“Guardian of the Badge and Keeper of the Pride” Vol. 34, No. 1 * January 2016

“Justice will only be achieved when those who are not injured by crime feel as indignant as those who are” King Solomon, 10th century B.C.

The BLUES Police Newspaper

The Blues Newspaper is updating all locations that currently receive copies of our newspaper. If you get too many copies at your location, or if you need more copies, let us

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us."

He also stood by state government

officials who are trying to prevent Syrian

refugees from settling in Texas.

"I know there's Jihadists mixed in

with the refugees," he said. "You can't

tell me they're not in there, because that

would be a lie."

Cass County Sheriff Larry Rowe was

supportive of Kennedy's thoughts on an

armed public.

"And I do not have a problem with

that whatsoever," Rowe said, recalling an

earlier stint as a local game warden when

he routinely found himself surrounded by

armed East Texans.

With the reservation for county build-

ings holding courtrooms, Rowe said open

carry laws allowing holstered handguns

in plain sight won't be that big a deal in

East Texas.

"Especially in the rural areas," Rowe

said, expressing doubts Jihadists would

want to target his county of 36,000 Piney-

woods residents. "We've got plenty of

rednecks, baby. I don't think this would

be a great spot for them to camp out."

— The Associated Press contributed

to this report. Longview News Journal

An East Texas police chief is urging

residents to arm themselves against ter-

rorists after listening to President

Barack Obama's address to the nation.

"And I didn't find his words encour-

aging at all," Hughes Springs Police

Chief Randy Kennedy said in a video he

posted on Facebook. "As far as the home-

land is concerned, here within the United

States of America, he has no effective

plan, apparently. ... I'm asking you to help

me and our fellow law enforcement offi-

cers by arming yourselves."

The chief asks residents to apply for

concealed handgun permits and stand

ready to help him or other officers in the

event that violence like the kind that re-

cently affected San Bernardino, Califor-

nia, pierces the Pine Curtain.

About midway through his video,

Kennedy said, “I know that there are a lot

of law-abiding gun owners out there, and

nobody who is a legal gun-owner has

ever wanted to harm or kill anyone. But I

know that we do not seek to harm or kill

anyone, but nor are we gonna allow any-

one to seek us out and kill us or do harm

to our families.”

Kennedy and the president issued

their respective public statements in the

wake of the massacre in California,

which the FBI said was carried out by a

couple who had been radicalized by Is-

lamic State messages.

Authorities say the wife posted her

allegiance to the Islamic State before or

during the killing of 13 at a Christmas

party.

The guns used in the California at-

tacks were purchased legally by an old

friend of one of the attackers. Authorities

there still are trying to determine how the

couple got the weapons.

"I am encouraging you strongly to

arm yourselves," Kennedy continues on

the video. "I don't want you running out

of bullets, and I don't want you running

out of guns before you pull our bacon out

of the fire."

Kennedy's 4:39-minute call to arms

had been shared from his Facebook page

more than 1,800 times by 5 p.m. the fol-

lowing day.

"Yeah. I've gotten quite a bit of feed-

back," he said, with a quick laugh.

"Apparently, I've struck a nerve. I said it,

so I own it. And I'm not backing down

from it. ... The only thing these Jihadists

understand is force. ... I don't want this

area known as a soft target.

Kennedy said he had fielded several

calls by early afternoon, from people

wanting to know how to earn a concealed

handgun permit. He said he referred them

to instructors in Longview and Dainger-

field.

He also stressed people need to an-

swer his call safely, repeating admoni-

tions from the video to keep guns from

children and other responsible ownership

and use practices.

"I come from gun safety," he said.

"Learn the weapon, learn how to operate

it."

The 20-year chief said rural depart-

ments like his often cannot be immedi-

ately at an emergency scene.

"So I want my citizens to be ready,"

he said of his town of 1,766 residents.

"And when a threat comes, I want them

to minimize the amount of carnage that

these insane people want to inflect upon

East Texas police chief urges residents to arm themselves

Hughes Springs Police Chief Randy Kennedy.

The BLUES Newspaper Page 2

The Fort Worth Police Department

could now make up a fully staffed unit

out of Dallas officers they snatched up

this past year.

Six out of seven of the Fort Worth

department’s newest hires come from the

Dallas Police Department, Fort Worth

Sgt. Steve Enright said in an email. The

seventh officer is from Wichita Falls.

That means 20 Dallas officers — a

Fort Worth spokeswoman said 19 fin-

ished their shortened academy — left in

2015 to become Fort Worth cops. Fort

Worth has hired a total of 27 officers

from other Texas police departments in

all this past year through their lateral

transfer classes.

Fort Worth pays higher starting sala-

ries than Dallas. Two veteran Dallas offi-

cers who left for Fort Worth in January

said they received significant salary

bumps to go west.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown has

vowed to use his bully pulpit to push for

more competitive salaries for cops, say-

ing the officers deserve more money for

helping produce 11-straight years of

crime reduction and last year’s 84-year-

low murder rate. The city’s current salary

agreement with police and firefighters

expires at the end of the current fiscal

year.

Some police associations have said

officers are bailing because of what they

say is low morale caused by the chief’s

management.

Brown said he has been working to

recognize cops’ work more and fix poli-

cies that hinder officers’ morale. He has

also said some officers who have left end

up trying to come back.

Dallas had its highest attrition num-

bers in recent history last fiscal year,

which ended Sept. 30.

The Fort Worth Police Department is

less than half the size of the 3,500-officer

Dallas Police Department. Dallas Morning News

Fort Worth PD nabs six more Dallas cops in latest transfer class

The BLUES Newspaper Page 3

Sgt. Buddy Williams, HPD, Ret……..Contributor Shaun Harpstrite ............. …………….Publisher Deputy Bill Wolfe, Llano SO…………..Chaplain

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It appears that the Corpus Christi Po-

lice Department has a new tool in its fight

against criminals in that area.

Last month, the department released

video footage of a drone assisting officers

in smoking out a pair of suspects that

were reported to be carrying firearms

near Sam Houston Elementary in Corpus

Christi.

It all went down just after 9 a.m.

In the black and white video released

online, three officers can be seen from

above searching a backyard in a nearby

neighborhood. That smaller, four-legged

figure is a Corpus Christi PD K9 officer.

They were looking for two suspects

that eyewitnesses said were carrying

guns.

FLIR thermal imaging technology

used by the quadcopter drone above

helped officers clear the area. A witness

at the scene told KZTV-TV that he and

others could see the drone in the air while

officers did work on the ground.

Two suspects, Andrew Ramos, 18,

and Isaiah Cheatham, 19, were found and

later charged with evading arrest.

Cheatham was found to be in possession

of synthetic marijuana.

Ramos emerged after Cheatham, who

(Continued on page 9)

A letter sent to NFL Commissioner

Roger Goodell from the National Fraternal

Order of Police is asking the league to

allow off-duty and retired law enforce-

ment officials to carry concealed firearms

into NFL stadiums on game day.

National FOP president Chuck Canter-

bury originally sent the letter on Nov. 20,

which argues that having the extra hands

on deck in a stadium could deter a terrorist attack.

“The terrorist attacks and threats of

attacks from organizations like the Islamic

State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are

selecting targets based on the amount of

death and injury they can inflict - mass

murder and casualty events,” writes Can-

terbury.

This letter came within days of the

events in and around Paris which resulted

in deaths at the hands of ISIS terrorists at a music venues, cafes, and a soccer stadium.

“Well-attended venues and areas are

being deliberately targeted by the radical

killers who do not intend or expect to sur-

vive the assault. Law enforcement, even

when working actively with highly trained

and skilled security professionals, cannot

be certain that all threats will be detected

and neutralized,” he continues.

In 2013 the NFL officially prohibited

the lawful carry of firearms in stadium, training facilities, and offices. That deci-

sion of course was met with some conster-

nation from gun rights advocates around

the country who found it insulting to off-

duty or retired law enforcement officials.

Security staff and on-duty police in uni-

form are still armed at stadium and facili-

ties as needed.

The sticking point appeared to be the

concept of off-duty state, local and federal

law enforcement being prohibited from carrying. Some argued that in many ways

they are never really off-duty.

Of course average fans attending

games can’t bring firearms into NFL stadi-

ums as it is. Anyone who’s been to an

NFL game (or most sporting events for

that matter) in recent years knows that

security measures have only gotten more

strenuous.

Canterbury closed the letter imploring

Goodell to take action in some way on the gun matter.

