Sheriff's surveillance unit disbanded

Good.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office has disbanded its surveillance unit, which came under criticism after it was revealed its officers watched two brothers who sued the county for civil rights violations.

The Investigative Support Unit's image has become so tarnished that it cannot be repaired, said Chief Deputy Danny Billingsley, who dismantled the squad Monday after discussing the issue with Sheriff Tommy Thomas.

Its duties consisted almost entirely of surveillance requested by various sheriff's divisions, such as homicide, internal affairs, narcotics and vice -- as well as by smaller police departments asking for help, he said.

The squad -- which conducted surveillance of homicide suspects before their arrests and some sheriff's office employees suspected of illegally collecting worker's compensation -- was not supervised as closely as it should have been, Billingsley said.

But he denied its officers were deployed for political purposes as some have alleged.

"Contrary to what some may believe, this unit was not out going around spying on innocent citizens just trying to gather dirt," Billingsley said Tuesday. "We have enough real cases that come in with information that we just don't do that. There's no need to do that."

The unit drew criticism after it was revealed its officers watched Sean and Erik Ibarra for three days last fall before the brothers' civil rights lawsuit went to trial -- even though both already had been cleared of criminal charges.

[...]

State Sen. Rodney Ellis called the squad's disbandment good news, but said he still wants a full investigation of its activities -- who it investigated, why and at whose direction.

"There just ought to be a level of transparency there," Ellis said Tuesday. "There's a world of difference between an investigation in a worker's comp case and an investigation because somebody filed a civil rights complaint."

Billingsley, who said he has requested a full report of the squad's activities, said he believes much of the criticism is unfair. But he acknowledged the squad's reputation had become a problem.

"It gets down to perception. If people perceive these (deputies) are out doing stuff they shouldn't be doing, how do you repair that image?" Billingsley said.

I couldn't say it any better myself. Maybe someday, some kind of surveillance unit can be reassembled, with a more tightly focused mission and better oversight. Having it be under new management wouldn't hurt, either. In the meantime, I agree that a formal investigation, by someone who's been actually paying attention would be advisable, so we can clear the air and understand just what went wrong and how it happened, so that we can be sure it doesn't happen again.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on June 03, 2008 to Local politics