Lee Brown | |
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![]() Official portrait, 1996 | |
59th Mayor of Houston | |
In office January 2, 1998 – January 2, 2004 | |
Preceded by | Bob Lanier |
Succeeded by | Bill White |
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy | |
In office July 19, 1993 – January 1996 | |
President | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | John Walters (Acting) |
Succeeded by | Barry McCaffrey |
Police Commissioner of New York City | |
In office January 22, 1990 – September 1, 1992 | |
Appointed by | David Dinkins |
Preceded by | Richard Condon |
Succeeded by | Ray Kelly |
Police Chief of Houston | |
In office 1982–1990 | |
Appointed by | Kathy Whitmire |
Preceded by | B.K. Johnson |
Succeeded by | Elizabeth Watson |
Personal details | |
Born | Wewoka, Oklahoma, U.S. | October 4, 1937
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) |
Yvonne Brown
(m. 1959; died 1992)Frances Young (m. 1996) |
Children | 4 |
Education | California State University, Fresno (BS) San Jose State University (MA) University of California, Berkeley (MS, PhD) |
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.
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.