From the InBox:
GARCIA LEADS ON LONG-OVERDUE LAW ENFORCEMENT REFORM
COMING TO HARRIS COUNTY
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Commissioner Adrian Garcia supported several proposed new law enforcement procedures to help end police misconduct
Harris County, TX — Following his attendance at the funeral for George Floyd Tuesday, and after a marathon session of Harris County Commissioners Court, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia was on the forefront of several criminal justice reform measures that were ultimately passed by court. The aim of these measures is to create meaningful change to immediately reduce and eventually eliminate misconduct by county law enforcement officials.
Due to the items’ approval, Harris County will soon begin evaluating the following (for expected additional future court action): investigating a standardization of use-of-force tactics, increasing public reporting when law enforcement officials are accused of misconduct, additional sharing of body-cam footage from officer-involved deaths and injuries of suspects, considering a shift in who responds to mental health distress calls, as well as several other groundbreaking moves.
“Though it occured in Minnesota, here in Harris County, however, the tragic death of George Floyd will not have happened in vain. Real reform of how officers deal with the public is coming, so that going forward, what happened to George will hopefully never be repeated in the county where he grew up. I thank my colleagues on Commissioners Court for their assistance in getting these items approved,” said Commissioner Garcia.
SUMMARY OF ITEMS APPROVED BY COURT:
- Resolution honoring the life of George Floyd, acknowledging and decrying racist law enforcement procedures that led to his death (passed 4-1)
- Evaluation and eventual recommendations to propose standardization of use-of-force tactics (3 motions – all passed, 5-0, 4-1, & 4-1)
- Engaging the community to discuss best practices for county law enforcement budgets (passed unanimously)
- Study to evaluate who best should respond to potential mental health crises (passed unanimously)
- Consideration of a Community Oversight Board (passed unanimously)
- Analysis of racial disparities in incarceration rates (passed unanimously)
Note: Some of these measures approved by Commissioners Court were proposed by other members. Commissioner Garcia voted in favor of all of them.
Those are fairly modest proposals and included some Republican support. But in today’s Harris County Republican Party, this is scary stuff. From the Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee (non-official) Facebook page:
Good grief. Defunding the police? Sending UN peacekeepers into US cities? Planning to keep the riots going? All to keep DJT from being re-elected!
Of course. This folks, is your modern Harris County Republican Party. Damn shame it’s gotten to this.
The idea that Adrian Garcia, former HPD officer and former Harris County Sheriff would propose defunding police is ludicrous.
Anyone that doesn’t see a need to change and demilitarize our community police forces is simply refusing to face the current reality. To whine and moan about these innocuous measures by the Harris County Commissioners Court is just plain nuts.
Good job by the Commissioners.
PeterD says
I keep hearing about how police are militarized using surplus military grade weapons yet I never see any such weapons being used by local police. Did HCSO, HPD, or other local police departments miss out on all these weapons?
Jim B. says
You can’t be serious. You’ve never seen the HCSO or HPD’s response teams? I can’t believe that.
PeterD says
Nothing I’ve seen them use appears to be particularly out of line with what they are called upon to handle and that is a handful of deputies out of a very large organization. Last I looked at the city, it’s had a small SWAT unit for over 50 years and other than that large truck the pro-cop club gave them, nothing seems in line with current military weapons worth noting.
Chris Daniel says
I think the rhetoric from the county judge fuels a lot of misconception. In the ultimate, big Jolly is correct in his analysis. In the future I think the commentators need to pay more attention to the signals from the individual commissioners instead of the county judge who still doesn’t quite understand how things work in local government.
Tom says
Anyone who has ever been involved in the criminal justice process knows the system gets stuck dealing with every problem society either doesn’t to deal with or doesn’t want to pay for. Be it drug addiction, family violence, mental health, it ends up in the criminal justice system
I hate to think how many people have come to my office saying they are addicts and want treatment. As a criminal defense lawyer, all I can tell them is if they don’t have insurance, I can’t get them treatment unless they are on probation for a felony.
The Harris County Jail is the largest mental health treatment facility in Texas. Every day the police get calls to deal with the mentally ill, and all too often it doesn’t turn out well.
Yes, police have to stop family violence but the criminal justice system has no long term solutions to family violence except for putting the abuser in a revolving door to the jail.
What people are talking about is taking money from the police budget and using it to solve some of those societal problems the criminal justice system shouldn’t have to deal with.
As for David’s comment about militarization of the police, I’m not sure how many mine resistant armored vehicles HPD or the Sheriff need but it can’t be many. Too many police either are trained to act like or just think they are Delta Force or airborne Rangers. That’s not their job but if they want to do that, I can help them find a recruiting sergeant who can arrange it for them. Too often Rambo policing ends up with shot or dead people. Read “Rise of the Warrior Cop,” a 2013 book about militarization of the police.