Midland DA touts drug-reform themes

The Brooklyn District Attorney's race will be decided today in a Democratic primary which has been most notable for the various candidates competing with one another for the mantle of Reform Prosecutor. Check out this remarkable video produce on the prosecutor's role, released leading up to the election:


But debates over criminal-justice are bipartisan, and so are demands that prosecutors change their priorities. As an example, check out this op ed by the District Attorney in Midland, Texas, Lauren Nodolf, calling for prioritizing prosecution of serious crime and diverting drug offenders out of jails and prisons. She wrote:

warehousing non-violent offenders is costly to Midlanders, does not contribute positively to public safety, and does not lead the perpetrator to take responsibility for their actions. Violent offenders, on the other hand, need to be tried expediently and incarcerated sufficiently to protect the community.

Long-time readers will recall that former Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter was the state's foremost advocate of regional narcotics task forces, which were defunded and closed by Gov. Rick Perry after a series of scandals beginning with the Tulia drug stings. Those entities were all about rounding up the maximum number of low-level drug users for incarceration. So the fact that the DA in Midland opined in the newspaper against "warehousing non-violent offenders" demonstrates the terms of debate are changing around the justice system and prosecutors' role. Fifteen years ago, this would have been a highly controversial stance; today it's almost a snoozer.

There were one or two odd notes in the column, including a reference to "rising crime rates." I say "odd" because index crimes declined from 2015 to 2016 at both the Midland PD and the Midland County Sheriff. And the rate at which index crimes were reported to Midland PD, in particular, declined by 25 percent from 2010 to 2016. (Source)

And, to be sure, Nodolf's reformist tendencies pale compared to some of the suggestions by DA candidates in Brooklyn. I don't want to overstate the case. But overall, it's remarkable that a Midland Co. DA would feel any inclination to tip her hat to reform themes, and evidence that prosecutors around the country are reacting to reform proposals much differently and more thoughtfully than in the past.

Smarter probation, risk assessments reduce recidivism, incarceration costs

The Midland Reporter Telegram offered up a rare feature (Feb. 23) on the local probation department. The article opened with this generalized assessment:

Texas’ prison reforms beginning in 2007 revolutionized the state's long-standing “lock-em-up” philosophy. Over the years, the reforms have been lauded for abating the pressures of overcrowded prisons and efficiently using taxpayer dollars. But how these reforms translate from county to county can vary.

One facet of these reforms was an outgrowth of research and studies that showed how strong probation programs can reduce the number of offenders who are sent to prison, released and then are sent back to prison.

Strong probation, or in Texas’ parlance, “community supervision” programs, can have a large impact on the rising cost of the correctional system in the state budget.

"If you can take low-risk offenders and send them to an outpatient program, if you can get them through there … it’s much better than them being (sent) to a prison," said Jed Davenport, director of Midland County's Community Supervision and Corrections Department, which administers court-ordered probation.

"If you take someone who's low-risk and you put them in a program with high-risk offenders, you just increased the likelihood (by 63 percent) of them reoffending," Davenport said.

And here's a more specific discussion of what strong probation means on the ground:

The two major changes made in the CSCD boil down to the methods by which probation officers supervise offenders, according to Davenport.

"Traditional probation for years was just, what I call, straight-lined enforcement of probation," Davenport said. "What we know doesn't work -- or doesn't help the probabilities of people not reoffending -- is just coming in and just roll-calling probation. There's got to be more to it."

In previous years, Texas' criminal justice system relied on simplistic assessments for predicting future violence in offenders. These predictions were made with little or no scientific basis and too often were wrong, according to a study out of Sam Houston State University -- "Risk Assessments in the Texas Criminal Justice System" -- by Mary Conroy.

"It seems clear," the study reads, "that the potential for violence was overestimated in many cases."

The retooling of community supervision programs by the Texas Legislature in 2013 produced the Texas Risk Assessment System, which was made mandatory for all correctional departments to use as of Jan. 1, 2015.

Under the guidelines of the TRAS, probation officers are given the training and tools to take a more psychoanalytical approach to assessing risk-factors in offenders, Davenport said. These risk factors include anti-social attitudes, substance abuse habits, lack of empathy for others and impulsive behavior, he said. The assessment will classify offenders as low-risk, medium-risk or high-risk.

Rather than just rubber-stamping probationers as having violated or not violated their terms of probation, "officers are having 10- to 15-minute discussions or guidance and instruction with them saying, 'This kind of thinking leads to this kind of behavior; you gotta stop thinking this way,'" Davenport said. "Criminal thinking leads to criminal behavior."

The department is seeking funding for additional treatment and diversion programming from the 84th Texas Legislature.

Three day suspension for homeless harassment by Midland cops

A three day suspension seems way too light for this behavior. I have a hard time understanding why any chief would want these two officers on the force. Via AP ("Midland officers suspended for homeless sign contest," Feb. 27):

Two police officers in an oil-rich West Texas city spent weeks competing to see who could take the most cardboard signs away from homeless people, even though panhandling doesn't violate any city law.

Nearly two months after the Midland Police Department learned of the game, the two officers were suspended for three days without pay, according to findings of the internal affairs investigation obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

Advocate groups immediately blasted the department's handling, suggesting that the punishment wasn't harsh enough and that the probe should have been made public much earlier, before news organizations, including the AP, started asking about it. ...

The investigation found the two officers, Derek Hester and Daniel Zoelzer, violated the department's professional standards of conduct. There is no ordinance against panhandling in Midland, an oil-boom city of more than 110,000 where a recent count put the homeless number at about 300. About a quarter of those are transient.

Evan Rogers, founder of Church Under the Bridge Midland's ministry, said the failure by police to disclose the officers' behavior once discovered made it appear the department was "pushing it under the carpet."

"I think that does give the public the wrong message," he said.

