Denied a police job because she was too short, the 5-foot-tall Skinner marched into the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Her orange Afro bespeaking confidence, lips beguiling cops and cons alike with the familiar salutation, “Hey, Baby!,” Skinner quickly became a department legend.

Within months of joining then-Sheriff Jack Heard’s department in March 1975, Skinner led the successful charge to let female deputies — matrons, they were called — wear pants and sidearms rather than cumbersome regulation skirts.

Skinner, now 64 and confident as ever, retired Tuesday, ending a 35-year career as a deputy in the jail’s booking office. Behind her she leaves a legacy of professional know-how that colleagues said will inspire them for years.

More than 100 of those colleagues gathered in the department’s cafeteria Tuesday for Skinner’s grand send-off. There, amid party favors, old photos and a dozen or more helium-filled balloons, those who knew Skinner regaled one another with stories of the deputy’s early days.

“She’s a ball of fire,” Sgt. Amy Bunyard opined, drawing affirming nods from those within earshot. “She’s very knowledgeable, very professional,” added Deputy Kevin Ellis, who worked with her about 10 years.

After jokingly revoking her retirement, Sheriff Adrian Garcia observed that Skinner’s performance was “always a point of pride, a point of honor” at the department.

Skinner was only 27 when she left a secretarial job at the Houston Police Department to become a law enforcement officer. Her application at HPD was rebuffed because she stood 7 inches short of the department’s minimum height requirement for officers.

Turning to the county, which had no such rule, Skinner enrolled in the sheriff’s academy. Upon graduating, she donned the tailored knee-length skirt that female deputies were required to wear. She carried her pistol, handcuffs and other police gear in a tres chic shoulder bag.

‘Everyone loved her’
When she tried to moonlight at a local jewelry store, though, Skinner was shocked when the owner turned her down.
“Ma’am, you can’t work in that doggone skirt,” he told her. “What if you have to subdue someone? How are you going to fight when you’re trying to hold your skirt down?”

“He had a good point,” Skinner said Tuesday.

Garcia credited Skinner’s pluck in petitioning Heard with revolutionizing the department’s dress code for women. “If it weren’t for the courage of this lady,” he told the women she worked with, “you would not have moved out into full uniform.”

Garcia’s department employs 2,310 deputies, 303 of whom are women.

Sgt. Forrest McGehee recalled Skinner unflappably processing incoming prisoners. “HPD would send over two vans of 60 people and none of them were happy,” he said. “But everyone respected Effie, everyone loved her.”

Not known for reserve
When prisoners sought Skinner’s advice, her response was direct: If you’re guilty, own up to it and take your punishment. If you’re innocent, fight it out. “Some of them you could help,” she said, “and some of them you couldn’t.”

Sgt. Doug Thomas remembered the time that a supervisor, taken aback by Skinner’s ebullient greetings of “Hey, Baby!” and “Hey, Sweetie!” advised him to urge the deputy to be a bit more reserved.

“So I called her into the office,” he said, “and the first words out of her mouth were, ‘Hey, Baby! What do you need?’ ”

Skinner responded to the heartfelt testimonials with wry asides. “I’m not a handshaker, I’m a hugger,” she warned one. “I’m not a crier, but this has been a misty time,” she admitted, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “My contacts keep trying to fall out.”

By Allan Turner, Houston Chronicle

Garcia congratulated the new citizens for coming to the U.S. legally and pursuing citizenship.

“Despite all the rhetoric, we know that this country got where it is today because of persons like yourselves, your families, your children, because they made this country their home,” he said.

“This nation welcomes you. This nation needs you,” he added. “With you becoming a part of this great country, you will add to the strength and fiber of what will continue to make us the greatest country in the world.”

The sheriff also challenged the immigrants and their families in the audience to promote American principles and exercise their new rights.

“Being an American citizen has tremendous power, but as it was said in the movie ‘Spiderman,’ with great power comes great responsibility.” Garcia said. “A new journey begins for you now that you are officially American citizens. Your journey will require that you teach your children not to take this country for granted. Your journey will require that you exercise your right to vote. Your journey will require that you defend this country, that you speak from a first person point of view (to say) that if there is perfection in a society, it can most likely be found in this country.”