“I know you cannot compel all venues

and facilities to change their policies with

respect to lawful carriage of firearms, but

you can lift the current prohibition, which

I strongly urge you to do,” Canterbury

wrote.

Opponents of allowing off-duty law

enforcement to conceal carry at NFL sta-

diums have long said that there would be a

risk of plain clothes officers being on the receiving end of gunfire in a confusing

situation, not to mention it would more

likely than not lead to the injury or death

of civilians.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told

the Houston Chronicle that the decision

was made back in 2013 with sound rea-

soning and input from various public

safety organizations.

“We concluded that public safety in-

side NFL stadiums on game days would be best-served by the carrying of firearms

by on-duty officers specifically assigned

to work the game as part of the compre-

hensive public safety plan for the

event,” McCarthy said.

“This approach has been certified by

the Department of Homeland Security

under the SAFETY Act (Support Anti-

Terrorism by Fostering Effective Tech-

nologies),” McCarthy added.

He reminded that off-duty officers don't always have the full story on game

day either.

"Off-duty officers attend games as

spectators and are unknown to working

law enforcement officers and security

personnel. They may not have the same

training and do not participate in the

weekly preparation meetings," McCarthy

said. "They are not included in the on-site

chain of command. The well-intentioned

display or use of gun could have serious unintended and potentially tragic conse-

quences."

For the foreseeable future those hand-

guns will need to stay in the car while off-

duty fans cheer on their favorite team.

"We have the highest respect for peo-

ple in law enforcement and the full confi-

dence in their ability to enforce the law

and protect public safety," McCarthy said.

Houston Chronicle

POLICE UNION CITES ISIS ATTACKS IN REQUEST TO NFL TO ALLOW CONCEAL CARRY IN FOOTBALL STADIUMS

Texas police use drone to catch armed suspects near school

A quadcopter drone like this was used by the Corpus Christi Police Depart-ment to assist officers on the ground in seeking out suspects that were believed to be armed.

The BLUES Newspaper Page 4

Austin officials are in the early stages

of developing an array of monetary in-

centives to get hundreds of police officers

living in suburban communities to be-

come city residents, the American-

Statesman and KVUE-TV learned.

In a first step toward adopting the

possible perks, police union representa-

tives approved a tentative change in their

labor contract allowing Austin City

Council members to come up with vari-

ous options that could include a one-time

moving expense payment, monthly sti-

pends for owning a home in the city or a

month of free rent for apartment dwellers.

Council Member Kathie Tovo said

she is exploring possibilities and hopes to

draft a resolution co-sponsored by Coun-

cil Member Ora Houston within coming

weeks. Officials said they haven’t calcu-

lated possible costs.

“This would be structured as an op-

tional program,” Tovo said. “Our officers

do a great job of becoming familiar with

the neighborhoods in which they serve,

but this would be an additional opportu-

nity for them to really get to know an

area well, to be very familiar with Austin,

and to be close to their job.”

Despite being among the highest-paid

officers in the nation, as of August, only

27 percent of Austin’s 1,737 sworn offi-

cers lived inside the city limits, docu-

ments from Austin police show.

The move could rekindle a years-old

debate about whether police officers who

work for the Austin Police Department

should live within the city.

Proponents who say officers should

be strongly encouraged — if not required

— to live in the city limits generally con-

tend it enhances public safety because

they can become more familiar with the

issues affecting their communities and

are capable of responding to emergencies

more quickly by cutting commute times.

They also say having officers residing in

the city provides some indirect benefits,

such as the ability to participate in mu-

nicipal elections and other civic events.

However, police union representatives

have cited cheaper living expenses and

better schools as some of the reasons why

officers are often attracted to suburbs.

Ken Casaday, president of the Austin

Police Association, said officers also like

to stay away from the city to reduce the

chances of encountering people they have

arrested or ticketed while on the job.

The agreement under consideration

“will incentivize them to move back into

the city,” Casaday said. “However, it will

not force them to live within the city.

That is something we would have never

agreed to.”

For years, Austin has paid its officers

some of the highest police salaries in the

nation and the highest in Texas.

A beginning officer with no experi-

ence earns $57,530 his first year, and gets

a salary bump to $64,559 after the first 12

months. That pay doesn’t include other

stipends such as for those who are bilin-

gual or who have special training to deal

with people with mental health issues.

By comparison, a Dallas police offi-

cer earns $46,670 after one year of ser-

vice, and a San Antonio police officer has

a starting salary of $42,732.

Some Austin’s suburbs already offer

extra benefits to officers who live in the

cities where they work. In Cedar Park and

Round Rock, officers who live in the city

limits get to drive a patrol car to their

home, with fuel paid for by the city.

Georgetown provides a take-home vehi-

cle for any officer living within 12 miles

of the police station, police there said.

San Marcos officers get a take-home

vehicle if they live within 5 miles of city

limits. The city also offers a $5,000 loan

to all employees who move to the city

that is forgiven after 5 years of employ-

ment, officials said.

These financial benefits are consid-

ered a recruitment tool, but they might

also help lower crime rates, Round Rock

police Cmdr. Jim Stuart said.

“We’re fortunate the city buys into

this idea because the presence of a police

vehicle anywhere is a deterrent,” Stuart

said.

Outside of Texas, Baltimore, Md., is

currently considering offering $2,500

property tax rebates for police and fire-

fighters who live in city limits.

Houston has also tried to adopt incen-

tives to keep officers living within its city

limits, but an initiative to encourage po-

(Continued on page 7)

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City looking at incentives to get more officers to live in Austin

Former Harris County Sheriff Adrian

Garcia came in third for the race to be

Houston's next mayor, but has his sights

set on a new political office.

Garcia has filed to run for the 29th

Congressional District. That's a seat cur-

rently held by Democrat Gene Green. The

district covers Galena Park, Jacinto City

and South Houston, as well as parts of

Baytown, Houston and Pasadena.

"I'm not done serving the people and I've

decided to offer myself once again," Gar-

cia told Eyewitness News.

Garcia resigned as Harris County

sheriff to run for mayor. Previously, he

was a Houston City Council member and

Houston police officer.

Green has held the 29th District seat

for 22 years. He is now the senior Democ-

rat on the Health sub-committee of the

House Energy and Commerce Committee.

He is often home with his constituents

and talks about a long list of programs

he's helped to establish.

"I'm proud of the work we've done

and I want to continue to do that," said

Green in an interview on the Northside of

Houston.

So why the challenge?

"The 29th Congressional district was

designed to favor a Hispanic candidate.

Seventy-three percent of the district is of

Hispanic descent," said Garcia.

"I've proved you don't need to be Hispanic

to represent. You work hard and I think

the Hispanic community recognizes the

work we've done," Green responded.

Green tells a story of how his wife helped

tutor Garcia's daughter. He says Garcia's

father helped him in his first campaign.

The two are friends, or at least for now.

"It's not about what Gene hasn't done,"

said Garcia

"We're going to run a hard race and

see who wins," added Green.

It will be the first time Green has been

challenged in a primary since 1996. The

election is March 1, with early voting

starting in February. abc13.com

FORMER HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF GARCIA PLANS RUN FOR CONGRESS

The BLUES Newspaper Page 5

The Blues Police Newspaper

The rumor that she isn’t tough on

criminal immigrants who pass through

her jail has grown like a well-fertilized

plant, embattled Dallas County Sheriff

Lupe Valdez told a panel of state law-

makers last month.

And the head of Texas’ state law en-

forcement agency told the committee that

a fingerprint measure championed by

Republican lawmakers has only hindered

the department’s efforts to identify possi-

ble criminals, including undocumented

immigrants.

The remarks came during the first of

several between-sessions hearings by the

House State Affairs Committee, which is

charged with investigating state-based

immigration enforcement and local

agency cooperation with the federal gov-

ernment.

Valdez has been in Gov. Greg Ab-

bott’s crosshairs since announcing that

she will honor requests from Immigration

and Customs Enforcement to hold in-

mates, known as ICE detainers, on a case

-by-case basis. But she said her com-

ments were taken out of context after a

meeting she had with ICE officials and

immigrant advocates about how her jail

was detaining — and then handing over

— immigrants to federal authorities.

“That is a rumor that has grown like a

field weed spread with cow manure. It

has grown like crazy,” she said. “At one

point [ICE] said to us, ‘Sometimes we’ll

ask for somebody who you just have on a

stop sign violation,’ and I was very un-

comfortable with that. And they said,

‘But we have other information behind it

for that person.’