Midland juvenile probation director lauded upon retirement

One seldom sees a feature-length profile of a juvenile probation chief, even upon retirement, but the Midland Reporter-Telegram has a nice story on Adolfo Salcido who is retiring after 33 years with the Midland juvenile probation department, the last 20 as director. He began his career picking cotton as a 10-year old, considered a job as a dishwasher in a Furr's cafeteria a step up (and potentially lifetime employment), then followed a girl to college, back to Midland, and ended up being groomed to run the department. Mainly one finds bad news with each morning's batch of press, so it's nice to see good work lauded. Here's a notable excerpt:

"I hope that people will remember me as being fair, honest and a leader," said Salcido, who then declared, "You are only as good as the people you are surrounded by, and I am surrounded by a great bunch of people."

Stalwart and unflappable, Salcido over the years became hailed as a gentle soul, quiet and contemplative, celebrated for calmness even in a tempest when others might be tempted to rush and relent.

Calm, reflective, attentive, "a good listener" and "always even-tempered" though issues may be steeped in controversy, Salcido was "always in control of his department," observed Midland County Court-at-Law Judge K. Kyle Peeler, who has served as Juvenile Court judge since January 2011.

"He always had his heart in his job," Peeler said. "Adolfo always had the welfare of youth as his primary concern. He could be firm. It was a respectful firmness, not overbearing. He would not shy from doing the right thing. His integrity was without question. His credibility was beyond reproach."

Peeler assumed the judgeship of the Juvenile Court after Midland County Court-at-Law Judge and Juvenile Court Judge Al Walvoord retired after serving in the judgeships for 20 years.

Walvoord said Salcido was "an excellent monetary supervisor" of the "massive amount of money," down to the penny, from federal, state and local sources that would "come and go" in efficiently running his department operated by a 40-member staff.

Salcido's overriding concern was that the program be conducted "correctly, appropriately and beneficially for the kids," Walvoord said. "That has been his thrust and goal."

His focus was on rehabilitation of the errant youngsters, not punishment. "They are mostly good kids. They are not bad. They have made bad decisions."

Roundup: Private prisons, primary contests, tech law and privacy

Here are a few odds and ends that haven't made it into full Grits posts but deserve readers' attention:

Court of Criminal Appeals races in play in 2014 GOP primary
There has been much speculation in political and legal circles this spring that all three Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judges up for reelection in 2014 may retire, which would mean Texas would have open-seat races for every slot and likely a broad field of candidates to choose from in each one. W.C. "Bud" Kirkendall, who was District Attorney for the 25th Judicial District for 20 years before being elected judge out of Seguin, has announced his candidacy for the CCA and in the coming months likely many will join him. I thought it notable that Kirkendall included an homage to online privacy in his announcement statement: "the court plays a critical role in important constitutional issues such as the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and Texas law, search and seizure matters, surveillance limitations and questions of online privacy," he declared. "I will apply my conservative judicial philosophy, experience and maturity to each ruling, adhering to the constitutions of the United States and Texas" The Republican primary is where all the action will be in these races. Whoever the GOP nominates will win the statewide races on the party's substantial coattails, so primary voters are the only ones who matter. Grits expects quite a few candidates and competitive (if likely underfunded) races.

Dallas DA primary promises hot contest
Troubled Dallas county commissioner John Wiley Price said Judge John Creuzot should run against District Attorney Craig Watkins in the 2014 primary. Grits agrees, but one imagines Creuzot would rather the South Dallas political kingpin keep his endorsement to himself, at least until the question in the headline of this Dallas Observer blog post can be answered. If JWP falls under federal indictment, a possibility that has loomed over the county for months, that won't look so great on his endorsement sheet. Be that as it may, assuming Watkins runs for reelection, this would be an exciting and potentially vicious primary race. Dallas Dems may fault Creuzot for at one time holding office as a Republican but they've plenty to fault Watkins for as well and Creuzot can only win by reminding them of it. That'd make it a hot one.

TX Private Prison News and Notes
For those interested in private prison topics, go visit the blog Texas Prison Bidness to read recent posts about a recent lawsuit over records against Corrections Corporation of America as well as happenings in McLennan and Montgomery counties, both of which bet on overbuilt local jails then couldn't find sufficient prisoners to fill them.

Jailer pay competing with Midland oilfields
Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter is asking his commissioners court for a pay raise for his jailers to resolve understaffing at the facility. When the oilfields are running full steam, that county jail job doesn't look nearly as attractive.

School PD fined $82.5K for misreported crime data
UT-Arlington's campus police department was fined $82,500 by the US Department of Education for misreporting crime data, most seriously an episode that should have been classified as "Forcible Fondling," which is not a term I'd heard before, and another where DOE thought a vicious fight between two female roommates was serious enough to qualify as "aggravated assault." Otherwise, relayed Unfair Park from a Chronicle of Higher Education report, "The bulk of the cases involved drug, weapons, and liquor violations that were classified as 'disciplinary actions' and excluded from crime statistics."

The case for officially ignoring 3-D printed guns
Grits tends to agree with the conclusion of this excellent if lengthy blog post related to the handgun made with a 3-D printer (and actually fired) by a UT-Austin law student working through a nonprofit called Defense Distributed. (See a good backgrounder from Forbes.) Andrew Sellars at the Digital Media Law Project would "urge the courts, the legislatures, and the public to ignore Defense Distributed's handgun altogether. It distracts from the actual issues surrounding America's profound problem with gun violence. In our dreams of a 3D-printed arsenal we soon forget that the 'Liberator' cannot be made using something as simple as a MakerBot in someone's basement. This requires a 3D printer costing thousands of dollars and over a hundred dollars in raw material in order to build a gun that will probably only fire once before melting. Meanwhile, This American Life reported a few weeks back that the black market rate for a real handgun in Chicago can be as low as $25. To put it bluntly, we will see far more handgun deaths due to black market firearms this week than we will see from 3D printed guns in our entire lifetime."

