Law enforcement departments across the U.S. were rattled in August 2015 when Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth was shot and killed by a civilian in a seemingly random event in Cypress.

A year later, local Harris County officers are adapting to greater dangers and reacting to a need for improved relations between law enforcement personnel and the communities they serve.

Safer communities

Ryan Sullivan, public information officer for the Harris County sheriff’s office district covering Cy-Fair, said violent attacks on law enforcement caused new policies to be implemented for officers over the last year.

New policies designed to keep officers safe include a requirement for officers to wear ballistic vests on all calls, encouraging officers to ride in two-man units and requiring officers to have a backer—an assisting officer—for calls that entail a level of danger that proves threatening.

“That doesn’t just mean calls with guns,” Sullivan said. “This could involve anything with a suspicious person. We’ve seen situations like that in Baton Rouge and Dallas.”

David Escobar, HCSO director of community relations, said good communication is the best sign of healthy relationships between law enforcement and communities.

“Communication includes transparency, and that is what people want to see,” he said. “They want to feel like their [police are] transparent.”

HCSO has tried to integrate this into everyday operations by creating more opportunities for residents to interact with the officers who patrol their streets. Escobar cited several examples, including town hall meetings and more informal community meetings, such as Coffee with a Cop, Tip a Cop and Dine with a Cop, many of which take place in Cy-Fair.

Training and technology

The importance of effective communication can also be seen in new de-escalation training that all HCSO officers now take part in.

Debra Schmidt, HCSO academy director and captain, said while the concept of de-escalation has been around for many years, social media adds an entirely new component.

“[We are] reminding our personnel that at any time they can be recorded: audio or visual, or both,” she said. “Whether they are recorded or not, their conduct must remain professional.”

Training focuses on effective communication methods, Schmidt said. A lot of communicating effectively has to do with delivery style, she said.

“We teach our students that the voice is the verbal personality that people see,” Schmidt said. “Unless people are very calm, words and meanings are really never the same.”

Schmidt said the development of better de-escalation training is tied to five goals: improving officer safety, enhancing professionalism, decreasing citizen complaints, decreasing vicarious liability and decreasing stress at home and work for officers.

If an officer is involved in an incident that results in disciplinary action, this training could also be used as remedial education, Schmidt said.

Training is open to everyone, including civilian staff and other employees, Schmidt said. Training details for the recently developed program are still being finalized. She said she estimates the course will be offered at least twice a month once finalized.

In addition to training, HCSO has been working since December 2014 to outfit all officers with new technology. The sheriff’s office will confirm a body camera vendor at the Aug. 23 Commissioners Court meeting.

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson pledged $900,000 to cover the cost of the cameras in December. Public information officer Ralph Gonzalez said HCSO hopes to have all deputies outfitted with cameras by late 2016 or early 2017.

Community support

Although HCSO was already working on improving community relations before Goforth’s shooting took place, the department has since doubled down on its efforts, Escobar said. As a result, he said he believes the bond between officers and civilians in Harris County is stronger than in many other cities.

“[Our efforts are] paying dividends to the department now, whereas in other cities some controversy and animosity is present,” he said. “We aren’t seeing that.”

Escobar insisted that, in spite of strife seen throughout the nation, the community has embraced the HCSO.

“There is not a day that goes by that the community doesn’t want to offer a meal or a token of goodwill, whether it is ribbons at [home] entrances or bringing cookies to the station,” he said.

Deputy Roy Guinn of Harris County Constable’s Office Precinct 5, said this sense of goodwill has been present locally as well.

“I think the relationship with a lot of [Cy-Fair] is pretty good, and it’s not always reflected in the national perception of relationships between law enforcement and citizens,” Guinn said. “Regardless of whether it is good or bad, though, it can always be improved.”