“And that is when we said that is a

case-by-case situation,” she explained

about the confusion, which subsequently

led to Abbott threatening to withhold

state money from any department that

didn’t cooperate with ICE.

Some testimony mirrored what a Sen-

ate panel heard on the same issue: Wit-

nesses couldn’t name a Texas county that

isn’t turning over criminal immigrants

under the guidelines of the federal gov-

ernment’s Priority Enforcement Program

that the Department of Homeland Secu-

rity implemented earlier this year. It in-

structs immigration agents to focus de-

portation efforts on convicted criminals

or those who “pose a threat to public

safety,” according to ICE.

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson

told the committee that his county has a

setup “that works reasonably well.”

“There is an almost full-time ICE

agent in our jail daily who scours our

roster and determines who might be in

the country illegally. If [an illegal immi-

grant is found], a hold is placed and upon

final completion of Tarrant County and

state business, ICE will take custody and

remove them from the country as they see

fit,” he said.

“We don’t want ever to believe ... that

the 254 [Texas] sheriffs can just sit back

and say this is totally a federal problem.

Because if you are elected to protect the

people in your county … we need to

work with immigration officials.”

However, Anderson said, sheriffs in

some smaller counties can’t afford to

keep illegal immigrant suspects in jail

until their county prosecution is complete

and so they release them to ICE, which

deports them.

“That is a ‘get out of jail free’ card,”

he said. “A high percentage leave and

don’t come back.”

The panel also heard about an unin-

tended consequence of what was thought

to be a minor issue that has instead ham-

pered the ability of the Texas Department

of Public Safety to identify possible

criminals.

Earlier this year lawmakers passed

House bill 1888, by state Rep. Giovanni

Capriglione, R-Southlake, which dealt

with penalties for driving a commercial

vehicle without a license. But, citing pri-

vacy concerns, the bill was amended to

instruct the agency to delete its current

collection of full sets of fingerprints and

take only a thumb or forefinger print

from applicants for driver’s licenses and

(Continued on page 14)

A Houston Police Department horse

that was spooked by traffic noise died

after being hit by a moving cement truck.

The accident happened in the 200

block of Fannin at Congress, said HPD

spokeswoman Jodi Silva.

Charlotte, a 6-year-old Tennessee

Walker ridden by Officer D. Herrejon,

was southbound in the center lane when a

noise from behind startled her, Silva said.

The horse turned to the side and backed

into the front grill of a passing concrete

truck in the next lane, she said.

"Her back legs were severely injured

and she was put to sleep at the scene,"

Silva said.

The truck driver did not appear to be

at fault, police said.

As a precaution, Herrejon was taken

to St. Joseph Hospital but appeared to be

uninjured.

After coming to the department un-

trained from Oklahoma, Charlotte spent

four years with the mounted patrol. Of

the department's 38 horses, 32 are as-

signed to patrol duty. The others are ei-

ther unassigned or in training, Silva said.

In a Facebook post announcing the

horse's death, HPD said, "She loved her

job and was always ready to go to work

putting bad guys in jail or giving nuzzles

to children." Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON POLICE HORSE DIES AFTER BEING HIT BY CEMENT TRUCK

Charlotte, HPD Mounted Patrol

Texas sheriffs say they cooperate with feds’ rules

on illegal immigrants

The BLUES Newspaper Page 6

Chaplain’s Corner

By Chaplain Bill Wolfe Llano County Sheriff’s Dept.

Who Could Play

Without a Partner?

Hello, and welcome to the Chap-

lain’s Corner 2016! Election year is

finally here. And I’m already sick of

politics. <sigh> Some time ago, there

was a joke that was “making the

rounds” that I thought had a pretty good

kernel of truth and made a pretty good

sermon illustration.

Here’s the joke:

Four cops are in an armed standoff

with a suspect holding a hostage. The

cops are all yelling and screaming for

the suspect to drop the gun, but he

won't comply.

Another police car rolls up to the

scene with the department's two stan-

dard issue grizzled old veterans. One

of the officers steps out of the patrol

car, draws his weapon, and then calmly

but firmly tells the suspect to drop his

gun. The suspect quickly complies. He

is then cuffed and secured by the other

officers.

After all the smoke has cleared, one

of the original officers on the scene

asked the guy why he wouldn't comply

with their instructions, but he dropped

the gun instantly when told to do so by

the other cop.

The suspect responded: "Because

when HE drew his gun and told me to

drop mine, his partner stuck his fingers

in his ears."

As I was finding “the sermon in

there,” I remembered something that

my Chief Deputy said when we were

talking one time. I was commenting

(not complaining) about being the

“secretary” while riding with my FTO.

He said something to the effect that

when he was working in West Texas,

two partners would decide on “who

would fight and who would write.”

Reread that last line of the joke. I

wondered which officer was the one

who was chosen to fight. But then,

immediately, I saw that it was the one

“in the background” who actually had

the effect…much like the man who

shot Liberty Valance. Thinking more

about how this joke can be a picture of

our personal lives as well as profes-

sional, these thoughts come to mind:

1. As we go through life we’re more

successful when we’re partnered up

with God. The rookies didn’t get any-

where until the seasoned vets showed

up. No one has been around longer

than God nor has the experience in

dealing with life’s situations that He

does.

2. Sometimes we think we are the

one who is the “hero” when actually

it’s God standing behind us who gets us

out of the situation without someone

being shot. More than one time He has

kept me from getting myself in trouble,

but all the time I was thinking I had the

situation under control. Just like in the

joke, it wasn’t until later that I realized

what happened.

3. Notice, the partner didn’t cover

his eyes, saying, “I can’t bear to

watch…this isn’t going to work.”

Rather he held his ears, saying, “You’re

in for it now!”

Reflecting a bit on this last idea, it

occurred to me that this is the way we

should approach life’s crises. We

should let God be the one with the

“gun” and we should stand back know-

ing that He is an expert marksman and

be prepared for the “noise” of Him tak-

ing care of the situation. Then like the

four rookies in the joke, we can be

amazed at the ease with which God gets

us out of the situation.

Sometimes we get it backwards;

we’re the ones who jump out with guns

drawn, and God stands back and

“holds” His “ears” and says to Himself, “This is gonna hurt.” Remember why

Sheriff Andy Taylor would only give

Barney one bullet? (Continued on page 7)

Dallas police had a new item for their

Christmas wishlist: an all-terrain vehicle

to help patrol the trails around White

Rock Lake.

Safer Dallas, a private public safety

booster group, hopes to raise about

$20,000 to give the department the ATV.

President Gary Griffith said officials have

discussed buying an ATV for a while, but

the deadly October attack on White Rock

Creek Trail highlighted the need for it.

“It makes sense to talk more about it

now,” he said.

Griffith and other northeastern Dallas

neighborhood leaders talked about the

ATV and other initiatives during a gath-

ering at the northeast patrol station. The

area has braved several high-

profile slayings this year.

Michael T. Nurre, an investment

banker and Greater Casa View Alliance

chair, said his neighbors initially took to

NextDoor to complain that police weren’t

doing enough to protect them after the

violent death of Zoe Hastings.

But David Pittman, the chairman of

the White Rock Partnership, said the

slayings eventually brought the police

and community closer together.

The efforts in White Rock, which also

include a volunteers-in-patrol program

that was relaunched early in the year,

are needed improvements, he said.

“We know those areas are going to

get hit,” he said.

The group of neighborhood advocates

presented police with a banner. The

groups and police also announced that

they planned to partner up for a self-

defense program for women on Dec. 7,

put up Christmas lights in Hamilton Park

and push for police support during Police

Officers National Appreciation Week in

May.

Deputy Chief Andrew Acord said that

whatever trouble pops up has been helped

by the police department’s relationships

in the area established over the years.

“It shows the dedication of the com-

munity to continue to want to support the

police,” he said.

cut: Dallas Morning News

DALLAS POLICE HOPE TO GET ATV TO PATROL WHITE ROCK LAKE AFTER DEADLY ATTACK THERE

Community leaders and police gather at the northeast patrol station to announce various joint initiatives

The BLUES Newspaper Page 7

We Want YOU!

The BLUES, Texas’ Oldest and Largest Police Newspaper, is looking for current and retired Officers or their family members to

serve as area advertising sales representatives.

Call or email us for more information...

The BLUES Police Newspaper Phone: 936-827-4828 info@thebluesnews.com

Thanks for “riding along” this past

year and welcome aboard for 2016 –

should be an interesting year. Bless-

ings to you and yours.