Why the FBI thinks it needs no search warrant to read your old email
From the International Business Times. HB 3164 by Stickland, which was attached to another piece of legislation recently approved by the Texas House, aims to close this same loophole for state and local law enforcement in Texas.

Understaffing at Midland County jail

Midland County is looking for warm bodies - just about any they can find - to staff the county jail. Reported NewsWest9.com this week:

They're experiencing a shortage, a hole that would take a dozen new jailers to adequately fill it.

"We got down as far as 20 at one time," Midland County Sheriff, Gary Painter, said. "We're having to work a lot of overtime with the employees that we have now, setting it up to where they have one day off a week, and working the other days overtime. It's been crucial for us to have enough people on the floor at one time in order to handle all of the situations that we've got to take care of."

They've been having this problem for more than a year now.

In jail blocks, there has to be one guard for every 48 prisoners and the jail has been known to house up to 360 prisoners over a single weekend.

This influx of inmates at the Midland County Jail is stretching their staff thin....

With the way this shortage is putting stress on the current jailers, Sheriff Painter fears he'll lose even more to exhaustion.

"We're needing to hire 12 employees right now," he said. "You can work people just so much and they get tired. They get burned out. Some of them are getting worn out pretty bad. Some of them have quit because of it."

The Midland County Sheriff's office is taking applications.

Sheriff Painter said no one with a criminal background will be able to work in the jail. Painter said as long as you are at least 18-years-old, pass the background check, drug test, a physical and a psychological test, you are eligible. 

This is almost becoming the norm in Texas jails, to understaff them considerably and make up the difference paying overtime at time-and-a-half. As a short-term fix, that's fine, but increasingly this is the structural solution to understaffing from budget to budget over many years. (The state's biggest jail in Harris County is the iconic example, among many others.) In Midland, the staffing problem is exacerbated by competition with oil-field work, with oil prices hovering around $100 per barrel.

The other option to paying overtime or hiring ever-more jailers is, of course, unthinkable: Arrest and/or incarcerate fewer people. We couldn't have that.

Vast majority of Midlanders skipping jury duty

I'm not sure I've ever heard of a county with such a radical problem getting people to show up for jury duty as in Midland, and wonder how the figures in this TV new story jibe with those from other counties:

Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter is shocked and dismayed to hear jury duty has fallen to the wayside for Midlanders.

Thousands of residents are skipping out on jury service and it's costing the county big.

Midland County admits they haven't implemented consequences for not showing up for jury duty in a few years, but now they're serious if you don't respond, you could end up at the county courthouse anyway.

"This is the worst problem with jurors not showing up for jury summons that I have ever seen in 25 years," said Midland Co. District Attorney Teresa Clingman.

This week alone, of 750 summons sent out only 149 people reported to the Midland County Courthouse Monday morning.

"75 percent of people fail to show up for jury duty, that is a constitutional right," said Sheriff Painter.

District judges said they will send a warning letter to those who didn't show up, but if that didn't work Sheriff Painter said "we will take summons in hand and we will go to every person's house that had a summons issued, go to their place of business, we'll snatch them up and we'll go to court."

What does it say about the system that so few folks show up for jury duty? Have attitudes changed since the rates were higher, and if so, how? Do Midlanders take the obligations of citizenship more lightly than in the past? Do folks think high conviction rates mean it doesn't matter whether they participate or not? Does there need to be more notice than a single letter mailed to prospective jurors? (Open rates for direct mail are notoriously low.) Is the low rate for juror pay a factor for people who lose wages when not at work? I find this datapoint particularly curious and surprising. What do you think is causing it? What strategies might fix it?

Imagine if 98+% of cases didn't result in plea bargains: The whole system would break down if defendants demanded jury trials at all more frequently.

UPDATE: From Texas Watchdog, "Jury duty stipends cut from $40 to $28 per day, $1.7 million savings for state of Texas." Further, "Letters from the state Comptroller went out in August reminding county courts that the robust $6 reimbursement for the first day of jury duty would not change."

Midland judges mad at state treatment program cuts

Judges in Midland are unhappy that drug treatment funding was cut in Texas' budget for the upcoming biennium. A story from the Midland Reporter-Telegram opens:

Midland County officials are appealing to the state for reconsideration after it stripped $1.2 million in funding from the Court Residential Treatment Center and effectively closed the facility.

"This is devastating for us," said Jed Davenport, director of the Community Supervision and Corrections Department.

The 50-bed facility is one of eight statewide being closed, Davenport said. Other facilities sustained a reduction in funding. Between the cuts, 343 beds in Texas are being lost for substance abuse treatment through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Judge Rodney Satterwhite, of the 441st District Court, said they were alerted on July 11 of the closure and received a formal letter explaining the CRTC's defunding on Monday.

"It provides a valuable service to the citizens of Midland County," he said, speaking to county commissioners. "We as the judges of Midland County have decided we are going to appeal the decision."

Davenport said historically 73 percent of medium-risk inmates and 61 percent of high-risk inmates who complete the CRTC program are still clean three years later. This year, they are on track to have a success rate of 88 percent or higher, he said.

The program includes an intensive treatment period, counseling, support groups and measures to prepare inmates for life after treatment, such as GED attainment and work experience.

This results directly from the decision by the Texas Legislature to use money from closing the Central Unit to pay for private prison beds instead of funding treatment and diversion programs. Penny wise; pound foolish. I don't know who they think they're going to "appeal" the decision to, though. The 82nd Legislature has ended and there's no way in hell Governor Perry would call a special session over that. A more realistic approach might be to solicit grant funds from the Governor's Criminal Justice division to pay for treatment.

More Texas Criminal Justice Election Highlights

Having already analyzed yesterday's court races and the Tyler jail vote, I wanted to update readers on a few other high-profile, contested criminal justice-related races we've been discussing on this blog:

Sheriff arrested for cartel affiliations re-elected
For starters, I can't help but point out that Starr County voters re-elected Sheriff Reymundo Guerra, which would be unremarkable except that he was recently arrested for allegedly working as an informant and functionary for the infamous Mexico-based Gulf Cartel! Granted, he was running unopposed and there's not a "none of the above" option, but that's still pretty funny! Reported KVUE-TV, "Even if he technically wins re-election, the sheriff of Starr County is not expected to go back to work anytime soon."

