Harris County Sheriff's Office (Texas)

The Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is a local law enforcement agency serving the over four million citizens of Harris County, Texas, United States. It is headquartered on the first and second floors in the 1200 Baker Street Jail in Downtown Houston.^[1]

As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 4.1 million, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has approximately 3,500 employees and is the largest sheriff’s office in the state of Texas and the third largest in the nation. The number one and two largest sheriff’s offices in the nation are respectively the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in California and the Cook County Sheriff's Office in Illinois.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is the primary law enforcement agency in the 1,118 square miles (2,900 km²) of unincorporated area of Harris County, serving as the equivalent of the county police for the approximately 1,071,485 people living in the unincorporated areas of the county. In Texas, sheriffs and their deputies are fully empowered peace officers with county-wide jurisdiction and thus, may legally exercise their authority in unincorporated and incorporated areas of their county; they primarily provide law enforcement services for only the unincorporated areas of a county, while yielding to municipal police or city marshals to provide law enforcement services for the incorporated areas. Sheriffs and their deputies also have statewide warrantless arrest powers for any criminal offense (except certain traffic offenses) committed within their presence or view.^[2] They also may make arrests with a warrant anywhere in the state.^[3] In an emergency, sheriffs along with mayors and district judges are empowered by state law to call forth the National Guard to preserve the peace.^[4]

The jurisdiction of the Harris County Sheriff's Office often overlaps with several other law enforcement agencies, among them the Texas Department of Public Safety (Highway Patrol), the eight Harris County Constable Precincts, and several municipal police agencies including the city of Houston Police Department. The duties of a Texas sheriff generally include keeping the county jail, providing bailiffs for the county and district courts within his county and serving process issued by said courts, and providing general law enforcement services to residents. The current sheriff of Harris County, Ron Hickman, was sworn in on May 12, 2015.

Organization

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is divided into ten bureaus: Executive, Patrol, Patrol Support Services, Detective, Public Services, Detentions, Field Operations Support, Human Resources, Support Services and Homeland Security. Each bureau, commanded by a major, performs essential functions for the department. Each bureau is further divided into divisions/sections.

• Executive Bureau
  • Internal Affairs Division
  • Public Information Office
• Patrol Bureau
  • District 1
  • District 2
  • District 3
  • District 4
  • District 5
• Patrol Support Service Bureau
  • Traffic Enforcement Division
  • Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit
  • Crime Control Division/Hot Spot Unit
  • Park Patrol Division
  • Canine Unit
  • Marine Division
  • Dive Team
  • Motorist Assistance Program (M.A.P.)
• Detective Bureau
  • Sex Crimes Unit
  • Auto Theft
  • Burglary & Theft
  • Criminal Warrants Division
  • Domestic Violence
  • Homicide
  • Covert Operations Division - Narcotics/Vice Unit
  • Runaways
  • Sex Crimes Offenders Registration
  • Victims Assistance
• Detention Bureau
  • 1200 Baker Street Jail
  • 701 San Jacinto Street Jail
  • 1307 Baker Street Jail
• Public Services Bureau
  • Courts Division
  • Prisoner Logistics Command
    • Inmate Processing Center
    • Central Records
    • Transportation Division
• Reserve Command
• Field Operations Support Services Bureau
  • Communications Division
  • Investigative Support Division
  • Crime Scene Unit
• Support Services Bureau
  • Inmate Affairs
  • Medical Division
  • Support Services
• Human Resources Bureau
  • Recruiting and Background Investigations
  • Academy
  • Personnel Services
  • Family Assistance Unit
  • Uniform Supply and Inventory Control
  • Career Development
  • Business Office
  • Network Administration
• Homeland Security Bureau
  • Bomb Unit
  • High Risk Operations Unit
  • Marine Unit
  • Aviation Unit

History

Traffic Division

John Moore was sworn in as the first sheriff of what was then called Harrisburg County (later renamed Harris County) in February 1837. Among the oldest law enforcement agencies in Texas, the department has grown from a single man on horseback to a modern agency with 3500 employees, including over 2500 sworn officers.

List of Harris County Sheriffs:

Ranks

These are the ranks of the Harris County Sheriff's Office:

Title	Insignia
Sheriff
Chief Deputy
Assistant Chief Deputy
Major
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Deputy
Detention Officer / Jailer

Those with the rank of sergeant and above are issued gold badges. Deputies are issued silver badges. Detention officers (jailers) wear white uniform shirts and are issued a silver badge and Detention Officer Sergeants are issued gold badges and wear red stripes . Academy cadets wear a white uniform shirt with a cloth badge.

Promotion to the ranks of sergeant through captain are made via a civil service testing process that includes a written exam and an oral review board. Chief deputies and majors are appointed by the sheriff.

Reserve Command

The HCSO Reserve Command is the largest sheriff's reserve organization in Texas and second nationally only to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Other departments throughout the nation have copied the HCSO Reserve program as an effective way to increase available personnel without capital expenditures. The monetary savings of the HCSO reserve Command to Harris County totals more than $100 million over the last 40 years.

HCSO Reserve deputies have the same training, legal authority and responsibilities as full-time HCSO deputies except that they volunteer their services and are not monetarily compensated.

Reserve deputies work in all areas of the HCSO, including Patrol, Criminal Warrants, Criminal Investigations, Fugitive Transports, Tactical Medicine, and Marine Patrol, to name a few. Approximately 200 citizens from all walks of life currently form the Harris County Sheriff's Office Reserve Command. They include engineers, mechanics, doctors, corporate managers, and lawyers. Some reservists previously worked as regular law enforcement officers and many regular deputies began their career as a reserve deputy.

