MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT - POLICY BRIEFCASE
THE LEGACY OF GEORGE FLOYD
TWO YEARS LATER
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This past May and June mark two years since George Floyd's death and burial. Following his murder by a police officer racial justice protests and calls for police, reform spread across the country. President Joe Biden has signed a new executive order meant to change how police use force among other measures, which experts say is a small — but important — step in preventing more tragedies like Floyd's death. Harris County Commissioners Court has also called for motions for research and recommendations to engage in safer practices regarding the Use of Force, mental health, and substance abuse, as well as addressing racial and ethnic disparities. Below you can read the report by JAD that includes updates on initiatives sparked by the death of George Floyd. Additionally, Commissioner Rodney Ellis recently unveiled, "A Conversation with George" a statue to recognize Mr. Floyd.
View the Presentation here.
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JAD PRESENTS ACTION STEPS ON REQUESTS FROM COMMISSIONERS COURT SURROUNDING GEORGE FLOYD-INSPIRED INITIATIVES
On June 9th, 2020, the day of Mr. George Floyd’s funeral, Commissioners Court passed 11 motions meant to improve community safety by implementing reforms to create a more effective, fair, and equitable criminal legal system. This memo is in response to Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis’ June 14, 2022, request for an update from the Justice Administration Department (JAD) regarding the motions that Commissioners Court approved.
This update includes a brief description of the motions, as well as links to relevant documents regarding the following topics: community engagement in the budgeting process; non-punitive responses to address issues of poverty, homelessness, mental health, and substance use; the impact of fines and fees on criminalizing poverty; a county-level emergency responder program; violence interruption; law enforcement best practices; indigent defense; and addressing root causes of racial and ethnic disparities.
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GEORGE FLOYD FAMILY MEMBERS THANK COMMISSIONER RODNEY ELLIS, MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER, COUNTY JUDGE LINA HIDALGO, AND OTHERS AT THE UNVEILING OF, "CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE" STATUE |
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Philanthropist Donates Sculpture that’s Placed in Precinct One’s Tom Bass Park
By: Office of Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Precinct One
Shortly after Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and top law enforcement officials spoke at the unveiling ceremony of a George Floyd statue in Tom Bass Park, Floyd family members expressed their appreciation to everyone in Houston and around the world who rallied against police brutality and criminal justice reform.
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“I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you,” said Kathleen McGee, Floyd’s aunt. “We love what you are doing and advocating for George.”
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Moments after her emotional comments in the Tom Bass Park community center, she and other family members joined Commissioner Ellis, Mayor Turner, and others in unveiling the “Conversation with George” artwork nearby in the park. |
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“George Floyd’s murder released a torrent of action,” Commissioner Ellis earlier told the audience. “Not just here but all around the globe. The family members lost a loving family member. Houston, we lost one of our own."
“It’s amazing to sustain attention to equity issues that came after Mr. Floyd was murdered. And not just here but all around the globe. That’s why on this occasion, it is so important,” Commissioner Ellis said.
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Mayor Turner, like other speakers, commended the Floyd family for the class and grace it has shown since the tragic death. |
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“When 60,000 people marched in our city, quite frankly I’ll tell you – as Mayor – I was concerned,” Mayor Turner said of an event shortly after Floyd was murdered two years ago. “… It could have gone wrong very fast. But one of the major reasons why it didn’t was because the Floyd family stood and said we don’t want y’all to act crazy. We don’t want it to be violent.”
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Also speaking at the ceremony were Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, and Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
The statue was unveiled on Wednesday, May 25, which was the second anniversary of Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer. Renowned sculptor Adrienne Rison-Isom created the $110,000 statue that was donated to Harris County by Dannette Davis of Kay Davis Associates.
The sculpture depicts Floyd seated at an outdoor table welcoming everyone – all races and ethnic backgrounds – to have a seat and join him. Davis said she wants visitors to take away the symbolism of Floyd being an approachable person who would "spark" conversation or friendship with anyone.