Chaplain Bill

chaplain.bill.lcso@gmail.com

(Continued from page 6)

CHAPLAIN

When body cameras are rolled out this

year, Austin police will deploy the re-

cording technology to downtown cops,

who have used force more often than any

other officers in the city, according to

records obtained by the American-

Statesman.

In the national conversation about

police violence, many have taken a view

that body cameras could become some-

thing of a panacea for stemming deadly

encounters. The idea is based on the the-

ory that if police and the public know they

are being recorded, both will be less likely

to act hostile. The use of body cameras

is widely supported in Austin, and the

Austin City Council made their purchase

a priority.

By the end of next summer, police

expect to roll out about 500 body cameras

with the emphasis on officers working

downtown, including those on the Sixth

Street detail.

The density of revelers on Sixth

Street, the prevalence of alcohol and a

highly visible police force mean that the

officers first equipped with mandatory

body cameras will be involved in encoun-

ters that are more likely to turn violent.

“It’s the obvious choice,” Austin po-

lice union President Kenneth Casaday

said, noting that police welcome the use

of the technology as long as it does not

invade an officer’s privacy. A state law is

already in place that aims to protect the

privacy of both officers and the public.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said

the department will focus on downtown

officers who are on foot, bicycle or horse-

back. In crafting the $3 million program,

police leadership designated these cops to

be first because they do not operate patrol

cars, which are already equipped with

dashboard cameras.

But unlike dashboard cameras, the

body cameras will have to be activated by

police themselves during law enforcement

action. Patrol car dashboard cameras be-

gin recording as soon as an officer either

activates the car’s emergency lights or

opens the door.

It introduces a human element into

their use that Acevedo said he would pre-

fer to avoid.

“The less human interaction the bet-

ter,” Acevedo said during a re-

cent community meeting about body cam-

eras.

That human element is what vocal

police critic Antonio Buehler says police

will exploit to suppress any videos that

show police using excessive force or com-

mitting criminal acts.

“This is not some special unicorn re-

form that is going to change the way po-

lice leadership approaches criminal mis-

conduct,” Buehler said. “They’re going to

be more helpful to bad cops than citizens.

When it shows a cop committing a crime,

it will be suppressed, or shown it was

malfunctioning, and we’ll just never know

about it.”

Buehler commonly videotapes police

downtown along with other members of

the Peaceful Streets police watchdog

group he founded. He believes many offi-

cers there are overly aggressive.

“If you believe the fairy tale that body

cameras will increase accountability with

police, it should definitely be in the down-

town area because that is where you see

the most aggressive police,” Buehler said.

The downtown sector, which encom-

passes the Sixth Street bar district, is by

far the smallest police sector in the city at

2.15 square miles. However, police use

force against people there more than twice

as often as any other sector. Since 2010,

police working downtown have filed

more than 4,500 use of force reports.

In comparison, the next-largest num-

ber of use of force reports came from the

East Austin sector, where police filed

about 2,100 use of force reports in an area

16 times larger than the downtown sector.

Buehler said it will be easy for down-

town officers to come up with excuses for

why they did not turn on their body cam-

eras during police incidents.

As part of body camera use policy,

Austin police will discipline officers who

do not turn on their body cameras. The

department will fire an officer who does

not turn on the camera in an incident in

which deadly force is applied, Acevedo

said. Lesser punishments could occur

depending on the circumstances and the

officer’s work history, he said.

Last month, Austin police publicly

(Continued on page 9)

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lice officers to move into the city stalled

last month over opposition from the

Houston Police Officers Union, union

President Ray Hunt said.

Initially the union supported a pro-

posal to offer $25,000 in financial incen-

tives over five years to police officers

who moved into the city. But when city

officials added a requirement that any

officers participating in the program have

their addresses and phone numbers

posted publicly, the union turned its back

on the proposal.

“It was a good idea from the outset,

but when it got down to the details it was

not a good deal for our officers,” Hunt

said. Austin American Statesman

(Continued from page 4)

INCENTIVES

The BLUES Newspaper Page 8

Advertising space in this section is offered at a discount and strictly limited to bona fide law enforcement agencies.

Is your department hiring? Running a police career ad in The Blues is an

inexpensive and

easy way to get the word out to the most

qualified candidates all over the Lone Star

state!

Simply send us an email to

info@thebluesnews.com or Call Toll FREE 1-866-45BLUES

for more information

HEMPSTEAD POLICE DEPARTMENT is accepting applications for

Police Officer Compensation/Benefits: Staring salary $40,000

Education/Training/Experience: TCOLE Certified

Must possess a valid Texas driver’s license Must pass extensive background investigation

Must pass physical, psychological, and drug screen

TMRS Retirement; Certification Incentives; Insurance 100% paid for employee

Applications are available at www.hempsteadpdtx.com and should

be mailed or delivered to The Hempstead Police Department 1015 11th Street Hempstead Tx. 77445

Memorial Villages Police Department Bunker Hill • Piney Point• Hunters Creek

Is Looking for Professional Experienced

POLICE OFFICERS With 5+ Years Full Time Experience

Want to receive the Highest Pay in the Houston Metropolitan Area?

Want to work with New and Modern Equipment? Want to work in one of the Safest Communities in the Country?

Want to work in a Community where Police Officers are Appreciated each and every Day?

Want to work in a place where you can actually practice genuine Community Policing?

Then you want to work for the Memorial Villages Police Department!

Starting Salaries:

$62,571 Probationary (6 Months) $63,445 TCOLE Basic

$68,203 TCOLE Master Up To $70,078

Starting Pay for Patrol Officers (with specialized skills)

Located in suburban West Houston, Memorial Villages Police Department offers a salary and benefits package

that is second to none. Benefits include:

Healthcare Insurance, DHMO Dental, Vision – 100% paid for employee, 50% for spouse/dependents.

Paid long-term disability and life insurance for employee, with additional life insurance available for spouse/dependents.

Health Savings Account with substantial annual Department contributions.

TMRS Retirement, 7% 2 to 1 matching and optional deferred compensation plans.

Annual salary increases subject to performance and market adjustment

Step Plan with 20 “steps” beginning after one year If you have what it takes to join our team, contact us for this

rare opportunity. To learn more or apply, visit our website at www.mvpdtx.org

Or contact Lane Owens at 713-365-3711 or lowens@mvpdtx.org

11981 Memorial Dr. Houston, Texas 77024 EOE/M/F/D

Oak Ridge North Police Department

The Oak Ridge North Police Department is currently

accepting resumes for the position of Police Officer.

The Department serves the community 24 hours a day,

7 days a week.

Applicants will be required to pass a Physical Fitness

Test in order to continue in the hiring process which

will include a Psychological Exam, Polygraph Exam,

Oral Interview Board, Medical Exam, and a

Background Check.

Starting pay for an Oak Ridge North Police Officer is

$52,937. Additional pay is awarded depending on

qualifications, college credits, and prior service.

Oak Ridge North Police Department is an Equal

Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on

race, sex, religion, or creed. Visit our Web Site at

www.oakridgenorth.com. Mail resume to Oak Ridge

North Police Department, 27424 Robinson Rd, Oak

Ridge North, Texas 77385. Or you may fax your

resume to (281)364-1350. Attention Lieutenant Tom

Libby. You may also e-mail your resume to

tlibby@ci.oak-ridge.tx.us.

TRAVIS COUNTY

SHERIFF’S OFFICE Is currently accepting

applications for

Cadet/ Corrections Officer

Starting salary:$3,243.29/month for Cadet;

after promotion to Corrections Officer

$3,697.36/month

5-9 years prior experience and Intermediate

TCOLE License – starting salary $3,882.37/

month

10+ years prior experience and Advanced

TCOLE License – starting salary $4,070.96/

month

For more information contact:

TCSO HR

5555 Airport Blvd., Austin, TX 78751

512-854-9772 or

www.tcsheriff.org

The BLUES Newspaper Page 9

For decades, the Bexar County Sher-

iff's Office has extended its reach from its

downtown headquarters with a series of

makeshift, suburban substations.

The practice produced some odd

situations, like the time an idle elemen-

tary school was rented and deputies had

to use kid-sized restrooms.

When Sheriff Susan Pamerleau ex-

plained that history to East Side residents

last month, the crowd chuckled at the

notion of deputies using children’s toilets,

but Pamerleau was not so amused.