New Sheriff in Harris, Still Counting DA's Race Votes
I already mentioned the Democrats' near-sweep in Harris County judicial races (Mark Bennett has more), but didn't point out that long-time GOP incumbent Tommy Thomas lost to Democratic challenger Adrian Garcia, an historic upset. That's as big a deal, arguably as important a moment in Harris County's political transformation as was Craig Watkins' upset of District Attorney Bill Hill in Dallas in 2006. Garcia is a former police officer and a Houston city councilmember.

Spoiling any pretensions of one-party dominance, however, former District Judge Pat Lykos, a Republican, appears to have pulled off a nailbiting upset over former Houston police chief Clarence Bradford in the Harris County District Attorney's race, possibly a result of voters' rocky memories of his tenure as Houston's top cop. Bradford has yet to concede, though, and there are still 10,000 uncounted provisional ballots; as of the most recently reported numbers, Lykos was ahead by around 5,000 votes.

Congratulations, Lupe, now fix the jail
In Dallas, Sheriff Lupe Valdez defeated her Republican challenger by a 55-45 margin with the help of higher than usual central city turnout, giving her four more years to figure out how to get the jail to pass inspection.

Step One: Don't Get Indicted for Bribery
In Bexar County, Democrat Amadeo Ortiz beat Republican Dennis McKnight (whom I favored for the job) for the Sheriff's post. From what I've seen, Ortiz doesn't seem nearly as focused on problems at the jail as I think he'll need to be, while McKnight is an acknowledged expert with a real handle on how to fix the jail's looming crises - only time will tell if Ortiz is up to the job. One thing in his favor: Ortiz replaces a man who resigned to avoid bribery charges, so the bar's been set pretty low.

Midland jail to expand
Somehow this one had flown under my radar screen, but Midland voters approved a $22 million bond to expand their jail. Even with no formal opposition the proposal wasn't overwhelmingly popular: "The bond passed with 54 percent of the votes — 22,762 versus 19,407."

West Coast Update
California voters sent a mixed message with their votes on the propositions we'd earlier discussed, voting down both the treatment-not-incarceration package (Prop 5) and a raft of new penalty increases (Prop 6), but agreeing to new limits on parole and defendants' access to evidence (Prop 9) - see the San Francisco Chronicle coverage and a summary of initiative results from the group Join Together. I guess California voters prefer their prisons overcrowded and dysfunctional, just like they are! Also Prop K, a muncipal ballot initiative in San Francisco which would have decriminalized prostitution, failed by a substantial margin.

Why owning a 3-year old Kia may mean indigent defendants can't get a lawyer in Collin County

I've wondered before what the hell is the matter with Collin County justice and this latest report does little to boost my confidence. Now it turns out if you own a car or any other non-liquid asset worth more than $2,500 in Collin County, judges don't consider you indigent for purposes of having an attorney appointed in a criminal case! According to the McKinney Courier Gazette ("Determining the right to an attorney," Sept. 30):

A new report compiled and published earlier this month by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law mentions Collin County as an example of a court system that “explicitly require screeners to view the non-liquid assets of potential clients as available to pay for counsel” citing a financial consideration in the county’s fair defense plan for felony cases that defendants with assets of $2,500 or higher are not considered indigent

Bill Baumbach at the Collin County Observer adds:

From what I've seen, too many defendants are in court without an attorney, and too many are forced to plea bargain either without an lawyer or because they can't afford one.

The criteria for claiming indigency are entirely too severe. Owning a 3 year old Kia can keep you from getting a court appointed lawyer. Prisoners are handed long intimidating forms, and I've heard stories that they've been told that if one thing is untrue, they will be prosecuted for perjury.

See Collin County has cut spending on legal defense for the poor - by Ed Housewright of the DMN, Jan. 27, 2008

Also see Collin cuts court costs, but at what price? by Ed Housewright of the DMN, Aug.4, 2007

For good measure, here's a link to the report from the Brennan Center, titled "Eligible for Justice," for anyone interested.

There was another reference in the report to a Texas example, Midland County, which requires screeners to include spousal income and assets when calculating a defendants' indigency. I have no idea if that's typical elsewhere in Texas, but the Brennan Center found it remarkable.

What is the Sheriff's Association Lege Agenda?

The Odessa American reports today that Midland Sheriff Gary Painter was in Austin lobbying on behalf the Sheriffs Association this week. Here's the agenda they were promoting:

Members of the Sheriff’s Association of Texas discussed varying issues with their respective senators and representatives about bills they consider important, including issues of:

• Blue Warrant inmates in Texas county jails.
• Funding for MHMR, TDCJ and mental health services and the mental health patients impact on county jails.
• Methamphetamine manufacture, dealing and abuse.
• Texas Border Security.
• The abolishment or elimination of county elected offices.
• Annual pay supplement for deputy sheriffs and sheriffs and a minimum entry pay for peace officers.

Painter spoke to Sen. Kel Seliger specifically about the Blue Warrant inmates in Texas county jails. “It’s about being able to allow parolees kept for technical issues to bond out of the county jail. The county jail is being used as a sanction facility until they have their hearing, which could be from three to six months,” he said.

Looking at that list, for starters I wonder how much more damage the Sheriffs hope to do on the methamphetamine front? If they're not there to promote drug courts and treatment, IMO they're almost certainly pushing to make things worse. Clearly they don't know what they're doing on that score, or their big War on Sniffles last session would have worked.

I'm with 'em on the mental health issue, and they have a new ally in Advocacy Inc., too. I hope they get the beds they need to treat mentally ill defendants who've been declared incompetent to stand trial.