From the beginning of the project, Davis and Rison-Isom ensured that the Floyd Family Foundation was involved and approved the sculpture.
The day before the unveiling, Davis and Shareeduh Tate, president of George Floyd Foundation and Floyd’s first cousin, sat next to the statue and reflected on Floyd’s life.
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“I didn’t expect I’d be moved to tears when I got here, honestly,” Tate said. “But I will tell you, to see it come to fruition is just unbelievable. It’s great to see a place where people can sit and reflect, whether it’s about George or if they want to reflect on their own legacy.”
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POLICY BRIEFCASE
News & Information on Policy Work by JAD
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COUNCIL MEETING HOLDS FIRST IN-PERSON MEETING SINCE IN TWO YEARS |
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The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council met in person on June 9th for the first time in two years. The last time the Council met in person was pre-Covid. It was great to reunite in person and catch up with everyone. The agenda was full of timely topics of interest to the Council.
The highlights from the meeting are:
Dr. Ana Yáñez Correa presented on reproducing a monthly jail population report distributed to council members back in 2016. JAD is working on enhancing the report with additional data points with the goal of delivering that report by August.
Major Patrick Dougherty from the Sheriff’s Office reported that the Harris County jail population has been increasing steadily since late 2021 and is at an all-time high of over 9800 individuals and is expected to increase even more during the summer months. The jail is at capacity even with the outsourcing of 600 individuals to LaSalle. You may view the Harris County Jail Population Dashboard here.
Garg Gayatri, Director, Performance Analysis from the Office of Management & Budget provided an update to the Council on the criminal case backlog initiatives being implemented by the County Criminal Courts at Law, Criminal District Courts, District Attorney’s Office, District Clerk’s Office, Public Defenders Office, and the Sheriff’s Office.
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Finally, Commissioner Ellis announced the creation of the new committees and subcommittees. The committees were selected based on the members’ feedback on the top priorities of the Council.
The new committees are:
Court Backlog and Court Resources Committee, including a Case Processing Subcommittee and a Jail Population Subcommittee; and a Violence Prevention Committee.
The committees will begin meeting in the next couple of weeks to work collaboratively together to address system-wide challenges in our justice system.
You may view the CJCC presentation here.
The next meeting will be held on August 18th, 2022, at 12:30 p.m.
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A FAREWELL TO OUR SPRING 2022 INTERNS AS JAD WELCOMES NEW STUDENTS FROM THE LEE PROGRAM
The value of an internship experience cannot be overstated. An internship turns a classroom’s abstract theories and learned examples concrete by placing the student in a real-life work environment, performing professional tasks, which the job encompasses. The Justice Administration Department (JAD) has been thrilled to be a part of the continued educational process by supporting interns since its inception in 2019. Interns have joined JAD through the Leadership, Experience, and Employment (LEE) Program and the Texas Legislative Internship Program (TLIP).
The LEE program, sponsored by Precinct One, Commissioner Rodney Ellis , was initially founded by the former Commissioner El Franco Lee in 1985. The program provides professional work experiences through county departments in multiple fields. It promotes learning, growth, and knowledge in the workspace by placing high school graduates and college students in positions corresponding with their major.
Additionally, TILP was created by Commissioner Rodney Ellis in 1990 and inspired by the late Congressman Mickey Leland. Late Congressman Mickey Leland believed in creating opportunities for others and using individual success. TILP provides students with work experiences at the Texas Legislature and many different government offices, preparing them to work at the federal, state, and local levels of government in the future. JAD’s interim policy director, Lindsey Linder, is a proud TLIP alum!
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JAD said goodbye to three Texas Legislative Internship Program (TILP) interns: Summer J. Anderson (Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law), Cedric S. Anderson Jr. (Southern University Law Center), and Alexandra Medina (South Texas College of Law).
