Brown, Lee P. (Lee Patrick), 1937-

<p>Lee Patrick Brown, known as “The Father of Community Policing,” became the first African American Mayor of Houston, Texas in 1997.</p>

<p>Brown was born to sharecropper parents Andrew and Zelma Brown in the town of Wewoka, Oklahoma in 1937. He received a B.A. in criminology from Fresno State University in California in 1960 and four years later earned an M.A. from San Jose State University in the same field. In 1970 he received a Ph.D. in criminology from the University of California, Berkeley. Brown is a member of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity.</p>

<p>Brown began working as a patrol officer for the San Jose Police Department during his college years. Then in 1968, he took a teaching post at Portland State University in Oregon. In 1972 Brown was appointed associate director of the Institute for Urban Affairs and Research at Howard University in Washington, D.C., a job he held until 1975. Brown returned to Oregon and became a deputy sheriff for Multnomah County (Portland), Oregon for two years. By 1976 he was named the Director of the Multnomah County Department of Justice.</p>

<p>Lee Patrick Brown (born October 4, 1937) is an American politician, criminologist and businessman; in 1997 he was the first African-American to be elected mayor of Houston, Texas. He was re-elected twice to serve the maximum of three terms from 1998 to 2004.</p>

<p>He has had a long career in law enforcement and academia; leading police departments in Atlanta, Houston and New York over the course of nearly four decades. With practical experience and a doctorate from University of California, Berkeley, he has combined research and operations in his career. After serving as Public Safety Commissioner of Atlanta, Georgia, he was appointed in 1982 as the first African-American police chief in Houston, Texas, where he implemented techniques in community policing to reduce crime.</p>

<p>His parents, Andrew and Zelma Brown were sharecroppers in Oklahoma, and Lee Brown was born in Wewoka. His family, including five brothers and one sister, moved to California in the second wave of the Great Migration and his parents continued as farmers. A high school athlete, Brown earned a football scholarship to Fresno State University, where he earned a B.S. in criminology in 1960. That year he started as a police officer in San Jose, California, where he served for eight years. Brown was elected as the president of the San Jose Police Officers' Association (union) and served from 1965–1966.</p>

<p><b>RACES</b>
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<li> 12/01/2001 Houston Mayor - Runoff Won 50.69% (+1.38%)
11/06/2001 Houston Mayor Won 42.52% (+1.62%)
11/02/1999 Houston Mayor Won 67.29% (+44.14%)
12/06/1997 Houston Mayor Won 52.67% (+5.35%)
11/04/1997 Houston Mayor - Primary Won 42.26% (+13.41%)
06/16/1993 U.S. Director of Drug Control Policy Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>The first African American Mayor of Houston, Texas, Lee Patrick Brown was born on October 4, 1937, in Wewoka, Oklahoma. His parents, Andrew and Zelma Brown were small farmers. A high school athlete, Brown started his professional life as a police officer in San Jose, California in 1960. That same year, he graduated from Fresno State University with his B.S. degree in criminology. In 1964, Brown earned a master’s degree in sociology from San Jose State University where he became assistant professor in 1968. At the University of California, Berkeley, he earned his master’s degree in criminology in 1968 and his PhD in 1970.</p>

<p>Brown became chairman and professor of the Department of Administration of Justice at Portland State University in 1968. In 1972, he was appointed associate director, Institute of Urban Affairs and Research and professor of Public Administration and director of Criminal Justice programs at Howard University. In 1974, Brown was named Sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon, and in 1976, director of the Department of Justice Services. As public safety commissioner of Atlanta, Georgia, from 1978 to 1982, Brown and his staff cracked the Atlanta Child Murders case.</p>

<p>As Houston, Texas’ chief of police, from 1982 to 1990, Brown developed Neighborhood Oriented Policing, a program employing community policing techniques. From 1990 to 1992, he was police commissioner of New York City. President Clinton appointed Brown director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy or “Drug Czar”, a cabinet level position from 1993 to 1996. After spending some time teaching at Texas Southern University and Rice University, Brown was elected mayor of Houston, Texas, in 1998. As mayor, he was able to build the Metro light rail system, attract a new NFL team, and expand his philosophy of neighborhood oriented government.</p>