HCSO Deputy Jeffrey McGowen, 42, registered with the National Marrow Donor Program in 1999. “My partner and I were at a health fair passing out crime prevention pamphlets,” he explains. “I saw that the Be the Match table was passing out free t-shirts. After talking with the girl for a while my partner and I both signed up.” Ten years later, Deputy McGowen’s marrow was a match to 17-year-old Calvin McIntyre of Chester, Virginia.

Calvin was just 15 when he was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia, a deadly disease where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. After spending 9 months in a hospital waiting for a donor, he received Dep. McGowen’s bone marrow on November 18, 2009 – his 16th birthday. Calvin recalls that day as the happiest day of his life.

While donor and recipient know of each other, they have never met.

In 2004, McGowen’s wife gave birth to quadruplets. The youngest, Justin, died shortly thereafter. Deputy McGowen said the death was a turning point that led him to want to give others the gift of life: “I didn’t want [Calvin’s] parents to have to go through the pain that my wife and I felt after the death of our son Justin. I wanted [Calvin] to be able to go on dates, kiss a girl and go to the movies.”

Deputy McGowen has been with the HCSO for 19 years and is currently assigned to the Internal Affairs Division.

HCSO Deputy McGowen and The Gulf Coast Marrow Donor Program
Friday, February 3, 2012
8 p.m.
La Colombe d’Or (Le Grand Salon)
3410 Montrose Blvd.
Houston, TX 77006

Garcia is the second in a list of area criminal justice and political science professionals Harris has tapped to visit her class and share expertise and advice with senior students.

“It was so great to meet Adrian Garcia in person and his talk really reinforced my passion in criminal justice,” said Nicole Moser, senior criminal justice student.

According to Moser, Garcia spoke about reforms he has made while in office, his opinion on Houston’s gang situation and other similar topics.

The first speaker to visit the class was Marilyn McShane, UHD professor of criminal justice.

“The addition of Sheriff Garcia to the board of directors is significant for two reasons. One, he represents an organization that is familiar with making sacrifices for the well-being of others, which is what our donors and donor families do,” said Sam Holtzman, president and CEO of LifeGift. “Secondly, Sheriff Garcia brings his Hispanic heritage to the table, which will help us continue to shape the attitudes and beliefs of Hispanics when it comes to donation. It is critical that we push the message of donation to this community as Hispanics make up more than half of those waiting for a lifesaving transplant in Texas.”

Sheriff Garcia oversees the largest sheriff’s office in Texas and the third-largest in the country. In August of 2011, the sheriff announced that his workforce of 4,000 law enforcement and civilian employees would become a Workplace Partner for LifeGift. Spearheaded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Workplace Partner initiative encourages employers – large and small – to save and enhance lives through promoting organ and tissue donation in their workplaces.

“In law enforcement, we see people lose their lives far too often, so partnering with LifeGift to help save lives just made sense,” said Garcia. “I’m looking forward to serving on the board of directors and exploring how the two organizations can align strategically on more initiatives to increase the level of awareness in Harris County about the importance of registering as organ and tissue donors.”

A native Houstonian, Garcia chose public service as his profession and became an officer with the Houston Police Department. In 2003, Garcia was elected to the Houston City Council. During his service at City Hall, he chaired the council’s Public Safety and Homeland Security committee and served as mayor pro- tem. He returned to law enforcement in 2009 when he was elected as Harris County Sheriff.

For more information about LifeGift, visit www.lifegift.org.

Listen to the full interview »

Instead, he’s proposing a zero-growth budget starting March 1.

“My budget will hold the line on spending and hold the line on crime,” an HCSO statement read.

The current budget for HCSO is around $398 million, and Garcia is hoping it stays that way for the next year.

He believes his budget proposal will save money by, “replacing overtime pay for veteran deputies on the jail staff with much less expensive straight time for civilian detention officers.”

That way, 97 deputies could be redeployed to fight crime on the front lines.

In contrast, HCSO says the county budget office is planning to cut around $15 million from the budget this year.

“My budget will help me keep the citizens of Harris County safe. Your $15 million cut will make the citizens of Harris County less safe,” Garcia said in a statement.

Garcia is in his third year as Harris County Sheriff, having won the election in 2008. Prior to that, he spent 23 years with the Houston Police department, and in 1999 was named by Mayor Lanier as director of the city’s anti-gang office.

He also served on Houston City Council for six years, serving part of that time as Mayor Pro-Tempore.

Garcia also has been asked by the U.S. State Department to advise them on law enforcement in Central America, and on port security matters.

Sheriff Garcia told the Rotarians about the budget problems that his office and the whole county have had, and how they have had a hiring freeze since 2009. Because of this, he has been unable to staff the jail and some patrol divisions to required levels. He has lost 200 personnel in that time period, and not been able to replace them.

Garcia pointed out that the Sheriff’s department has over 4000 employees, of which 2900 are Deputies and about 1000 are support persons.

Due to the manpower shortage, he has had to find creative new ways to become more efficient. This includes using volunteers, technology, and judicious use of overtime. Citizen involvement can help, he said, from tips that come in, to use of the Citizens Police Academy.