The three TILP interns worked closely in the policy division, conducting case law research, working with data from the county’s criminal justice stages, creating social media posts, and designing promotional items.
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Though we are sad to see Summer, Cedric, and Alexandra go, JAD welcomed three new talented interns through the LEE program last month: Trinity Gipson, Mason Rau, and Madison Phillips. |
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Trinity Gipson works with the policy team for JAD to help research and analyze data. She is from Denton, Texas, and graduated from Prairie View A&M University with a B.A. in Political Science. Gipson will be attending Texas A&M in the fall, receiving her Master’s in Public Service and Administration! She also loves to read, write, and occasionally play Sims in her spare time.
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Regarding her internship, Gipson said, “I am honored to be interning with the Harris County Justice Administration, and I hope to gain hands-on experience with government and public policy processes.”
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Additionally, Mason Rau will be starting his senior year at the University of Houston this fall, majoring in Political Science. He is working with the Special Projects Team of JAD, engaging the Harris County community to improve understanding of different policy decisions. Rau has lived in Houston all his life and enjoys traveling, working out with friends, and playing video games for leisure.
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“I hope to use my internship to learn all I can about government and gain experience working in county government. I am also using this as an opportunity to search for my ideal career as I am still a bit undecided," stated Rau Mason
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Madison Phillips is working with the Communications Team at JAD, creating social media posts and writing to represent JAD in media relations. She is an incoming sophomore at Howard University, studying Political Science. Phillips has lived in Houston since birth and plans on working in government one day. She loves playing with animals, reading books, and watching criminal minds in her free time.
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“My goal for this internship is to gain exposure to the inner works of public policy on a local level and to learn more about what goes into maintaining justice in the huge Harris County,” added Phillips.
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JAD is exceptionally grateful to have these interns and will continue working with Harris County to encourage students to gain public service experiences and help their communities.
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DR. JAMES ATTENDS NORTHEASTERN ACADEMY OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SCIENCE (NEACJS)
The 45th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (NEACJS) was held in Williamsport, PA in June as an in-person conference. Several criminologists, practitioners, and academicians from several states met to discuss the latest policies and criminal justice research.
Established in 1978, the Northeastern Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (NEACJS) is the official Northeast regional organization of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). NEACJS is an organization of criminal justice practitioners, scholars, and academicians dedicated to improving scholarship, policy, and practice in criminal justice. There are over 95 members of NEACJS representing several states (mostly in the Northeastern United States), and some Canadian providences. NEACJS holds an annual meeting to discuss various criminal justice topics, including pedagogy, policy analysis, and the latest scholarship and research occurring within the field.
This year’s theme was “A System in Crisis: Tackling pressing issues in the Criminal Justice System.” JAD’s Dr. Veronyka James, Survivor of Crime Researcher & Specialist, had the opportunity to attend this year’s conference.
Dr. James attended various sessions while at NEACJS. These included sessions on domestic violence, prosecutorial misconduct, innovative programs, and how to better support justice-involved populations. Dr. James also discussed criminal justice issues and policies informally with various practitioners and academics from the United States.
Dr. James looks forward to bringing back the knowledge and connections she attained while at the conference and sharing them with academics and practitioners in Harris County. She will continue the conversations she’s had on the various ways to best support all survivors of crime.
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JAD STAFF ATTENDS "CORRECTIONS IN INK" BOOK LAUNCH AT BRAZOS BOOKSTORE
JAD’s Interim Policy Director, Lindsey Linder, attended the launch of Keri Blakinger’s recently released memoir, Corrections in Ink, at Houston’s Brazos Bookstore on June 7th.
Keri is an investigative reporter based in Texas, covering criminal justice and injustice for The Marshall Project. She previously worked for the Houston Chronicle and her writing has appeared everywhere from the New York Daily News to the BBC and from VICE to The New York Times. She was a member of the Chronicle’s Pulitzer-finalist team in 2018 and her 2019 coverage of women’s jails for The Washington Post helped ear a National Magazine Award.
