Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare delivered the State of the County address last week in the presence of several other elected officials.
At the event, which was held at The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel, O’Hare praised Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn and discussed the “mental health crisis” affecting the country, reported the Fort Worth Report.
“I believe we are very fortunate to have Bill Waybourn for sheriff,” O’Hare said, per FWR. “He’s a good man, and he gets some bad press from time to time.”
During the address, O’Hare pledged to ensure the maintenance of law and order and public safety across the county.
“The last thing that I want to see in Tarrant County is for us to end up looking like some of these really large urban areas or cities where there’s chaos on the streets,” said O’Hare, according to FWR.
O’Hare criticized the prevalent “law enforcement bias” in the country, especially among young people.
He said that the bias against law enforcement officers has made it hard to recruit and retain personnel and pointed to the understaffed Tarrant County jail as an example.
“I’m not saying that if [a police officer] does something wrong, they shouldn’t be punished. They absolutely should. But this anti-law enforcement bias that exists and has been perpetuated, it has effects,” said O’Hare, per FWR.
In a statement to The Dallas Express, O’Hare said:
“Protecting our God-given rights and keeping us safe are the two most important responsibilities of government in America. Sheriff Bill Waybourn is the type of leader who understands these core government principles. At a time in history when lawlessness runs amuck in many of our urban areas, it is paramount for public safety that we have leaders who will maintain law and order. He will.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, O’Hare also recently condemned an anti-police instructor at Texas Christian University.
“In Tarrant County, we fully support our men and women in blue, and we will always maintain law and order here. Those who put their lives on the line to keep us safe on a daily basis deserve our deepest appreciation. TCU should show this radical the door immediately,” O’Hare previously told DX.