In fighting crime, “time becomes our enemy,” he said. “Send in the tip NOW– keep information flowing to the Sheriff. If you see something, tell someone.” Garcia said that the crime rate for major crimes in Harris County is down or steady over the last year.

The Sheriff’s office is responsible for running the County Jail, for Bailiffs in the Courts, and for Patrolling the unincorporated areas of the county, where 1,500,000 people live and work. His office works on major crimes, including Identity Theft, Terrorism, Gang Activity, Drugs and Gun smuggling, and maintains a SWAT team for emergencies.

One recent initiative he is proud of is an Explorers Program for young boys and girls, introducing them to police work and encouraging them to later become law enforcement officers. This is a new program, started at the Wallisville substation, and now has 200 youth involved, with more to open.

Technology is an especially important tool to increase the efficiency of his department. Using cameras and radars, he is in charge of security for the Port of Houston and the Ship Channel..

He encourages citizens to go to the department’s website, www.hcso.hctx.net for more information, to call the department with tips at 713-221-6000, and to report information to iwatchharriscounty.com. Any of these tip lines can be used anonymously, he said, and will help his department reduce crime in our areas. There is also an App for your phone.

The Citizens Police Academy is a once-a-week, 13-week program. It is designed to give residents a working knowledge of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, including police procedures and protocol.

Through the CPA’s interactive courses, participants learn many aspects of law enforcement, such as the Texas Penal Code, Patrol Procedures, Gang Awareness, Terrorism and many other topics. Residents will gain a better understanding of how police services are conducted in their communities and see “how and why” deputies make some of their decisions in the course of their duties.

Graduates of the CPA play a vital role in their community by improving communication between citizens and law enforcement and by providing local input and support throughout the county. The HCSO hopes the graduates will become partners with the agency in identifying problems and solutions to the crime issues affecting our community.

The CPA is free and enrollment is open to qualified individuals, but space is limited. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and reside in Harris County. A thorough background check will be conducted on each applicant.

Residents interested in participating in the CPA may pick up an application at any HCSO storefront or substation or by contacting the HCSO’s Community Services Division at 713-759-9454. Enrollment is on a first-come, first-serve basis. All applications must be turned in no later than January 27, 2011.

WHEN
Thursdays beginning February 2, 2012
7-10 p.m.

WHERE
Second Baptist Church
19449 Katy Freeway
Houston, TX 77094

Since becoming sheriff in 2009, Adrian Garcia’s goal was to eliminate the jailing of inmates in cells outside Harris County, which was costing some $20 million a year.

“We no longer have to send inmates to Louisiana, as was the practice when I got here, nor do we have have any more inmates in other county jails in the state of Texas.”

That was a fairly easy accomplishment, but with the money saved, expect the Sheriff to make a formal request for more guards before Harris County Commissioners. Meanwhile, Garcia and his staff set off to finally put to use, the processing center located in the basement of the Criminal Justice Center.

“Our staff worked extremely hard to put that facility back on line for its intended purposes, and we have found that it has supported our operations, and it’s also helped us to save some money by removing certain logjams within the process.”

Sheriff Garcia wants to ensure that his department keeps up with the latest tools, like the new phone app called iWatch Harris County.

“This is where folks can download to their Droid, their Blackberry, I-phone, the “I watch Harris County” app, and they can text to us or digital pictures or video, about suspicious activity or crime activity that’s occurring in their communities. They can remain anonymous. We have a very active partnership with Houston Crime Stoppers. There’s a link to Houston Crime Stoppers they can go to directly.”

At last count, more than 4,000 citizens have downloaded that app. Things have certainly changed since 1981, when Garcia was a Houston Police officer and the number of murders topped 700, to 198 murders last year. He says
he wanted to make sure that with today’s economic challenges he didn’t want to visit the crime concerns a generation ago.

“That’s why working to leverage technology approaches, and utilization of our data, as a way to keep crime in check. There has been a new attitude, a new approach. But obviously this is a trend that’s occurring across the country, so I’d like to think we are doing things extremely well here, and we’ll continue to stay focused to keep the citizens as safe as we can.”

Garcia says last year’s accomplishments put wind in the sails of the department looking into 2012.

Now, even though I (and many of my pro-Migrant friends) didn’t give up on lobbying and criticizing the Sheriff for some of his immigration-related policy choices, the bottom line is that he’s done a good job at running one of the largest county jail systems in the country.

Pat Hernandez at KUHF has an interview and write-up on the Sheriff’s 2011.

Since becoming sheriff in 2009, Adrian Garcia’s goal was to eliminate the jailing of inmates in cells outside Harris County, which was costing some $20 million a year.

“We no longer have to send inmates to Louisiana, as was the practice when I got here, nor do we have have any more inmates in other county jails in the state of Texas.”

That was a fairly easy accomplishment, but with the money saved, expect the Sheriff to make a formal request for more guards before Harris County Commissioners. Meanwhile, Garcia and his staff set off to finally put to use, the processing center located in the basement of the Criminal Justice Center.