Regular readers know all they want on borders security is money, and that what's been spent so far had no effect on crime. They haven't spent what they've gotten already accountably, while I've argued that the money should be spent first to combat the mounting wave of law enforcement corruption on the border.

Finally, I've always laughed when counties complain about blue warrants as an "unfunded mandate" to the counties. That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. Let me respond, "Pot, meet kettle. I think you'll have a lot in common!"

For starters, the state must accept these blue warrant prisoners within 45 days after they are "paper ready," and the last I heard the average wait time was less than three weeks. But that ignores the bigger hypocrisy: The funding of Texas' criminal justice system - and I suppose in most states - is really a giant unfunded mandate in the other direction, from cities and counties to state government via the prison system.

Cops and sheriffs who work for municipalities and counties make the arresting decisions, county prosecutors decide what to charge, and locally elected judges (and in rare instances, juries) are ultimately responsible sentencing. All those are local government actors. But the cost of incarceration is borne by the state. So local prosecutors who are super aggressive on lower level charges like John Bradley in Williamson County or Chuck Rosenthal in Harris actually cost the state a disproportionate amount compared to other counties, as do hang-em-high judges seeking to prove their "tuffness" as credentials for higher office.

Make me philosopher king and I'd require each county to repay the state for at least a portion of the cost for everyone it elects to imprison. (The magnitude of that imagined debt dwarfs the petty issue of blue warrants by a country mile.) Right now local taxpayers are artificially insulated from the decisions of local criminal justice officials, so prosecutors and judges can be "tuff" in their campaigns and in the courtroom without ever being held accountable for the fiscal consequences.

That's a fantasy, and would require reworking the state constitution to accomplish. But just contemplating such a pay as you go arrangement shows what a small issue blue warrants are in the scheme of things, and how hollow the Sheriffs' cries of injustice sound on the matter.

There are things the Legislature could do to reduce county jail overcrowding that would help far more than anything they could possibly accomplish on blue warrants, if they had the gumption. More on that topic perhaps soon.

Former task force cop to sell "never get busted" video

A former Texas drug task force "top cop" who left law enforcement to pursue the ministry has produed a video that will be released next week telling drug users how to "Never get busted again." Reports the Tyler Morning Telegraph ("Former cop to sell video telling drug users how to avoid detection," 12/21):

Law enforcement officers around East Texas were startled to find one of their former brothers of the badge is scheduled to begin selling a video describing how to avoid getting caught when stopped by police looking for illegal substances.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph has learned that Barry Cooper, a former Gladewater and Big Sandy police officer, is scheduled to begin selling his DVD "Never Get Busted Again," Tuesday with the launch of a Web site and a full page advertisement in a national publication targeted toward those interested in illicit drugs.

Smith County Deputy Constable Mark Waters, a drug interdiction officer, said he was appalled at the idea of a former officer selling such a video.

"It's an embarrassment to all law enforcement officers across the United States, who put their life on the line every day," he said. "This is a slap in the face to all that we do to uphold the laws and keep the public safe."

Cooper, once "the best" drug officer in West Texas, according to his former superiors, told the newspaper during an interview Wednesday night that he believes marijuana should be legalized, and that the imprisonment of those caught with the drug destroys their families and fills up jails and prisons across the country with non-violent offenders.

He added that methamphetamines, cocaine and crack should be eradicated from the earth because they are dangerous drugs. But he says marijuana is not.

"I know I won't be accepted by my peers here in East Texas, but in other areas of the country I will be celebrated," he said in his office in Tyler. "When I was raiding houses and destroying families, my conscience was telling me it was wrong, but my need for power, fame and peer acceptance overshadowed my good conscience."

A three-minute promotion for the video shows Cooper in West Texas when he was assigned to the Permian Basin Drug Task Force being interviewed by media on large busts he made.

The promotion has Cooper saying he is going to show people through actual footage of his busts how to not get caught, how to "conceal their stash (do coffee grounds really work?)," "avoid narcotics profiling" and how to "fool canines every time."

Cooper, who has no disciplinary actions on his law enforcement record, left law enforcement to pursue the ministry and a successful business. He said he also felt pressure from other law enforcement agencies that were jealous of busts he made, and the political pressures associated with arresting a mayor's son and a city council member on drug charges.

Cooper argues that people are being sentenced to long prison terms for drugs when murderers, child molesters and rapists are getting shorter sentences.

"The trillions of dollars we're spending in the war on drugs should be used to protect our children," he said. "Our children are being molested every day and everyone knows we have lost the war on drugs."

Cooper believes marijuana should be legalized and regulated by the government which he says will cause the crime rate to drop. He points to Prohibition, America's failed experiment in outlawing alcoholic beverages. Prohibition merely empowered the criminals, he says, and that's just what's happening now with prohibited drugs.

"We have cops and other people getting killed, and I believe we could end all of that," he said. ...

Cooper's former commander with the Permian Basin Drug Task Force said he was "completely shocked."

Tom Finley, now a private investigator in Midland, said he was Cooper's boss in the 1990s and said Cooper was the best drug interdiction officer he had ever known.

"He was even better than he says he was," he said. "He had a knack for finding drugs and made more arrests, more seizures than all of the other agents combined. He was probably the best narcotics officer in the state and maybe the country during his time with the task force."

However, Finley said he was distraught to learn the video plans of his former "top cop."

"I'm definitely not in agreement with what he is doing here and I am all for getting the drug offenders off the streets and putting them behind bars," he said.

Cooper claims to have made more than 800 drug arrests and seized more than 50 vehicles and more than $500,000 in cash and assets. ...

Cooper said he does not agree with the current laws and hopes they change through legislation and sees this as a way to truly combat the nation's drug problems.

"My main motivation in all of this is to teach Americans their civil liberties, and what drives me in this is injustice and unfairness in our system," he said. "I'm just teaching them how to not ruin their lives by being put in a cage. I'm not creating the problem; it is already there."

Cooper said he knows there will be backlash from some, while others will agree with him.