“We can laugh about it, but frankly, I

think that's criminal because that's not the

way those individuals — men and women

who serve the community in law enforce-

ment — should be treated,” Pamerleau

said.

The days of inadequate satellite facili-

ties are numbered, Pamerleau said. After

scrutinizing more than 70 properties and

selecting two of them, Bexar County offi-

cials are pressing ahead with plans for the

county’s first permanent substations on

the East and West Sides.

“The two substations will bring law

enforcement closer to the people, reduce

response times and give us the opportu-

nity to work closer with homeowner asso-

ciations,” County Judge Nelson Wolff

said when Commissioners Court ap-

proved plans Nov. 17.

Designs for the similar facilities

should be ready in mid-2016, and both

sites would be available for move-in June

2017, Pamerleau said. When she deliv-

ered that long-awaited news to the East

Side audience at the Highland Social

Club, the crowd applauded and Precinct 4

Commissioner Tommy Calvert declared,

“Hallelujah!”

The East Side location, near Joint

Base San Antonio-Randolph, is on Loop

1604 at Rocket Lane, where the county

has acquired 51 acres that could be devel-

oped for other county facilities.

The West Side site, just south of the

Dominguez State Jail, is on county-

owned land in the 7900 block of Cagnon

Road, which also could accomodate other

county functions.

The pair of facilities would comple-

ment two others: The sheriff’s office al-

ready has temporary offices at county

sites on the far North and South Sides.

Since 2012, a South substation has oper-

ated out of trailers at the Sheriff’s Acad-

emy on Farm Road. A year ago, a North

substation was established in a rented

warehouse on University Oak Drive,

where a regional 911 facility is being

built.

For the next several months, the

county’s focus will be selecting an archi-

tect to implement its multiple objectives

that were based on studies underway

since 2009. Preparation included consul-

tation with other Texas sheriffs and the

San Antonio Police Department, which

operates six substations.

The proposed substations would be

the first “purpose-built” facilities for the

sheriff’s office, meaning they’re tailored

from inception to the needs of law en-

forcement. Other predecessor substations

have been housed in the elementary

school, shopping and community centers,

a former fire station and a trailer at Sea

World, Pamerleau said.

Dan Curry, director of the county’s

Facilities Management Department, said

the new substations — both in “hot zone”

areas for sheriff calls — will be hubs for

patrol units and property crime investiga-

tors, similar to the SAPD substations.

Budgeted for a total of $14.3 million,

the substations covering from 12,000-

14,000 square feet would provide office

space, workstations, locker rooms, meet-

ing rooms and a fitness area, Curry said.

Interrogation areas would have their own

restrooms “because once you have people

in the interview rooms you don't want

them going anywhere else,” he added.

Based on savings documented at the

North substation, Pamerleau said the new

substations will greatly reduce patrol

costs while quickening response times.

“It's putting the resources where we

need them,” Pamerleau said. “Building

these two new substations is a game-

changer, not just for the sheriff’s office

but for this community,” the sheriff said.

Yet, it remains to be seen how much

community access there would be to the

substations. When commissioners dis-

(Continued on page 11)

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sent out a formal request for vendor’s

proposals to meet the department’s needs,

including what kind of cameras they

would supply and the costs of outfitting

officers with the technology. Police want

to equip more than a quarter of the force

with the recording technology at a cost of

about $3 million.

The bulk of that cost will be for data

storage, police said.

Among more than 70 specifications,

not all of which are required for the win-

ning bidder, the requests seek:

Data encryption to prevent outside

access to video.

A system that prevents officers from

editing or erasing videos.

Ability to record in low light.

Ability to review video before it is

uploaded from a device. Austin American Statesman

(Continued from page 7)

CAMERAS

was quickly arrested at the scene. No

weapons were found on the men but po-

lice believe that they may have ditched

whatever weapons they had in the area.

Using a relatively quiet drone of

course cuts down on the noise of a police

helicopter that would give away police

movement and disturb neighbors.

Though the drone isn’t being expressly

credited for the arrests, they did help offi-

cers clear what could have been danger-

ous backyards.

The type of drone used by the police

is made by Maxsur and lists for close to

$12,000. It has an average flight time of

25 minutes.

This model, called The Seeker, is one

of only two drones made specifically for

law enforcement according to Corpus’

KRIS-TV. It can also flight up to 50

miles per hour. Houston Chronicle

(Continued from page 3)

DRONE

The BLUES Newspaper Page 10

Jessica Robledo stood before a group

of three dozen women scattered through-

out the pews of a cavernous East Austin

church. “Today is your day,” Robledo

proclaimed to the group. “Today is about

YOU! Be selfish.”

She paused, pacing up and down the

center aisle. “Women have a tendency to

put everybody ahead of them, and they

leave themselves in the back,” She

looked at a little boy sitting with his

mother.

“Isn’t that right, Paulo? He knows

that Mommy takes care of him, because

that’s what we DO.” Another pause. “So

how about you put YOU first? How

about you say: ‘This is my goal.’”

Robledo is an assistant police chief in

the Austin Police Department, the highest

-ranking woman in a department that is

77 percent male.

Her mission at that Oct. 17 event was

to persuade more women to join the Aus-

tin Police Department. It was the third

recruitment meeting for women the de-

partment had held, and it also featured a

YouTube video highlighting several

women who work for the Police Depart-

ment.

Such a gender disparity doesn’t only

affect the Police Department. An Ameri-

can-Statesman analysis of the city gov-

ernment’s workforce — nearly 12,000

full-time employees as of April 1, the

date of the data set provided in response

to a records request — found nearly 70

percent of those city of Austin workers

are men. Women become an even smaller

percentage of the employees in higher-

paying jobs.

That is largely due to a phenomenon

known as “occupational segregation,” in

which men seek careers, such as engi-

neering, with more lucrative salaries, and

women seek careers, such as library ser-

vices, that don’t pay as well.

The Police Department is an example

of how occupational segregation works.

Of the 1,755 sworn police officers in the

Statesman analysis, only 177 are women.

But women make up a majority of the

department’s “non-sworn” positions, jobs

such as crisis counselors and 911 call-

takers, which tend to be lower paid than

on-the-streets police work.

Since women began working as po-

lice officers in large numbers in the

1970s, there has been little disagreement

that women are capable of good police

work, and yet it remains a male-

dominated field.

Female police officers and gender pay

experts told the Statesman there are sev-

eral reasons for this. Some women are

intimidated by the physical fitness test.

Some struggle with the idea of balancing

inflexible 10-hour shifts with their roles

as primary caregivers to their children.

And then there’s the psychological bar-

rier of going to work every day as a mi-

nority surrounded by men.

The Austin Police Department is try-

ing to address these concerns. For in-

stance, at the recent recruiting session,

Robledo said that no longer will women

have to do push-ups to pass the fitness

test. Women instead will perform a row-

ing exercise, news that was met with

smiles and claps. (This goes into effect

next year.)

Robledo also sprinkled her speech

with plenty of acknowledgement that

becoming a police officer is hard work —

but that women are perfectly capable of

doing it, just as she has. (She also talked

about being discriminated against when

she initially applied to be a police officer

in a South Texas town.)

Still, it was a speech given later by

Austin police Detective Joanna Candoli

that highlighted the challenges the depart-

ment faces in recruiting and retaining

more women.

Candoli joined Austin’s police acad-

emy in the early 1990s. “There were in-

structors there who wanted to fire me,”

Candoli said. “They didn’t think I was

ready to be a police officer.” But other

instructors saw potential.

“I didn’t know I wanted to be a police

officer,” Candoli said. “I was dating a

(Continued on page 14)

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What the Austin Police Department is doing to

recruit more women

The City of Houston and Harris

County have broken ground on a new

state-of-the-art facility that will serve as a

joint inmate processing center between

the city and county. The center will work

to streamline and consolidate all local

inmate booking processes.

“It’s a great example of Harris County

and the City of Houston cooperating. By

having a joint processing center rather

than having two separate ones, it saves

the taxpayers money and allows the city

to close their jail and all will be done by

the county jail now, the city will pay us to

do that,” Emmett said.

The 246,000-square-foot Joint Proc-

essing Center is to be built next to the

county’s Baker St. jail just north of Buf-

falo Bayou and is expected to cost ap-

proximately $100 million.

The new center will allow the City of

Houston to shut down its two city jails,

putting a 100 police officers back on the

street and saving approximately $4 mil-

lion a year in operational expenses.

