NATION IN BRIEF : TEXAS : Woman Selected to Head Houston Police

Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire named Elizabeth Watson to head the city’s police department. If approved by the City Council, Watson would be the first woman to lead Houston’s police force, and Houston would apparently be the largest police force in the nation to be directed by a woman. Watson, 40, a deputy chief, would succeed Lee Brown, who stepped down to become police commissioner in New York City. Houston Police Officers Assn. President Mark Clark, a longtime foe of Whitmire and Brown, said Watson deserves “a very big slap on the back and to be told best of luck.”