tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post8270411032970221199..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: TX county jails seek to avoid, fail to cooperate with investigations into medical deaths, says Jail Standards Commission's Sunset 'self evaluation'Gritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-71343142674143256952020-01-18T08:08:40.331-06:002020-01-18T08:08:40.331-06:00Anon 1/10/2020 10:22:00 AM, this is Anon 4:03 and ...Anon 1/10/2020 10:22:00 AM, this is Anon 4:03 and I am not Ron Hickman. Even a casual reading of my grievances against the man in his capacity as constable or sheriff should clear that up promptly for someone that bothers to read my posting above. Otherwise, I'm agreeing with you post regarding the lack of change while he was in charge of the Harris County jails as that is the point being made. He lacked any expertise in the field and had no observable education in the complex world of running a jail yet he received hundreds of thousands of votes solely because of the political affiliation. <br /><br />The power brokers in this area do not care one bit about those of us with loved ones who have died as a direct result of this process and are all too willing to allow such elected sheriffs to claim ignorance as they pass the buck to lower level subordinates, translating into none of them being held personally accountable for those alleged civil rights violations. To them, the elected sheriff need not be adequately trained and experienced in how to run a jail and consider these ill equipped losers the plausible deniability the courts lap up even when handing out great deals of taxpayer money to compensate for the loses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-32643584758969195342020-01-10T10:22:30.269-06:002020-01-10T10:22:30.269-06:00Anonymous @ 1/09/2020 04:03:00 AM, aka Ron Hickman...Anonymous @ 1/09/2020 04:03:00 AM, aka Ron Hickman. What is the problem can't sleep? Well, neither can the others that have had loved ones to die. At the same time, you were sheriff and suicides continued, excessive force in the jail continued, perfunctory IA investigations continued, the lack of oversight continued. I do agree that your political party should not determine if you are the best for the job, rather your commitment to running a safe jail that respects the constitutional rights of inmates. Each HC Sheriff has been 100% guilty of violating the rights of those held in the jail.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-49999488027557830632020-01-09T04:03:36.507-06:002020-01-09T04:03:36.507-06:00Using Harris County as an example, it being the la...Using Harris County as an example, it being the largest county in the state, what results do you expect when the voters select sheriffs based on their political party affiliation more than anything else? Of the last three sheriffs, two elected and one appointed when one of those elected unsuccessfully ran to be mayor, none of them had any experience running a jail. <br />Adrian Garcia was a low level city cop that never bothered to promote, retired and successfully won a city council seat, and when he was term limited out of office was elected as sheriff. A quick search of Harris County's charges system showed he barely registered as a cop given how little police work he had done, apparently latching onto the coattails of others to ride them into office. Once elected as sheriff, most of his reforms were shown to be cobbled together suggestions by subordinates but the suicides continued, the lack of oversight continued, and frankly, he was wise to get out of the office before it fell down on him.<br />When Adrian quit to run as mayor, the then-Republican Commissioner's Court appointed a solid GOP constable by the name of Ron Hickman, a former HPD officer who left their employ when Police Chief Lee Brown was brought in by Kathy Whitmire. Ron eventually worked his way up the ranks of Pct 4 to be elected in 2000, several years later obtaining an online college degree and being best known for constant demands to commissioner's court for money to finance technology advances. The many scandals under his watch included the one discovered just after he left regarding how terrible Pct 4's evidence procedures were, Ron's near perfect scores given to the deputy he personally placed in charge of the process causing chaos for years. Ron, of course, had no expertise in running a jail either but I'm sure anyone reading this far knew that to be the case.<br />When Ron Hickman lost the general election, he was replaced by Ed Gonzalez, yet another HPD transplant who had left HPD to become a city councilman and then was term limited out. At least he promoted, if only once, in a competitive process which is something neither of the others had done, to the rank of sergeant, a first level supervisor position that typically oversees 6 officers. You might remember him as the one who retired but kept active homicide case files in his possession until years later when they were discovered as part of another scandal. He had a more traditionally earned bachelor's degree but like his two peers, no experience in running jails or mental health issues.<br /><br />The common denominator here given the three came from both political parties, was the complete lack of experience running a jail and in two cases, almost no supervisory experience, the third better known for poor supervision and his crony antics in elected office. How much training would it take to bring any such people up to speed running one of the largest jail systems in the country? If that isn't a recipe for disaster, nothing is. I appreciate that voters want someone they can hold directly accountable when things go wrong but this is just crazy!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-72806165315481950862020-01-01T15:00:07.341-06:002020-01-01T15:00:07.341-06:00Intresting information on the data question.
For...Intresting information on the data question. <br /><br />For most of Texas jails (a very high percent) the inmate information is collected real time and used to drive the VINE network. <br /><br />All of the technology is in place to pull the data from the VINE vendor and create real time reporting. <br /><br />Contact the vine network vendor Appriss in Louisville KY they are expert in collecting jail data.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-37799587895597821742019-12-30T21:18:14.789-06:002019-12-30T21:18:14.789-06:00Just putting it out there, 2019 was the safest yea...Just putting it out there, 2019 was the safest year to be a police officer since 1968.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-89071649899430144592019-12-29T08:51:51.931-06:002019-12-29T08:51:51.931-06:00Scott, you are amazing and we all pray for you and...Scott, you are amazing and we all pray for you and Texas to listen and learn from you. Rep. Cyrier is my state rep. He is capable of getting it right leading Sunset this term. I'll be praying as much for him as for you. Thank you, so much, for your efforts. Linda Curtishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11814630872513489749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-68443573963270431952019-12-29T07:07:10.791-06:002019-12-29T07:07:10.791-06:00I want you to know that my wife and I prayed for y...I want you to know that my wife and I prayed for you together when I found out about your health problem. I promise to pray for you again and again with her. You are way too important for us all; to lose. <br /><br />Matthew 18:20<br />“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”SOFAQhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06314771579895547336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1853706411773761842019-12-29T03:54:49.538-06:002019-12-29T03:54:49.538-06:00Thanks for the link, Scott. Things have changed a...Thanks for the link, Scott. Things have changed a lot since the '80s, sometimes for the better, sometimes the worse. Steven Michael Seyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07809935502307219692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-16359321806419125742019-12-29T02:06:11.664-06:002019-12-29T02:06:11.664-06:00Holy Shit. Wow. Thanks, Grits!Holy Shit. Wow. Thanks, Grits!M.D. Cohennoreply@blogger.com