“It’s a great example of Harris County

and the City of Houston cooperating. By

having a joint processing center rather

than having two separate ones, it saves

the taxpayers money and allows the city

to close their jail and all will be done by

the county jail now, the city will pay us to

do that,” Emmett said.

The four-floor facility will hold as

many as 1,520 inmates and will include

areas for medical and mental health

screening to help provide alternatives to

incarceration for many of Harris

County’s homeless and mentally disabled

who find themselves in jail.

As a result, the enhancements are

expected to reduce booking times, allow-

ing city police and county sheriff’s depu-

ties to return to their patrols more

quickly.

“It [the center] makes for a more effi-

cient transfer of inmates into the jail and

and also out. Harris County Jail is the

largest mental health facility in the state

of Texas and too often people get out of

the jail and are patted on the head and

said have a nice life and they show back

up in the jail because of their mental con-

dition. The joint processing center will

allow us to divert people from the crimi-

nal justice system to the mental health

system where they really belong,” Em-

mett said.

The Joint Processing Center is ex-

pected to be complete by early 2018.

Overall management of the JPC will be

controlled by Harris County. The Harris

County Sheriff’s Office and Houston

Police Department will have dedicated

space for their officers for compiling re-

ports, drunk driving testing, investiga-

tions, evidence control, and processing of

inmates. yourhoustonnews.com

City of Houston, Harris County break ground on joint inmate processing center

The BLUES Newspaper Page 11

When Kristi Schiller saw the Paris

terror attacks on the news from her home

in Houston, she wondered how she could

help. It turned out, the police who re-

sponded that night in Paris were in need

of something Schiller was uniquely quali-

fied to provide.

More than 100 people lost their lives

that night in November. But there was

another victim too: K9 Diesel, a police

dog that was killed in the French National

Police's action against a terrorist cell after

the attacks.

In Houston, Schiller runs K9s4COPs,

a nonprofit that provides trained dogs -

which can cost as much as $15,000 - to

police departments. The organization will

donate a K9 officer, to be named K9 Lib-

erté, or liberty, to the Paris police force.

A ceremony last month at the French

Embassy in Washington, D.C., com-

memorated the exchange.

The annual holiday gathering at the

French Embassy always honors the rela-

tionship between the U.S. and France, but

this year's event was special in the after-

math of the Paris and San Bernardino

attacks, said French Embassy communi-

cations officer Fanny Malvezin. The

event also honored Spencer Stone, one of

the three Americans who helped take

down a terrorist attacker aboard a Thalys

train in France in August.

As for K9s4COPs, this will be the

group's first international donation. The

group has placed 120 K9 officers since its

founding in 2010, including many in the

Houston area.

"It's to show allegiance between the

two countries," Schiller said. "We are an

ally of France, and we stand by you in

(Continued on page 14)

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said

last month he needs more officers to halt

slower 911 response times and rising

violent crime.

“We need more officers on the

ground,” Brown told the City Council’s

Public Safety Committee.

Brown’s plea came as he hopes to eke

out a 12th straight year of crime reduc-

tion. But he faces a challenge this year.

Crime in Dallas was down less than 1

percent through the end of November.

Police response times have improved

since August, to about 7.8 minutes for the

most urgent, or Priority 1 calls, such as

shootings, crimes in progress and domes-

tic violence. In August, the average for

those calls was 8.2 minutes. The depart-

ment’s goal for those is 8 minutes.

For Priority 2 calls, such as robberies

and assaults, the response times have

improved from 24 minutes in August to

16 minutes this month, Brown said. The

department’s goal for those types of calls

is 12 minutes.

Brown attributed the improvements to

his “strategic” use of overtime dollars —

which have jumped by more than 900

percent in 2015 — in areas that have

higher call volumes. But he cautioned

that the fall and winter months tend to

bring lower levels of crime and 911 calls.

And, he warned the overtime was a

“stopgap” measure. He said the city

needs more officers for sustained im-

provements in fighting crime and re-

sponding to emergencies quickly.

Brown said the department of 3,500

officers has suffered a “significant de-

crease” of 166 cops since 2010, which

caused response times to get slower.

Brown said he initially accepted the attri-

tion as a way for the city to save money –

and finance other priorities such as librar-

ies and filling potholes – during a reces-

sion. But now, he said, city officials

should discuss whether the slower re-

sponse times are acceptable.

“We’re going to need to have those

tough budget discussions this year and in

the future,” Brown told the committee.

Brown later told reporters he didn’t have

a specific goal for the total number of

officers he believes the department needs.

But he said he would work with the city

manager and council members to deter-

mine that.

Council member Jennifer Staubach

Gates said she was open to discussing the

need for more officers but she wanted

more information.

Gates asked for data on response

times for lower priority calls, or Priorities

3 and 4, which are the sources of most of

her constituents’ complaints. Priority 3

includes missing persons, intoxicated

persons and recent burglaries. Priority 4

calls include animal complaints, panhan-

dling and disturbances.

“It’s not fun information,” she said.

“But our residents — they know it,

they’re experiencing it.”

Brown replied that those calls present

a challenge because they often come dur-

ing the busiest evening hours and the

backlog tends to grow longer over each

shift. He said Priority 3 calls take an av-

erage of an hour and Priority 4 calls take

an hour and a half.

“We’ll bring the data to you, but it’s

not pretty,” Brown said.

Council member Adam McGough

said he heard the chief “loud and clear”

about the need for more officers, but

asked what the chief was doing now.

The chief responded that he had reas-

signed officers from special task forces to

respond to 911 calls. And he said he ex-

panded overtime, and is using those extra

officers to clear the backlog of lower-

priority calls. So far this year, the depart-

ment has spent $1.5 million on answering

911 calls, compared to $145,000 last

year.

Brown’s comments were lauded by

the department’s largest officer group, the

Dallas Police Association, which has

previously called for the hiring of more

officers.

“It’s frustrating that we’ve been say-

ing this the past two years and nobody

(Continued on page 14)

cussed possible inclusion of community

meeting rooms, Pamerleau said she wants

to preserve a “law enforcement-sensitive

environment,” except for occassional

special events.

Pamerleau said part of the rationale

for having substations is to shield law

enforcement officers who are too often

targeted.

“Having a substation that is protected

through its physical location and separa-

tion from others is really a protection of

the public,” Pamerleau told Commission-

ers Court. “That's the concern we would

have of co-locating a more public build-

ing with the substation,” she added.

Still, Calvert said he wants to put

other county facilities at the East Side

location to make it an “all-service cam-

pus.” County planners ran the numbers

on a consolidated county facility — one

that combines a sheriff’s substation and

justice of the peace, constable and tax

offices — and estimated an additional $1

million construction cost.

But the calculation had a footnote in

red letters: “Functional and security-

related concerns and issues need to be

resolved if the ‘single-roof’ facility were

constructed.” San Antonio Express News

(Continued from page 9)

SUBSTATIONS DALLAS POLICE CHIEF: ‘WE NEED MORE OFFICERS’ TO ADDRESS SLOW 911 RESPONSE TIMES, RISING VIOLENT CRIME

Houston nonprofit to help replace dog killed in Paris attack

Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Ted Dahlin, whose K9 partner was killed in 2010 and helped inspire the nonprofit K9s4COPs, represented the nonprofit at a ceremony at the French Embassy.

The BLUES Newspaper Page 12

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Texas Police News Briefs From you - For you - About you

send a message to criminals that commu-

nities are organized and fighting back.

This year’s event involved 38.3 million

people in over 16,728 communities from

all 50 states, U.S. Territories, Canadian

cities, and military bases worldwide.

Archbishop of San

Antonio Celebrates

Christmas Mass with

Inmates

By Rosanne Hughes, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Communications

Clothed in orange jumpsuits and lift-

ing up tattoo-covered arms, they were not

typical congregants at a Christmas ser-

vice. But the roughly 60 men from the

Bexar County Adult Detention Center

who listened to San Antonio Archbishop

Gustavo Garcia-Siller earlier this month

sang along as a worship team played

Christmas carols. It was one of two times

each year the Archbishop conducts such

visits inside the jail; the other happens

each Mother’s Day across the street at the

jail’s Annex Building.

Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamer-

leau said inmates at the Bexar County Jail

have access to various religious services

on a regular basis, but the Archbishop

typically visits inmates twice each year –

speaking to the men before Christmas and

to the women at Mother’s Day.

“This is important for them,” Pamer-

leau said, “because often, when individu-

als are in jail, they are at the lowest point

in their lives, emotionally.”