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison presided at the ceremony, which included the naturalization of at least five immigrants who have served or are serving in the U.S. military.

Garcia, born in Houston and raised there by industrious Mexican immigrants who eventually became U.S. citizens, is in charge of the Harris County Jail, where certified sheriff’s deputies working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents identify thousands of inmates as suspected illegal immigrants. They are referred to ICE for further immigration enforcement after their local criminal case is disposed.

The consolidated crime reports system can be accessed by clicking on the “Crime Map” link on the home page of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s (HCSO) Web site, www.hcso.hctx.net. It allows users to search for crime statistics based on an address, zip code, or city and state. Even more, Crime Reports allows users to sign up for e-mail crime alerts, empowering them with information they need to be on the look-out for trouble and work with law enforcement to head it off and help improve the safety of their neighborhood.

“This up-to-date online tool not only helps us understand crime trends but it provides transparency by putting our crime records in your hands, and accountability by showing law-abiding residents our targets,” said Sheriff Garcia. “Implementing this modern technology is just another step I’m taking to help make the sheriffs office a modern, 21st century crime-fighting agency.”

Users will be able to search for statistics based on crime types such as:

• Homicide
• Breaking and Entering
• Robbery
• Assaults
• Sexual Offenses
• Registered Sex Offenders
• Property Crimes Theft
• Theft of a vehicle
• Theft from a vehicle

The online crime map will be updated several times a day with officer-written reports from not only the HCSO but partner law enforcement agencies such as all eight constable precincts.

This will be the first in a series of bi-monthly meetings with the media called “Shop Talk with the Sheriff”.

The gathering will start with Sheriff Garcia announcing a new tool for the public to use to find out about crime in county neighborhoods.

WHO: Sheriff Adrian Garcia

WHAT: Shop Talk with the Sheriff

WHEN: Monday, August 16, 2010, 10 a.m.

WHERE: HCSO Academy – Classroom 7
2316 Atascocita Rd
Humble, TX 77396

The crackdown actually has already begun, but from August 20th to September 6th, officers from both departments will work overtime to find drivers who’ve had too much to drink. This is Harris county sheriff Adrian Garcia and Capt. Nancy Hennessy.

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia Garcia: “By bringing attention and focus, by encouraging folks to take on a bit of responsibility to this issue, we can make Texas roadways extremely safer than they are today.”

Hennessy: “Our joint effort we have titled ‘Shared Responsibility,’ based on the fact that shared responsibility for the DWI’s in Harris County affects all of us. And we should all be concerned and take action to combat the growing number of DWI’s within our county.”

Joining in the effort is the Texas Department of Transportation and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. TXDOT will run new tv and radio ads as well as billboards urging people not to get behind the wheel if they’ve been drinking.

Mark Rodriguez wishes the man who killed his 22-year-old daughter had made the right choice.

“I would find out on-scene and also later with more information that he was three times over the legal limit. In an instant, all of our lives have changed forever. Myself, my wife and all of our friends, as well as our other children struggle everyday to make sense of this senseless crime.”

Last year, 955 people in Texas were killed by a drunk driver. Law enforcement hopes this new campaign will bring those numbers down. Their slogan is “Drink, Drive…Go to Jail.”

Bill Stamps, KUHF News.

Collazo’s suit refers to a U.S. Department of Justice letter to the county that refers to an “alarming” number of inmate deaths related to inadequate medical care. Collazo’s suit refers to more than 100 inmate deaths from 2000 to 2006.

Last year County Attorney Vince Ryan responded in a rebuttal report last year that the number of deaths was fewer than in several jails of comparable size.

Sheriff’s spokesman Alan Bernstein gave me a year-by-year breakdown of deaths in custody going back to 2001. Here they are:

2001: 17

2002: 22

2003: 19

2004: 12

2005: 9

2006: 22

2007: 16

2008: 21

2009: 16

2010: 3

According to the sheriff’s office, all three jail deaths so far this year and the 16 last year occurred in hospitals. Tropical Storm Allison destroyed jail death statistics for years prior to 2001.

