. Marshals - 30 24. Postal Service - 63 25. NASA OIG - 8

Note: Some federal agencies do not divulge the specific number of agents
assigned to an office. Actual figures may vary considerably from the
estimates. The number used for the CIA is more guess than estimate. While a
CIA spokesperson in Washington would neither confirm nor deny that agency
has an office in Houston, according to other sources it does.