Jail Administrator Deputy Chief Raul

S. Banasco said jail programs that meet

spiritual needs can make a difference in

the lives of incarcerated men and women.

“Many times,” he said, “inmates who

seek religious services in jail gain a solid

foundation for their transition back into

the community as a productive citizen.”

According to Aida Negron, Manager

of Jail Services and Programs, approxi-

mately 52,000 men and women attended

religious classes and worship services last

year. Negron said there are more than 130

volunteers that assist with religious pro-

gramming and more than 56 religious

classes conducted inside the jail each

week.

“When someone sits in a jail cell,

removed from society and away from

their loved ones, it can be a wake-up call

for them,” Negron said. “Many will begin

questioning the meaning of their lives and

why they exist. Spiritually based classes

help them with these questions and pro-

vide a new way of thinking about life and

who they are. This new way of thinking

then becomes the foundation for new

behaviors to emerge that are productive

and good for society.”

During his Christmas mass, the

Archbishop urged the inmates to consider

the choices they had made in their lives

that led to their incarceration, and to seek

lasting changes.

“At times we are deaf to His voice,”

he said. “We do not follow the Good

Shepherd, but someone else who leads us

astray. At times we are blind to what

really matters in life. Allow the healing

power of God to touch your lives.”

(Continued on page 14)

Texas A&M

University Police

Officers Receive

Awards

On December 9, 2015, at the Central

Texas Crime Prevention Association’s

(CTCPA) annual awards ceremony in

Austin, Texas. Chief J. Michael Ragan

and Master Officer Dee Donovan were

recognized for their outstanding contribu-

tions to the field of crime prevention in

2015.

Chief Ragan, was recognized as Out-

standing Crime Prevention Manager –

Specialized Agency. He was recognized

for his continued support of community

crime prevention initiatives and his vi-

brant approach in the use of social media

as a crime prevention tool. Chief Ragan

has been a member of the department for

over 35 years and has served as Chief of

Police since 2013.

Officer Donovan was recognized as

Outstanding Crime Prevention Specialist

- Specialized Agency. She has been a

member of the department’s Crime Pre-

vention Unit since 2006. Officer Dono-

van was recognized for her initiatives in

coordinating the department’s Nation

Night Out Program, which has been rec-

ognized by the National Association of

Town Watch for seven consecutive years.

Texas A&M

University Police

Receives National

Night Award

The Texas A&M University Police

Department has been selected as a Col-

lege / University Award winner by the

National Association of Town Watch for

its participation in National Night Out

2015. This is the seventh consecutive

year the Texas A&M University Police

Department has received recognition for

its participation in National Night Out.

The National Night Out All Star

Awards are selected annually by the Na-

tional Association of Town Watch to

honor individuals, organizations or pro-

grams for outstanding participation, lead-

ership and/or assistance during the Na-

tional Night Out campaign.

National Night Out is designed to

heighten crime prevention awareness,

generate community participation in

crime prevention programs, strengthen

police – community partnerships, and

The BLUES Newspaper Page 13

The BLUES Newspaper Page 14

this fight against terrorism."

The group is donating funds for a sin-

gle-purpose Belgian Malinois patrol dog

to the French National Police, or Police

Nationale, coordinated through France's

police and homeland security attaché in

Washington. The Paris officer who lost

his dog in November is currently looking

for the dog that will become his new part-

ner, as officers often refer to their K9

counterparts.

A Harris County officer whose K9

partner was killed in 2010 - and who in-

spired Schiller to found her charity -

shared the story of his own loss at the

ceremony.

"You put a lot of land and a lot of wa-

ter between them, but being a police offi-

cer and working with a dog, going after

bad guys and terrorists, is the same in the

United States and France," said Ted

Dahlin, a deputy in the K9 unit at the Har-

ris County Sheriff's Office. "I'm sure he

works as hard with his partner as I did

with mine. It crushed me when I lost my

partner, and I can only imagine what he's

feeling."

K9s4COPs is also slated to receive a

community leadership award from the

FBI later this year, for which the group

will return to Washington. Houston Chronicle

(Continued from page 11)

K-9

guy who wanted to be a police officer.”

Twenty-two years later, Candoli is

still with the police. She started on patrol

work, and she still gets teary remember-

ing a key role she played early in her

career tracking down a serial rapist ter-

rorizing West Austin. She also worked

several years on mounted patrol down-

town (she got to keep her horse after-

ward), and she eventually ended up doing

more investigative work, including a stint

in the robbery division that was so busy

and stressful that Candoli said she used

to get spontaneous nosebleeds.

Once you have put in a few years in

the department, she said, “they want you

to succeed” and will help you find new

career opportunities. “They will carry

you so far,” Candoli said.

But she concluded with a confession:

She has two young children and finds it

challenging to juggle her “first calling”

of police work with her “second calling”

of being a mother.

“I’m eligible to retire in June, and I

don’t know what I’m going to do,” Can-

doli said. “I really like what I do, but I

have two kids.” Candoli said she was

mulling over becoming a stay-at-home

mom.

Though Candoli made it clear how

rewarding she found police work, her

candor struck a chord because she wasn’t

just talking to a room full of women. She

was talking to a room full of mothers. Austin American Statesman

(Continued from page 10)

RECRUIT

He also urged them to seek forgive-

ness, both from God and from those

whom they have harmed. “If we turn to

Him and ask for forgiveness, He will

forgive us,” the Archbishop told the in-

mates. “God forgives. Always.”

Texas A&M

University Police

Department Receives

TxDOT Grant

The Texas A&M University Police

Department (TAMU-PD) recently par-

ticipated in the Texas Department of

Transportation’s (TxDOT) 2015 Summer

Incentive program. Law enforcement

agencies who participate in and report

activities for both the Memorial Day

Click-It-Or-Ticket and the Labor Day

Impaired Driving Mobilization programs

were eligible to receive multiple $3,000

grants. This year, the TAMU-PD was

selected and will receive $6,000 in grants

for participation and completion of the

programs.

A “Big Check” presentation will take

place on December 16, 2015, 11 a.m., at

the TAMU-PD. TxDOT representatives

will be on hand to present the check and

acknowledge the department’s efforts to

keep our roadways safe.

(Continued from page 12)

POLICE NEWS

other ID cards.

Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw

said it has “absolutely” taken from the

department a valuable tool to help identify

people who may have committed crimes.

“Name-based checks are woefully

inadequate,” he testified. “Fingerprints are

a great tool in terms of identifying and

locking someone into a particular identifi-

cation. When you come in and put the 10

prints down, there is no question you are

that person. You can’t manipulate it, you

can’t change it.”

After the hearing committee State

Affairs Chairman Byron Cook, R-

Corsicana, said McCraw’s testimony vali-

dated the concerns he had about the pro-

posal during the session.

“I thought at the time that it’s going to

be counterproductive for public safety,”

he said. “What he told us today was that

it’s counterproductive for public safety.

So people have to balance. They have to

decide whether they want more safety or

whether they are more concerned about a

privacy issue.”

Lawmakers also heard from Terrell

County Sheriff W. Clint McDonald,

chairman of the Texas Border Sheriffs’

Coalition. McDonald spun a different tale

than some border Democrats who say the

area is more patrolled and safer than ever.

Unlike California, Arizona and New

Mexico, Texas doesn’t have government

land on the banks of the river, McDonald

said. That makes it hard to gain access

when private landowners balk at law en-

forcement on their property.

He’s also said his department is under-

staffed, and federal agents are fewer in

number than ever before.

“We once had in excess of 100 Border

Patrol agents stationed [in the area].

We’re down to probably 40 now. And

we’re down Border Patrol agents all

across the Big Bend Sector right now,” he

said. “We see that our border right now is

wide open.”

Several times during the hearing,

Cook made a reference to House Bill 12

from the 2011 Texas Legislature, the first

proposal to ban sanctuary cities that

passed out of committee and navigated

through the House chamber only to die in

the Senate.

Deputy Attorney General Brantley

Starr said the bill, if passed today, would

likely hold up to a constitutional chal-

lenge. Cook said after the fact that the

measure could provide a blueprint for

lawmakers in 2017.

“You heard from the attorney gen-

eral’s representative said he thought that

was a good piece of legislation,” Cook

said. “So it’s not unlikely that that’s a

great starting point.”

He also pushed back against attacks

by some conservative groups that Cook

and other lawmakers, including House

Speaker Joe Straus, are soft on immigra-

tion.