Bernstein gave me his take on the small number this year:

Common sense tells us the inmate population continues to have more illness than the general population of the county. Ebb and flow are demonstrated in the numbers since 2001. But this year’s figure and pace so far are statistical outliers that may be due to the the facts that jail staff under the direction of Dr. Michael Seale and Major Mike Smith are always looking for ways to improve inmate health care and Sheriff Garcia requires heightened vigilance on these issues.

Published on the Houston Chronicle by Chris Moran on August 9, 2010 11:35 AM

Garcia announced on Thursday a comprehensive, multi-agency initiative called Operation Shared Responsibility that will combine enforcement and public education to reduce drunken driving. The countywide initiative will kick off Saturday in northwest Harris County, where patrol officers will focus solely on DWI or alcohol-related offenses. Officers will target specific, unannounced areas during the next eights weeks, he said.

“Alcohol-related accidents are claiming more lives in Harris County than anywhere else in the country,” Garcia said at the department’s northwest substation in Tomball. “I’m asking the public and the community partners to share the responsibility to put an end to this body count.”

Harris County’s DWI fatality rate is four deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

“We want to take Harris County out of that No. 1 spot,” Garcia said.

Agencies participating
The sheriff’s office will work with Harris County Constable precincts 4 and 5, the Houston Police Department, the Tomball Police Department and the Jersey Village Police Department. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and The Beer Alliance of Texas also will participate.

“As much as we endorse the heightened enforcement, we’d like to make it clear that the effort alone will not get us where we need to be,” said Rick Donley, president of The Beer Alliance, a trade association for beer distributors. “Education is the key to stemming the tide.”

The association has signed up more than 200 retailers to participate in safe ride home program and to promote a designated driver program, Donley said. In addition, the TABC also will assist retailers to identify underage customers who try to purchase alcohol.

Garcia said the operation is the county’s most intensive effort to combat alcohol-related offenses.

Residents can expect to see a coordinated approach, with patrol officers on the roads, restaurant servers offering to call a cab for patrons and residents talking to each other about designated drivers, he said.

Won’t affect man-hours
The sheriff’s office will have a dedicated dispatch line for alcohol-related calls, and off-duty patrol officers will be asked to come in on their days off to respond to all other calls, said traffic division Capt. Nancy Hennessy.

“It won’t affect man-hours on the streets,” Hennessy said.

To gauge the impact of the operation, the sheriff’s office will track certain activities, including the number of arrests and citations and how often the safe ride home program was used.

The recognition on Tuesday, July 13, will come in the form of a Wall of Honor at the HCSO Academy with the name of the 24 dogs that have honorably retired or died after serving and protecting deputies and the citizens of Harris County.

The K-9 deputies are highly trained dogs that can detect controlled substances, bombs, and suspects. They are valuable partners to the law enforcement community.

In 2009, Rocco, a faithful partner to Deputy Ron Hoyt, died after an admirable career. To honor his sacrifice and the bravery of all K-9 deputies, Captain Debra Schmidt created the K-9 Wall of Honor.

“They would take a bullet or a knife to spare our life and expect nothing in return but love – they are a living and breathing special class of deputy. This memorial will be a lasting tribute to their contributions and their lives,” said Captain Schmidt.

Eleven HCSO K-9 deputies serve Harris County. The K-9 unit was formed in 1986 when K-9 Deputy “Shera” joined the force.

HCSO deputies and their K-9 partners will be available for demonstrations to the media.

WHO: Sheriff Adrian Garcia, K-9 officers and all HCSO K-9 Deputies

WHAT: HCSO K-9 Wall of Honor dedication

WHEN: July 13, 2010 3 p.m.

WHERE: HCSO Academy

2316 Atascocita Road
Humble, TX

The booking center would be a new gateway into and out of Harris County’s 9,400-bed jail system. That gateway is currently a turnstile for so many frequently arrested mentally ill people that the jail is often called the largest mental health facility in the state.

