This is a photograph of the frieze on the front of the old Houston Police Administration, Municipal Court, and City Jail building located at 61 Reisner Street, Houston Texas 77002. This six story building was dedicated in 1950 and was the City of Houston’s police administration building until approximately 1998. The City of Houston’s Municipal Court system was located in this building until approximately 1973, when a new City of Houston Municipal Court building was built next door. The building is still in use today as the offices of the Traffic and Accident divisions, the Central Patrol division, the Jail division, and the City Jail.                                 

The Frieze depicts a man with his left arm around a young boy standing behind the man and holding onto the man’s right leg. The man is extending his right arm and a dove is perched on the open right hand of the man. The woman is standing just to the right of the unknown man. The mottos, ‘Order through Law’ and ‘Justice with Mercy’ are on either side of the three figures. This frieze does not contain any police identification or insignias and does not identify a police officer or the police department. The building’s architect was Kenneth Franzheim Inc. and the artists/sculptors were Octavio Medellin and/or E. Lenarduzzi.

 Mr. Medellin was a Texas artist recognized for his modern figurative sculptors. He was born in Mexico in 1907 and died in Dallas Texas in 1999. His sculptures are on display in the Dallas Museum of Art, the Jake Hamon Arts Library at SMU, and the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum. The dedication proclamation regarding the building in 1950 does not describe the artist’s intentions or interpretation concerning this frieze.