The sanctuary cities bill “passed out of

committee and the House passed it in

2011,” he said. “If they want to choose to

ignore that there’s nothing I can do about

it.” Ft. Worth Star Telegram

(Continued from page 5)

IMMIGRATION

was listening,” said Ron Pinkston, presi-

dent of the association. “We’re very

much so at a crisis point.”

Brown also presented the latest crime

statistics, which showed spikes in violent

crime and a slight reduction in property

crime through November. Murders were

up 16 percent, from 104 last year to 121

this year. Sexual assaults rose 19 percent.

Robberies spiked nearly 10 percent, al-

though property crime dropped by 2 per-

cent, he said.

Despite the jump in violent crime,

Brown said the city is on pace to con-

tinue a 40-year historical low. Dallas Morning News

(Continued from page 11)

DALLAS

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Outreach team keeping individuals

out of jail

Targeting the significant homeless

population in northwest Harris County—

including along FM 1960 between Hwy.

249 and I-45—the Harris County sher-

iff’s office created the Homeless Out-

reach Team in November.

HCSO has dedicated two deputies, a

sergeant and one lieutenant to the HOT,

which is a private-public partnership be-

tween HCSO and local nonprofits. The

program’s goal is to divert the homeless

population from jail cells by connecting

them with social services, HCSO Lt.

Robert Henry said.

“We wanted to look at a different way

to help people rather than to criminalize

them,” Henry said. “This program will

get people off the street and into tempo-

rary housing.”

The HOT will also address the inter-

section of homelessness and mental ill-

ness, Henry said. Officers in the program

have been trained to recognize and re-

spond to mental illness and have taken a

30-day course in advanced first aid from

Cypress Creek EMS, he said.

“Isn’t it time that we decriminalize

mental illness and homelessness and start

treating them for what they really are?”

Henry said.

Helping the homeless

Although homelessness has declined

overall in the Greater Houston area, offi-

cials said the problem persists in unincor-

porated areas of Harris County.

FM 1960 features the largest concen-

tration of homelessness in the county—

especially near Cutten and Kuykendahl

roads—where panhandling and pitched

tents cause mobility concerns, Precinct 4

Constable Mark Herman said.

Economic factors and the gentrifica-

tion of Houston’s inner city have pushed

the homeless issue out to Spring and

Klein, said Carole Little, Northwest As-

sistance Ministry’s president and CEO.

“There’s been a tremendous migration

from inner city to the suburbs as rent has

increased, and the inner city started to

renovate and taxes were raised,” Little

said. “Rent goes up, and [residents] end

up migrating to where they can afford

housing. [FM]1960 has seen a tremen-

dous increase in people living below [the]

poverty line. And many people are one

crisis [away] from homelessness. The No.

1 reason people become homeless is eco-

nomics.”

Looking to address the growing need,

the HOT’s two deputies will be tasked

with meeting homeless people, building a

rapport by learning their stories and as-

sessing what each individual needs to

transition into temporary housing. Home-

less people will only be arrested if they

are committing a crime, Henry said.

The program provides the homeless

an opportunity to meet with civilian ser-

vice providers. HCSO has partnered with

several organizations—including Spring

and Klein nonprofits Northwest Assis-

tance Ministries and Hope Haven—to

provide immediate services in areas, such

as mental health, substance abuse and

assistance for veterans.

However, some homeless people may

just need help procuring an ID card to

enter a shelter or apply for jobs, HCSO

Deputy Thomas Gilliland said.

In just the first two weeks of HOT’s

implementation, HCSO deputies

helped transition 18 homeless people into

temporary housing, Henry said.

He expects this number to grow as the

program becomes more ingrained in the

community. The HCSO will track the

number of homeless people who are con-

tacted, the number of people who accept

the proposition and which social service

they were diverted to.

Refining the tactics

The HOT represents a different ap-

proach to law enforcement in Harris

County where officers attempt to improve

the community as opposed to only en-

forcing the law, Henry said.

Other law enforcement agencies, such

as the Harris County Precinct 4 consta-

ble’s office, will interact differently with

the homeless in northwest Harris County.

“We’ve written tickets and arrested

them for [outstanding] warrants,” Her-

man said. “Now we’re going to use the

[Homeless Outreach Team] as a resource.

What we found is that you get them out

of the road, and they’re back in the road

the next day. It’s a public safety issue.”

The HOT is a natural progression

from the Crisis Intervention Response

Team, which was founded in April to

divert mentally ill people who face minor

charges into treatment rather than county

jail cells, Henry said.

Following an August meeting of

HCSO officials in which Harris County

Sheriff Ron Hickman showed his support

for the HOT program, Henry said he be-

gan planning the program’s rollout.

Although the number of homeless

individuals in Harris and Fort Bend coun-

ties have decreased by 46 percent from

2011 to 2015, according to the Coalition

for the Homeless, the number of home-

less individuals in Harris County Jail

decreased by only 20.4 percent during

that timeframe.

Saving tax dollars

The HOT program received $110,000

from private donations to the Harris

County Sheriff’s Office Foundation. The

donations allowed the agency to purchase

a van and a utility task vehicle that can

reach wooded or wet areas. The pro-

gram’s only costs to taxpayers are the

salaries of the participating officers.

The program is also financially bene-

ficial to taxpayers, who are footing the

bill for Harris County jails, Henry said.

“Receiving three tickets or spending a

night in jail won’t stop them from doing

the thing that’s feeding them,” said

Kristyn Stillwell, president and executive

director of Hope Haven. “By offering

these services, it kind of circumvents the

system and fixes it from the back door. It

took these HOT teams to get the support

we need on the streets.” communityimpact.com

Sheriff’s office aims to aid area’s homeless population

Sheriff Hickman introduces the Homeless Outreach Team serving approximately 4500 homeless in the county

The BLUES Newspaper Page 16

years ago.

Five years ago, the department's Face-

book page had about 500 likes, Brian

said. Now, the department has more than

11,340 likes on Facebook and more than

7,150 followers on Twitter.

"In the beginning, we didn't use

(social media) that much," Brian said.

"Really how it started is, we were putting

out news releases, and we wanted to get it

out to more people. … And that's what

we used it for at that time, was strictly for

news releases."

New technology, especially cell-

phones with high-quality cameras, made

it easier for the department to begin post-

ing pictures and video as well as releases,

Brian said.

"Videos really only started coming

out about a year ago," Brian said. "With

the phone capabilities now, it's very easy

to just upload the video or the picture

from my phone. So a lot of the stuff that I

do on social media is done from my

phone, or I have an iPad, too."

In addition to Facebook, the police

department also has a Twitter account,

Pinterest account, YouTube channel and

an Instagram account, though Brian said

she's still working to learn the primarily

pictorial medium.

"It consumes a lot of my day. Proba-

bly 75 percent of my time that I spend at

the police department working on the

computer is social media. You have to

monitor it all the time. But one thing we

don't do is delete people's posts," she

said. "If it has bad language or threaten-

ing language or has nothing to do with

the original post, then we'll hide them so

people don't get offended. But we try to

let people use that as another place to

share information or their thoughts." Longview News Journal

Until about a month ago, Longview

police Sgt. Shannon Purdon never had a

Facebook account.

But in an effort to do more with social

media and connect with residents, Long-

view police Chief Mike Bishop asked

Purdon to create the Longview PD Detec-

tives Facebook page and post information

and images about property crimes in the

city.

"I was skeptical of it at first," Purdon

said. "I wasn't a big fan of social media,

but it's become a very useful tool. And

the overwhelming response from every-

body, once we started using it, has been

fantastic. The positive responses that we

get from the citizens and support, it's

awesome."

In the past weeks, Purdon has posted

pictures or video footage of about 15

property thefts to the Facebook page.

Some posts have been viewed by more

than 5,000 people, Purdon said.

Thanks to tips from residents, he said,

almost all the suspects in the thefts have

been identified.

"Probably one of the best (tips) that

we've had here recently is we put a post

up, and the suspect called the next day

and identified himself," Purdon said.

Once a suspect has been identified,

Purdon will update the same picture with

a red overlay that reads "Identified."

"Our page has grown largely since

we've started using it more (and) posting

more identification things on there," Pur-

don said. "We've had an overwhelming

response, and we've identified most of the

posts that we put on there trying to iden-

tify suspects."

Though Purdon works only with

Facebook and uses it only to post infor-

mation about property theft, Longview

police spokeswoman Kristie Brian said

the department does much more with

social media compared with just a few

Police embrace social media in Longview