“Our staff worked extremely hard to put that facility back on line for its intended purposes, and we have found that it has supported our operations, and it’s also helped us to save some money by removing certain logjams within the process.”

Sheriff Garcia wants to ensure that his department keeps up with the latest tools, like the new phone app called iWatch Harris County.

“This is where folks can download to their Droid, their Blackberry, I-phone, the “I watch Harris County” app, and they can text to us or digital pictures or video, about suspicious activity or crime activity that’s occurring in their communities. They can remain anonymous. We have a very active partnership with Houston Crime Stoppers. There’s a link to Houston Crime Stoppers they can go to directly.”

At last count, more than 4,000 citizens have downloaded that app. Things have certainly changed since 1981, when Garcia was a Houston Police officer and the number of murders topped 700, to 198 murders last year. He says
he wanted to make sure that with today’s economic challenges he didn’t want to visit the crime concerns a generation ago.

“That’s why working to leverage technology approaches, and utilization of our data, as a way to keep crime in check. There has been a new attitude, a new approach. But obviously this is a trend that’s occurring across the country, so I’d like to think we are doing things extremely well here, and we’ll continue to stay focused to keep the citizens as safe as we can.”

Garcia says last year’s accomplishments put wind in the sails of the department looking into 2012.

Any opponent really doesn’t have much to counter the Sheriff. And in a conversation with some activist friends, I did bring up some of these accomplishments, but also this particular one–fewer inmate deaths.

All of this is in just three years as Sheriff.

The jail population has fallen 31 percent since 2008, to 8,573 inmates. The jail has a capacity of 9,434, but has at times held more than 12,000. Garcia hopes the expense of contracts with far-flung jails – totaling $31 million in the last two years – has ceased for the foreseeable future.

As of Friday, the sheriff had no inmates in Louisiana and just 21 elsewhere in Texas; more than 1,600 inmates had been outsourced as recently as June 2010.

“I don’t want to be overly optimistic that this is forever a thing of the past,” Garcia said. “There are factors outside our control that could occur at any given time. But we’re excited that today’s reality is that we no longer will be having people outsourced outside of Harris County and that it will be a savings to the taxpayers.”

Jail overcrowding is a decades-old headache for the county that has brought costly lawsuits and court-ordered reforms. The jail failed state inspections due to cell-block overcrowding as recently as 2005 and also has struggled to maintain the state-required ratio of 48 inmates per guard. For years, the jail has solved the shortage by paying overtime; Garcia on Tuesday again will ask Commissioners Court for more guards.

Officials attribute the drop in inmates to several factors:

Local and national crime rates are down. There were 36,851 new felony cases filed in Harris County last year, down from 38,133 in 2010, and 44,006 the previous year. Misdemeanor courts also are sending fewer inmates to jail.

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos’ decision to stop filing felony charges against suspects found with trace amounts of illegal drugs as of Jan. 1, 2010. Those carrying used but empty crack pipes or other drug paraphernalia now face misdemeanor tickets.

The drop in these filings is hard to track because the cases are lumped in with all those in which a suspect had less than a gram of drugs. Filings under that category, however, dropped from 10,674 before the policy change in 2009, to 5,942 in 2010.

Lykos surveyed her felony prosecutors after taking office, and almost all of them said trace cases were wasting resources and clogging the courts. The change made sense, she said, though a drop in the jail population is a welcome bonus.

“We did the right thing and then all these other benefits flowed from it,” Lykos said. “There are more officers on the streets, we have jail cells for dangerous criminals, and we can get to trial quicker.”

The county has launched various diversion programs. In April 2010, Garcia began allowing nonviolent inmates who enroll in educational or work programs to earn three days’ credit for each day served. As of mid-December, 3,661 inmates had been released early under the program, which can shave up to two months off the maximum county jail sentence.

Garcia also noted that 48 people have been diverted from jail by the county’s Crisis Intervention Response Team. That program, approved in August, pairs police with mental health clinicians to respond to crises among the mentally ill, hoping to treat them rather than jail them. The sheriff also has tested a program allowing some low-level offenders to serve their sentences at home while wearing an ankle monitor.

Earl Musick, president of Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, cheered the drop in jail population, but said his group remains concerned at the number of inmates who are awaiting trial, unable to make bail.

The number of pretrial detainees fell along with the jail head count last year, but their share of the total population stayed at about 60 percent. On Friday, 6,220 of the jail’s 8,573 inmates – or 73 percent – were pretrial detainees.

“I’m not saying everyone in jail is innocent, but there are innocent people that are having to make that decision: ‘I guess I’ll give up my right to a trial so I can get out of jail,’ ” Musick said. “We’ve been shouting this message for years that not everyone charged with a criminal act needs to be locked up.”

Musick praised the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, and said judges are beginning to examine their pretrial and sentencing choices.

State District Judge Jan Krocker, who will be opening a court for mentally ill offenders within weeks, agreed.

“Making your community safe in terms of both violent crimes and property crimes involves not only pronouncing appropriately long sentences, but also in rehabilitating those people who can be rehabilitated,” Krocker said. “A lot of us are working a lot harder at that.”