"I challenge anyone who doesn't agree with me to a public debate to hear what I have to say and I bet some people will change their minds," he said. "But I'm sure some will think of me as the devil."

UPDATE: DVD gets worldwide attention. London Times reporter: "Is this a bloody hoax?" More quotes from ex-co-workers in the Odessa American. See Grits past coverage of Texas drug task forces.

NUTHER UPDATE: D'Alliance says the DEA is investigating to see if Cooper's product breaks any laws.

See the trailer here. Very interesting.

Cooper's website is now live. Check it out for yourself.

Midland Sheriff's Captain: "Cite and summons" for small offenses would reduce jail overcrowding

Another Texas county struggling with jail overcrowding seeks solutions besides jail expansion, but local sheriffs don't always seem to be offering commissioners courts any other options - they'd get more ideas if they cast their net a little wider. In Midland County, says the Reporter-Telegram's Colin Guy ("Jail story for Sunday," June 21 - odd title, huh? Anybody know if it's in the paper version, or is this a goof?), commissioners are considering a 400-bed jail expansion being promoted by the Sheriff. The Sheriff's Captain who runs the jail, though sees a different solution: Arrest fewer people.

The amount of overcrowding could be reduced, [Captain Richard] Sexton said, if Midland Police Department officers were willing to issue a "cite and summons" more frequently for minor offenses, as opposed to arresting individuals and bringing them to the jail.

"We're seeing their arrests growing by leaps and bounds for everything," Sexton said. "It takes just as much time to book them and get rid of them (for misdemeanors) as it does a murderer."

Bingo. It costs time and money not only to book them, but to house them, feed them and provide healthcare once they're arrested, especially when people can't make bail. Like San Angelo, whose jail problems I wrote about on Sunday, much of Midland's overincarceration problem stems from higher-than-average pretrial detention of low-level offenders: 68% of those in Midland's jail are awaiting trial compared to 50% statewide. (Not too many years ago the statewide average was 30%.)

The biggest disparity is among low-level offenders. The ratio of misdemeanants awaiting trial to total inmates in the Midland jail is 40% higher than the state average; the ratio of state jail inmates awaiting trial to the total is more than double the state average. In other words, misdemeanor and low-level offenders are taking up jail space awaiting trial in Midland at a greater rate than elsewhere in the state. See the latest county-level numbers (pdf) for yourself.

Sheriff Gary Painter tells the commissioners court he needs 400 beds to continue his current practices. They could spend that money, or they could join other Texas counties in trying some new practices.

Commissioners have an incentive to look for more options. The article reports some of them are cautious because neighboring Reeves County recently got burned on an entrepeneurial jail expansion scheme. Reported Guy:

According to a press release from Fitch Ratings, a bond rating agency, Reeves County had its bond rating lowered from BB to CCC in 2003 on the $89 million of bonds, or certificates of participation, used to finance the Reeves County Detention Trust Center. The facility, which was expected to be filled with prisoners supplied by the FBP and the US Marshal's Service, had room for approximately 3,000 beds after an expansion in 2001, but had difficulty acquiring enough inmates to generate sufficient revenue to meet its debt obligation, which was to be paid by a PFC established by the county.

"While discussions with (the FBP) are ongoing, the continuing delay causes Fitch to be skeptical that the prior relationship between (the Reeves County Detention Trust Center) and (the FBP) will resume anytime soon, and the positive nature of that relationship was a key rating factor," Fitch Ratings officials indicated in the press release.

The county hired Randy DeLay, brother of Rep. Tom DeLay, to lobby the FBP to place prisoners in the detention center but his efforts were unsuccessful. Because the county had agreed to use the first two buildings in the detention center as collateral, it risked losing the entire center if it failed to make its payments. However, since then a private company hired by the county, Geo Group Inc. has helped manage the center and keep it filled with inmates. According to the Fitch Ratings Web site the bonds issued for the expansion are now rated at AAA for the long term.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Mike Bradford said the Commissioners' Court will carefully examine all the possible financial arrangements that are available to pay for a jail expansion. He said he does not disagree with Painter that a 400-bed expansion is needed, but that after looking at the costs involved "it could be that when you get the costs in, 400 beds is not reasonable."

"Reeves County built that thing with all these promises and it darn near bankrupt them and that's what we have to guard against," Bradford said.

The state prison system and Texas county jails, or many of them, are all in a similar spot: Full to the brim, and officials must decide whether to change policies or continue to pay dramatically increasing costs.

Midland, San Angelo, Tyler - that's the conservative base in this state and those local decisions may be, I think, a bellewether for what the state legislature will ultimately do. If many of the more prominent conservative counties go the route of Tyler voters, choosing smaller government and lower taxes over jail expansion, the Legislature, too, might change it's approach to stave off the looming crisis that House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden warned about last week.

Otherwise, not just the state but the counties, too, will spend billions collectively in the next few years to pay for locking more people up.

Midland task force disbands, others may go in six months

President Bush wants to end the federal program that pays for local drug task forces, but officials in his home Texas county of Midland beat him to the punch last week by pre-emptively disbanding their's.

The Trans Pecos Narcotics Task Force, another Byrne-grant funded drug task force like the ones in Tulia and Hearne, is the "latest in a long list of these task forces in Texas and the nation to close up shop amid mounting criticisms of malfeasance and a dying funding stream," Ryan Myers reported Sunday in the Midland Reporter Telegram ("Local drug task force disbands amid funding cuts," Oct. 9). The move comes in response to the state's decision not to renew task forces' annual grant funding; instead the Governor re-upped their budgets for just six months, announcing significant changes in future funding priorities.

Apparently the state hopes to use its limited resources to target criminals producing and smuggling drugs instead of just low-level addicts, which would certainly be a welcome change. Said the Trans Pecos task force commander, "there's a shift happening now toward a statewide focus on larger level drug players, and that's never really been our role." In any event, officials said, locals shouldn't notice the loss. "Midland County District Attorney Al Schorre said the effect on drugs in Midland will most likely be small," the paper reported.

