The Houston Police Department announced the start of the Teen and Police Service Academy (T.A.P.S.). T.A.P.S. is a joint effort between Houston police and the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Texas Southern University and Houston Independent School District's Beechnut Academy to strengthen relations with at-risk teens in the community. The crime-prevention program was made possible through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, intended to fund unique programs to increase trust in law enforcement among youth in their communities.

FARMINGTON - The Navajo Nation Council on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of an act that protects vulnerable adults from discrimination, abuse, retaliation, exploitation and neglect. If President Ben Shelly signs the act into law, the Navajo Vulnerable Adult Protection Act will be the first on Navajo land to protect vulnerable adults ages 18 to 54. Previously, Navajo law protected only children and elderly from abuse and neglect. "There's an early childhood protection act on the books that protects children from 0 to 17, then there's an elderly protection act that's 55 and above," said Hoskie Benally, community and government liaison for the Native American Disability Law Center in Farmington. "There was no law on the books to protect vulnerable adults with disabilities," he said. "No one ever advocated for it. There was a gap in protection." An estimated 30 percent of adults age 21 through 54 living on the Navajo Nation have a disability. The purpose of the act is to "provide for the physical and mental well-being of all individuals, which includes the protection of vulnerable adults and the prevention of their abuse, neglect and exploitation," the act states.