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.
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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.
The secret surveillance unit consisted of what 3-4 guys? There are more guys assigned to change tires than in the surveillance unit so its not like whatever they did could have ever been too pervasive.
Not excusing the behavior, just saying that disbanding them changes nothing.
As much as Thomas has screwed up the place through his failure to discipline the folks involved in the Ibarra incident amongst other things(had he suspended them the lawsuit would have gone no where).
I just don’t see where Garcia has any command level experience for the position or how he is qualified for the position. His podcast interview with you left me cringing because it was obvious he has no idea what he is getting in to.
I deal with City Council people across the state and I’m sorry, that doesn’t qualify oneself for being Sheriff and CEO of one of the larger county level law enforcement agencies in the country with one of the largest jail systems in the country.
Its a shame really, the taxpayers are going to suffer regardless of who wins (and I think its obvious that Adrian wins in November).
If Sheriff was an appointed position instead of elected, Garcia would never have a chance of getting the job, the county could do a nationwide search, and hire a true police administrator/chief/ type person.
Since you have an in with Garcia, maybe you could get him to release his IAD and Personnel file from HPD so that the voters could judge for themselves his law enforcement ‘experience’. Especially since he touts the need for transparency 😉
Garcia has done a great job of letting the media campaign for him, even though for the most part its only Channel 13 tossing allegations, and very little has been proved at this point. Lots of innuendo though. Garcia has no revealed any specifics as to his plans for the department, sadly, the media will never force him to either.
Sad, our choices are a man too old to care and one too inexperienced to do a good job.