Before becoming a reporter, she did prison time for a drug crime in New York. During the event, Keri was interviewed by Chris Tomlinson, a columnist for the Houston Chronicle, and Keri read an excerpt from the first chapter of Corrections in Ink. Here is a brief synopsis of Corrections in Ink:
Keri Blakinger always lived life at full throttle. Growing up, meant throwing herself into competitive figure skating with an all-consuming passion that led her to nationals. But when her skating career suddenly fell apart, that meant diving into self-destruction with the intensity she once saved for the ice.
For the next nine years, Keri ricocheted from one dark place to the next: living on the streets, selling drugs and sex, and shooting up between classes all while trying to hold herself together enough to finish her degree at Cornell. Then, on a cold day during her senior year, the police caught her walking down the street with a Tupperware full of heroin.
Her arrest made the front page of the local news and landed her behind bars for nearly two years. There, in the Twilight Zone of New York’s jails and prisons, Keri grappled with the wreckage of her missteps and mistakes as she sobered up and searched for a better path. Along the way, she met women from all walks of life―who were all struggling through the same upside-down world of corrections. As the days ticked by, Keri came to understand how broken the justice system is and who that brokenness hurts the most.
After she walked out of her cell for the last time, Keri became a reporter dedicated to exposing our flawed prisons as only an insider could. Written with searing intensity, unflinching honesty, and shocks of humor, Corrections in Ink uncovers that dark, brutal system that affects us all. Not just a story about getting out and getting off drugs, this galvanizing memoir is about the power of second chances; about whom our society throws away and whom we allow to reach for redemption―and how they reach for it.
Keri is on a mission to get as many copies of her book delivered to people who are currently incarcerated as possible. If you’d like to help, you can donate a copy here.
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MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT - POLICY BYTES
Data & Analytics News-Bytes
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ODONNELL CONSENT DECREE PUBLIC DASHBOARD COMING SOON
The ODonnell Consent Decree Public Dashboard Phase I, created by the Justice Administration Department, will be released this month. This public-facing dashboard will facilitate transparency and accountability in meeting the goals and requirements of this Consent Decree. The measures presented in this dashboard are per Section 89 of the ODonnell Consent Decree.
Phase I of this dashboard includes the following measures and pages:
- Measure Summary – Summary of Measures across various time ranges
- Cases Filed and Bond Failures –
- Total number of Misdemeanor and Felony Cases Filed
- Total number of Bond Forfeitures and Bond Revocations
- Bond Approvals – Total Misdemeanor and Felony Approvals by Bond Type
- Case Disposition Details – Time to Disposition for Defendants' Release on Bond
- Carveout Details by Cases and Defendants –
- Total Cases Filed and their respective Carveout counts
- Total Carveout Cases in each Carveout category
- Total Defendants and their respective Carveout counts
- Total Carveout Defendants in each Carveout category
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HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT RELEASES INAUGURAL ISSUE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMAND ANNUAL REPORT
By: Office of HCSO
2021 was notable because of the many firsts for females: the first female patrol major, first female motorcycle deputy, first female command administrative sergeant, and first female tactical flight officers.
Other notable firsts include the nationwide selection of Harris County as one of 14 jurisdictions designated as a learning site for responding to those with mental illness by the United States Council of State Governments, a prestigious award for collaboration from the International Association of Chiefs of Police award, the development of the Holistic Assistance Response Team, graduating residents from the Vietnamese Citizens Police Academy, launching a Boarding Home Detail, and establishing a Policy Unit.
We invite you to read through this annual report to learn about the model programs, accomplishments, and vision of the Command.
The Law Enforcement Command continues to develop innovative policies and strategies that provide the highest quality of service to our community and position the Harris County Sheriff's Office as the premiere sheriff’s office in the nation.
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The blog is up and running
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