Deputies in the HCSO Reserve Patrol Bureau work policing the 5 patrol districts in the unincorporated areas of Harris County. This area has a population of about 1.5 million residents, and it continues to grow.

When new deputies are assigned to patrol, they enter a field training program which trains them to execute all of the duties of a solo patrol deputy, including, but not limited to, traffic accident investigations, arrest procedures, answering calls for service, issuance of traffic citations, and preparing offense reports. Reserve patrol deputies who successfully complete the field training program may work patrol alone as a one-man patrol unit. While on patrol, reserve patrol deputies answer all types of calls and have the same duties as full-time, paid patrol deputies.

In addition to normal duties, reserve patrol deputies regularly address specific crime problems by executing proactive initiatives in specific areas. Past initiatives have targeted crimes such as drug trafficking, gang activity, street racing, DWI enforcement, and bar disturbances.

Experienced reserve patrol deputies also serve as instructors, Intoxilyzer operators, firearms instructors, and field training officers. Some reserve patrol deputies join the HCSO Mounted Patrol and patrol on horseback at special events and parades.

In 2012, reserve patrol deputies answered over 15,000 calls for service, wrote more than 900 offense reports, issued over 500 citations, made more than 200 arrests, and carried out over a dozen patrol initiatives.

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Harris County Sheriff's Department, 40 officers have died in the line of duty.^[5]

Correction facilities

The number of insane inmates in the jail increased since the Texas Legislature cut its community mental health services funding by $400 million in 2003. Between 2004 and 2009 the population of the Harris County jails increased from 7,648 to 11,546. From 2003 to 2011 the number of full-time psychiatrists increased from three to eleven. As of 2011 25% of prisoners require mental health services. Of them, 90% had been previously placed in the Harris County jail.^[6]

Current facilities

The 1200 Jail, the headquarters of the agency

The Harris County Sheriff's Office's correction facilities are located in Downtown Houston, all within a block of one another.^[7]

1200 Jail

The 1200 Jail (located at 1200 Baker Street) opened on January 23, 2003.^[8] The 1200 Jail has the administrative offices of the Sheriff's Department. The building has 603,000 square feet (56,000 m²) of space, and it has a 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²) parking garage. The facility, which has 4,156 regular beds, 124 beds for the Medical Division, and 96 beds for MHMRA, is one American football field deep and two American football fields in length. 430 sheriff's deputies and detention officers work at the facility. The facility houses an inmate classification center. Each floor has counseling rooms, MHMRA examination/interview rooms, multi-purpose rooms, a recreation area, triage rooms. The fourth floor houses women. The sixth floor houses a law library and vocational rooms. The jail offers New Choices, a substance abuse program.^[9] The 1200 Jail includes a large medical clinic, a dental facility, an infirmary, mental health facilities, a pharmacy, an x-ray facility.^[8]

701 Jail

The 701 Jail

The 701 Jail (located at 701 North San Jacinto Street) is one of the largest detention facilities in the United States.^[10] The seven floor 701 Jail has 4,144 inmate beds. The 701 Jail, originally a five-story building to be used as a cold storage warehouse,^[11] opened in the late 1920s. The Houston Terminal Warehouse and Cold Storage Facility was constantly occupied throughout its history. In 1989 the county completed the planning and design stage of its new jail. The cold storage portion was allowed to thaw, and construction on the facility began in December of that year.^[10] The facility was gutted and two floors were added.^[11] The 701 Jail opened in August 1991.^[10] Harris County stated that the re-use of the warehouse saved the county about $21,000,000. About 600 sheriff's deputies and detention officers work in the facility. The county designates the 701 Jail as a "Direct Observation" facility, where staff members monitor inmates continuously for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.^[11] In 2002 the 701 Jail was the second largest American jail, with the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department being the largest.^[12]

1307 Jail

The 1307 Jail (located at 1307 Baker Street^[12]), located east of the 701 Jail, was originally built as a state jail for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.^[13] The building was at first occupied by the Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. The building reopened under the Sheriff's office in 1998.^[12] As of 2010 the Harris County Sheriff's Office is leasing the facility. The 1,070 inmate beds are located in two wings. The county designates this jail as a "Semi-Direct Observation," where staff members monitor inmates in the dormitory area continuously for twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. One lieutenant, nine sergeants, and 112 sheriff's deputies and detention officers staff the jail. The jail also has the Farm Shop, a place where stray livestock confiscated by the Sheriff are kept.^[13]

Former facilities

The 850,000 square feet (79,000 m²) 1301 Franklin facility opened on September 13, 1982.^[14] The county built the jail due to the aftermath of the early 1980s Alberti lawsuit.^[15] The jail, with 13 stories and a basement, had the HCSO's administrative offices. The facility opened on September 13, 1982 and had the capacity to house around 4,000 inmates.^[14] After the opening of the 1200 Jail on January 23, 2003, the former Franklin facility was no longer used as a jail.^[8] Currently the HCSO's Crime Scene Unit, Emergency Dispatch Center(EDC), Warrants and A.F.I.S is housed in the building.^[16]

The 301 San Jacinto facility is a former jail. Before 1982 a portion of the 3rd floor had the headquarters of the HCSO. Three floors housed inmates. The basement had the booking, kitchen, laundry, and releasing areas. The commissary operated in a room on one of the housing floors. The Alberti lawsuit forced the county to build additional jails. In 2002 400 trustees were housed in the top four floors in the building. As of the same year administrative offices, court processing/holding cells, and visitation facilities were in the basement.^[15]

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in Texas

References

Further reading

• Collier, Kiah. "Sheriff's LGBT jail policy draws praise, questions." Houston Chronicle. November 25, 2013.

External links

• Harris County Sheriff's Office Website
• Recruiting Video
• Harris County Sheriff's Office Employee Vent Site