While immediate reasons for disbanding centered on reductions in funds, Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter traced other tensions to increased state oversight by the Texas Department of Public Safety begun in 2002. "I have nothing opposed to DPS but I don't work for DPS and nobody in the task force should have to work for DPS," he told the Reporter-Telegram. This spring the Texas Legislature passed new legislation to require task forces to comply with DPS rules or lose their asset forfeiture income.

Local coverage included more detail about a letter from Governor Perry's Criminal Justice Division foretelling changes to the Byrne grant program that many task forces have taken as cancellation of their funding:

just last month the state announced it is, "closing out its Byrne Grant program to be effective March 31,2006," according to a Sept. 16 letter to task force commanders from Ken C. Nicolas, executive director of the CJD of the governor's office.

Congress combined the Byrne program with the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant in 2005 forming the new Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, but the change, as it affects task forces, has not yet worked through the governor's office.

In the September letter to task forces, Nicolas said the Criminal Justice Division "will announce a funding strategy for the new Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program in the coming months," the letter states, "The JAG program will support a statewide strategy that focuses on disrupting and dismantling criminal enterprise through collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies."

What this means for task forces is unclear.

"After March, nobody knows what will become of us," said DPS Lt. Sonia Garcia, commander of the West Texas Narcotics Task Force, one of the remaining 25 that has accepted the CJD's latest six month funding offer. "Nobody seems to have any real idea what will be done with the JAG money or if we will be included. After March, really your guess is as good as mine."

Now that most Texas counties, including the largest urban ones, no longer participate in drug task forces, the state should convert those resources into more productive programs providing drug treatment, strengthening probation, and focusing more on major crime instead of filling the prisons with non-violent addicts.

Midland County did the right thing by getting rid of its drug task force, but local officials have a fiduciary responsibility not to stop there: counties without task forces have an opportunity to apply for the same federal grant money to pay for other things, for example, drug courts and probation services that would let them draw down new state funds. They can choose not to, but their county's taxpayers no longer would benefit from that particular pot of their federal tax dollars.

See more Grits coverage of Texas drug task forces.

West Texas drug task force may close

Another Texas drug task force may shut down rather than comply with Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) rules and supervision. The West Texas Narcotics Task Force will close up shop after September if Ector County pulls out as the lead agency, the latest in a long series of drug task force closures recently, reported the Midland Reporter-Telegram last week.

The news comes in the wake of the Texas Legislature's passage of HB 1239. That bill gave DPS new tools for exercising command and control over Texas' scandal-plagued Byrne-grant-funded drug task forces, which have earned an ignominious reputation statewide starting with the infamous Tulia case. Activists had wanted the rogue entities abolished, but the Legislature instead gave them more regulation. Still, local law enforcement interests are portraying the increased oversight as motivated by malicious legislative intent:

Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said he sees the increased regulations as an effort on the part of legislators to eliminate drug task forces from the state.

"I think the state legislature has done their best to destroy multi-jurisdictional drug task forces throughout the state and I think with legislation placing it under the Department of Public Safety that they have succeeded," Painter said.

Texas Speaker of the House Tom Craddick told the Reporter Telegram Wednesday he supports Texas task forces, but only as supervised by the DPS.

Not everyone in law enforcement thinks the new law is untenable. The Trans-Pecos task force operated by Reeves County, which covers 8 counties adjacent to the West Texas Task Force, will not dissolve, the Midland paper reported, but instead will accept greater DPS oversight in order to continue to receive grant funds.

Even so, if the West Texas task force closes that means the two most populous counties in the area -- Midland and Ector (Odessa is the county seat) -- won't get their fair share of federal Byrne grant money anymore. It doesn't have to be that way. Ector and Midland officials should take this opportunity to request federal block grant money for other things their counties need.

Counties can apply to the Governor's Criminal Justice Division for the same federal money to pay for drug courts, drug treatment, intensive probation services, even special programs targeting crimes by juveniles or against the elderly -- none of which bring the same liability risk drug task forces do. (See a list of other programs for which local governments may request Byrne grant money on page 5 of this report [pdf].)

Right now, most Texans don't live in a jurisdiction that benefits from the federal Byrne grant funding for drug task forces. A majority of counties -- 140 out of 254 -- have already decided not to participate in Tulia-style task forces. Only about 25 task forces exist in Texas today, down from 46 just three years ago. Still, the Governor spends 86% of the state's Byrne grant funding to pay for drug task forces. As more counties leave the system, Governor Perry should shift that money to drug courts and other needed programs so it may be distributed with greater geographic equity.

People in those 140 counties pay federal taxes, too, after all. They should get their share of federal grant money.

Police oversearching not all about race

A funny thing happened on the way to interpreting racial profiling data from Texas traffic stops: we found out white folks are subjected to unnecessary searches, too -- in some parts of the state, a lot of them.

Grits reported Sunday that disparities in who is searched at Texas traffic stops differ more by department than by race. Most departments do show racial differences -- i.e., usually blacks and Latinos seem to be searched more often than whites -- but much greater disparities exist from one department to the next.

The biggest problems seem to come in departments where oversearching is the policy for everyone, not just minorities. Sunday I looked at the big city PDs, so today I thought I'd examine what's happening at a few other departments.

Take, for example, the West Texas towns of Midland and Odessa. Whether you're black, white or green, you're much more likely to be searched after a traffic stop in Midland, hands down, compared to its sister city. Certainly, black folks are 4.2 times more likely than whites to be searched in Midland, and Latinos are searched 1.7 times as often, compared to 2.6 and 1.5 times, respectively, for Odessa. So both departments exhibit racial disparities.

