The Galveston Police Department has launched a new unit dedicated to tackling one of the island’s most persistent and complex challenges — homelessness. The team is known as HOPE, short for Homeless Outreach Partnership and Enforcement.
The goal isn’t just enforcement — it’s connection. Officers work to build relationships with the island’s unhoused population, connect them to services, help them find housing options and point them toward job opportunities.
KPRC 2 was with Officer Ronald Tumey and his partner Vanessa Cadena as they pulled up to a well-known homeless encampment. They called out and approached a man resting inside a tent.
“Is there anything we can do or help you out with today?” Tumey asked. “I know you’re relaxing.”
“I’m just trying to survive the heat,” the man replied.
He explained he was recovering from a leg injury but hoped to find work soon. The interaction lasted about 10 minutes — and that, Tumey says, is exactly the point.
“A lot of what we’re doing between last week, this week and the weeks to come is building a rapport and those relationships,” Tumey said.
Cadena has been with Galveston PD since 2012. She says the homeless population on the island has grown noticeably over the years.
“There are different spots — hot spots — where you can find unsheltered individuals,” Cadena said.
KPRC 2 found some of those individuals at Streetscape Ministries, a nonprofit providing food, supplies, and support to those experiencing homelessness on the island. One man there didn’t hold back about where he stood.
“I’m tired of living like this,” he said. “I’m tired of having my old lady living like this. I’m a prideful man — I want to work.”
When asked if he’d heard of the HOPE team, he didn’t hesitate.
“We all know — the whole homeless community knows about y’all,” he said.
Galveston Police Chief Doug Balli says the team’s mission goes beyond showing up and checking in. Officers are working to help unhoused individuals obtain identification, pay for transportation, cover temporary lodging costs and in some cases, help reunite them with family members.
As for the scope of the problem — Balli says the numbers may be larger than official counts suggest.
“The last point-in-time count, I believe, was somewhere around 340,” Balli said. “Every entity we’re talking to — St. Vincent’s House, Our Daily Bread — they all believe those numbers are grossly undercounted.”
The team is still new. But even in its early weeks, the impact is showing up in small, meaningful moments — like the woman who told officers they inspired her to put in a job application.
“Y’all kind of inspired me yesterday,” she said with a laugh.
For the HOPE team, that’s exactly the kind of progress they’re building toward — one conversation, one connection at a time.