So Sheriff Adrian Garcia is promoting the center in part as a $250-million ounce of prevention. With space set aside for mental health care, some nonviolent criminal suspects could get treatment instead of a cell, and exiting inmates could be shown services instead of the street.

On Tuesday, the Harris County Commissioners Court will consider the sheriff’s plan along with a list of other potential projects at its annual review of what to build. The court could ask its budget director to work on a ballot measure for voters to consider. Or it could shelve the plan.

“It’s much more than a booking facility,” said Steven Schnee, executive director of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County. The current booking center is so crowded that there is space for neither specialists nor places to send the incoming other than cells.

What the new center would offer is a “Door B,” Schnee said. He does not know what exactly will be behind the door, but he envisions a place where various agencies that serve the mentally ill can set up a one-stop area that avoids the complications of shuffling a patient from one organization to another — or finding a particular inmate among the 9,400 distributed in three downtown buildings.

“Door B is to begin to try to reconstruct lives and help people,” Schnee said. With that help, the mentally ill are far less likely to return to jail as often, he said.

Not in general population

Beyond the exam rooms and offices of mental health professionals, the center’s 1,200 beds would be dedicated to mentally ill inmates (and to a smaller population of women) to keep them out of the main jail population.

Some jail reform advocates say programs, not facilities, are the way to manage the challenge.

“If all of the money is being pulled toward the jail, there may not be the funds to focus on the alternatives,” said Marc Levin, director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The costs of running a new building – utilities, staffing, maintenance – will compete for tight budget dollars with reforms that would divert more mentally ill arrestees into treatment instead of cells, said Levin and Ana Yanez-Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.

“When economies get really difficult,” Yanez-Correa said, “the first things that are cut are treatment programs.” Such a scenario removes programs that could save taxpayer money in avoided jail costs while retaining the debt, interest and operational costs of a new facility.

Building first, then beds

A new booking center’s backers say it would be hard to provide the services without having the facility first.

“Part of the problem right now is: Once the sheriff releases somebody, he has no control over them at that point. If you say, ‘Well here’s an address, go to this address,’ they may or they may not,” County Judge Ed Emmett said.

Meanwhile, Emmett said, the costly incarceration of the mentally ill continues.

“We’ve got far too many people who are in our criminal justice system who need to be in the mental health system,” Emmett said.

The Citizen’s Police Academy (CPA) is a 13-week program designed to give the participants a working knowledge of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. This program consists of a series of interactive classes demonstrating police procedures and protocol. The classes will be held at the Second Baptist Church Kingwood Campus on Thursday evenings.

There are no tuition fees and enrollment is open to qualified individuals. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and reside in Harris County. A thorough background check will be conducted on each applicant.

Sheriff Adrian Garcia feels the CPA plays a vital role in reducing crime by providing better communication, information and awareness with area citizens.

“It is our hope that the graduates will become partners with us in identifying problems and solutions to the crime issues that are affecting our various neighborhoods,” he said. “Graduates will gain knowledge they can implement to enhance the quality of life in their respective communities.”

Through this 13-week course, CPA participants learn many aspects of law enforcement such as Texas Penal Code, Gang Awareness, Terrorism, Domestic Violence and many other topics. It is through this program that Harris County residents will gain a better understanding of how law enforcement services are conducted in their community, and see how, and why, deputies arrive at decisions that are made as they perform their duties.

Applications may be picked up at any Harris County Sheriff’s Office storefront or substation or by contacting the HCSO Community Services Division at 713-759-9454 or 281-647-9371. All applications must be submitted no later than July 30.

WHAT: Harris County Sheriff’s Office Citizen’s Police Academy

WHEN: classes start Aug. 19, Thursdays from 7-10 p.m.; application deadline July 30

WHERE: Second Baptist Church Kingwood campus, 22770 Highway 59 North

COST: Free

INFO: call 281-647-9371 for application or visit the HCSO District 2 office at 7900 Will Clayton Pkwy., Humble