Following the June 9 Harris County Commissioners Court meeting, in which several criminal justice-related items were presented and passed, Harris County's eight constables met June 10 to begin the process of developing a uniform, countywide use-of-force policy.
The item, which was placed on the agenda by Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, a former Harris County sheriff, is meant to provide consistency throughout county law enforcement agencies, prevent unnecessary use of force, enhance transparency and accountability and strengthen the relationships between Harris County law enforcement and the communities they serve.
"The sheriff's office [has] made a lot of strides, but we know that we still have a long way to go, [and] I understand our profession does as well," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in addressing commissioners. "We're ready and committed to change and meaningful reform."
As elected officials, the sheriff and constables are each able to determine their own policies, such as those on the use of force, for their respective jurisdictions. While Gonzalez said his agency has already banned certain controversial use-of-force tactics, currently, each Harris County constable can exercise his or her own discretion in following suit.
"We [already had banned chokeholds and neck restraints], and we're looking at our policies for de-escalation. ... We want to make sure it's clear. So I agree with Commissioner Garcia to review these policies. I think it's good," Gonzalez said during the meeting. "There's 18,000 [law enforcement] agencies, and there should be some type of national standard on that. We know we could do better, and we want to do better."
In hopes of eliminating the use of those controversial tactics countywide, Garcia called for the universal policy to explicitly prohibit chokeholds and hog-tying, which Constable Phil Sandlin said are already out of practice in Precinct 8.
"I don't think that use of force [is an issue in] Precinct 8, but I don't really think there's a widespread problem with it in Harris County," Sandlin said. "But with what we just saw in Minneapolis, if there's some changes that need to be made, I'm very open to looking into it."
According to Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman, at the June 10 meeting each of the constables brought their precinct's respective use-of-force policies—which he said mirror each other in many aspects—to Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, who is now working to break down those policies and identify similarities and differences. Once the eight constables are able to develop and agree upon one use-of-force policy, Herman said that policy will be shared with Gonzalez as well as District Attorney Kim Ogg and the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office for each entity to evaluate and combine into one countywide policy.
"We believe that it is beneficial for all of Harris County to be able to be unified in our approach towards law enforcement," Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said.
Criminal justice reform
In addition to reviewing use-of-force and deescalation policies, Harris County constables also said increased training is on the horizon for local law enforcement.
"What happened to Mr. Floyd is a travesty. It should have never happened. I am just disgusted with it," Herman said. "George Floyd basically opened our eyes that we need to continue [use-of-force and deescalation trainings] and do them more [frequently] because we don't want what happened to Mr. Floyd ever happening down here."
Likewise, Harris County residents will likely see increased transparency with regard to law enforcement as commissioners also unanimously approved an item creating a public site where instances of police use of force would be compiled, along with video footage and details on the race, ethnicity and gender of those involved. As Freedom of Information Acts request already allow the public to request this data of their own accord, Heap said he did not think the new site would be much of a change.
"We certainly want to be transparent with the public," Herman said.
As protests over George Floyd's death continue throughout the country and protesters continue to call for criminal justice reform, Harris County constables said they hope the public has not lost faith in their officers.
"Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen law enforcement demonized. I have seen them feeling like they should be ashamed," Herman said. "Law enforcement, as a whole, is a lot of good people with good hearts, and they do the right things every day. But letting a couple of people in law enforcement up in Minneapolis paint a picture of all law enforcement that way is not right."
By revisiting use-of-force policies countywide, increasing transparency and enhancing training, the constables said they hope to regain any community trust that may have been lost.
"It's a very tough time, and I hope and I pray that people's faith has not been shaken in law enforcement," Heap said. "A month ago, I would never have said, 'We need to do something to earn people's trust,' because I felt that everybody did trust us. Now, the shoe is on the other foot."
Precinct 7 Chief Deputy Lionel Aaron added that enhancing communication between law enforcement and the community can only improve current conditions.
"I do believe the law enforcement and the community is ready for mediation," he said. "These issues between the citizens and the police—I really believe they will be resolved in a win-win situation with mediation where they can sit down and voice their opinions and the officers get a chance to hear and respond at the lowest level, where the issues are. I think we have to have an alternative to what we are doing [now]."