But that doesn't nearly tell the whole story. Drill deeper and we find that everyone gets searched more in Midland. Black folks there are 6 times more likely to be searched at a traffic stop than in Odessa; Latinos are about five times and white folks are more than 4 times as likely to be searched in Midland as in Odessa. You're even more likely to be searched by the Midland County Sheriff, regardless of race. This table depicts the percentage of total traffic stops where searches were conducted, by race:

How many Permian Basin drivers were searched
as a percentage of local traffic stops by race

	Black	Latino	Anglo
Midland PD	25.1%	10.3%	6.0%
Midland Sheriff	41.4%	15.6%	11.5%
Odessa PD	3.8%	2.1%	1.4%

That big a difference can't reflect legitimate law enforcement needs, it seems to me -- Midland PD and the Midland County Sheriff obviously just have policies of oversearching at traffic stops. Sure, blacks and Latinos are searched more than whites, and those disparities demand resolution. But that's not the only problem, or even the greatest source of disparity. A white person pulled over by the Midland County Sheriff's Department is more than 8 times more likely to be searched than the same driver pulled over by the Odessa PD. Oversearching affects everybody -- it's not just a racial concern.

Similarly, you're a lot less likely to get searched if you're stopped by the Lubbock Police Department than if you're stopped by the Lubbock County Sheriff, again regardless of race. The numbers reported by Lubbock PD showed large racial disparities, much worse on its face than the County Sheriff. Black folks were searched 5.4 times more often than whites by Lubbock PD, compared to 3.3 times more often by Lubbock County Sheriff. Again, though, when you drill deeper, the Lubbock County Sheriff has a much worse problem because they have a generalized policy of oversearching everyone.

How many Lubbock-area drivers were searched
as a percentage of local traffic stops by race

	Black	Latino	Anglo
Lubbock PD	1.6%	0.7%	0.3%
Lubbock Co. Sheriff	20.8%	10.1%	6.3%

Bottom line, the Sheriff's policy of oversearching, not race, is the most important factor. Minorities are more likely to be searched by both departments, but a black person stopped by the Lubbock County Sheriff is 16 times more likely to have their car searched than if they were stopped by Lubbock PD. Not to be outdone, white folks are an astonishing 21 times more likely to be searched at a traffic stop by the Lubbock Sheriff compared to the local police department.

I could do this for departments all over the state. My hometown of Tyler, for example in Northeast Texas, searched blacks 2.6 times more than whites, compared to the town of Longview down the road which searched blacks 2.7 times more often. Sounds pretty similar, right? Well, check out the numbers as a percentage of traffic stops:

How many Tyler/Longview drivers were searched
as a percentage of local traffic stops by race

	Blacks	Latino	Anglo
Tyler PD	3.3%	3.1%	1.3%
Longview PD	19.6%	9.8%	7.2%

So once again, while both department's search patterns exhibit racial disparties, as a percentage of total stops, Longview is engaging in MANY more unnecessary searches than the Tyler PD. Indeed, whether a department has a policy of oversearching is a more significant factor than race: a white driver in Longview is more than twice as likely to be searched at a traffic stop as a black driver in Tyler.

To me, the debate over racial profiling isn't about accusing cops of racism, it's about treating people fairly and giving the public and departments tools to measure police practices to see if they're fair. These stats show that disparate treatment at traffic stops is about more than just race -- it's about documenting police practices that are eroding the Fourth Amendment for everybody.

See the report and local profiles, from which these figures were taken.

Midland PD Stops Minorities More Often

Midland police acknowledged stopping minorities more than whites, but dispute whether that constitutes racial profiling, according to a Nov. 7, 2004 Midland Reporter-Telegram article (no longer avalailable free). Reported the paper,

"An area of concern for not just Hispanics but other minorities is fear of racial profiling. In Texas, Hispanics are serving time in prison 2.5 times longer than whites.

"Lt. Jeff Darr of the Midland Police Department said efforts are ongoing to better track whether racial profiling exists. The MPD recently instituted a new way to process beyond state requirements tracking those stopped and searched.

"Regardless, Darr said there is no question Hispanics and blacks are being stopped and searched more frequently than whites.

“'We are taking a proactive approach to finding out why more Hispanics and African Americans are being stopped more,' Darr said. 'Whether it’s racial profiling is not known.'”

The comments came at a Texas LULAC town hall meeting in Midland last weekend. LULAC was promoting their agenda (report in pdf) for "pro-family" criminal justice policies; I should have mentioned it earlier, but was reminded because their final event, the last of a dozen around the state, will be in Huntsville tomorrow.

For those of you unfamiliar with Texas geography, Midland is a very conservative spot in far West Texas. Huntsville is in Central-East Texas, and is the site of the main prison center, including Texas Death Row.

The Midland paper gave a sense of other issues discussed at the LULAC event.

"LULAC statistics show one in 20 Texans are either incarcerated, or on probation or parole.

"The Texas Department of Criminal Justice spends 90 percent of its $5 billion budget on prison beds with the remaining 10 percent on rehabilitation.

"The pro-family report outlines eight myths often associated with the system including incarceration lowers the crime rate and racial profiling does not occur. The report also contains recommendations for change including restructuring penalty levels and options for low-level, nonviolent offenders to serve sentences outside of prison. ...

"Centered at the heart of LULAC’s efforts for reform is the youth who are entering the criminal justice system at alarming rates. Locally, more than 900 youth – the majority Hispanic – stayed at the Barbara Culver Juvenile Justice Center over the past year. Of those, about 500 are repeat offenders, said Adolfo Salcido, director of Midland juvenile probation.

"Salcido emphasized youth have to be held accountable for their own actions, yet he said treatment programs are expensive and funding isn’t always there.

"He pinpoints the problems of youth offenders to the breakdown of the family with single parent homes and grandparents raising grandchildren."

Of course, a lot of these single parents and grandparents are raising kids alone because Mom or Dad is in prison for a petty drug offense, so LULAC's proposals for finding non-prison punishments sound like they would really help Midland's problem.

Stay tuned to find out whether LULAC's Texas organizing blitz on these topics pays off next Spring at the Legislature.