The Kingwood Police Patrol has a new captain – Bryan Bennett, 36. One of the youngest police captains in Houston Police Department history, Bennett has plans for Kingwood.

As captain of the Kingwood Police Patrol, which is a substation of the Houston Police Department, Bennett is the top rung of Kingwood's command. He does answer to the HPD chief, but he retains control of resources and personnel that belong to Kingwood.

Bennett has been with HPD for 11 years, and his Sept. 5 promotion to captain marked his first Kingwood assignment. In preparation for this role, he has studied his predecessors and taken some time to consider what will keep Kingwood a safe, nice place to live.

For starters, he wants to make sure that Kingwood officers are able to patrol the recently annexed subdivision of Summerwood without overtaxing the small force.

“I want to find a way that we can give Summerwood residents the level of service they deserve while making sure we aren't taking resources away from Kingwood, which we aren't doing right now,” Bennett said.

To accomplish this, Bennett has been talking with Houston council members about adding additional officers to the substation. Already, $289,000 has been added to the Kingwood Patrol overtime program to help out.

Another option is establishing a police storefront in Summerwood. For this, Bennett has dually been talking with councilmen and the HPD chain of command.

His biggest goal as captain? To maintain a good relationship with the citizens he is assigned to serve.

“I am following a couple of good captains that have developed a repertoire with the citizens out here, and I think that is key,” he said.

Bennett is a Deer Park native. Prior to joining HPD, he served six years as a U.S. Army reservist and received an English degree from Texas A&M.

Bennett lives in League City with his wife of seven years, Suzanne, and their two boys Cian, 3, and Conall, 7-months.

Bryan Bennett: Bryan Bennett, 36, was promoted to the rank of captain on Sept. 5.