Tarrant County commissioners expressed support for some of the reforms being floated by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, which include body cameras for jailers and a third-party review of the agency’s policies.
“I think that it is very important that policies, procedures, and structure in any organization are set in order to be the most professional as possible,” Commissioner Manny Ramirez said at Wednesday’s commissioners court meeting.
Ramirez highlighted five particular reforms in a press release. They include a comprehensive policy review, a national search for a new jail administrator, streamlined background investigations for employees, body cameras for jailers, and a wellness program for law enforcement officers.
The commissioners voted to begin the process of researching the reforms regarding a policy review, body cameras, and the wellness program, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“Commissioner Ramirez supports the Sheriff’s plan in these proposals. [The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office] has been working on much of this for some time now, and we are glad to have supportive commissioners,” Jennifer Gabbart, the sheriff’s office’s chief of staff, told The Dallas Express.
As previously reported by DX, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn has faced scrutiny from some commissioners over his supervision of the local jail.
A mentally ill inmate, Anthony Ray Johnson Jr., died in April after being pepper sprayed and held down by jailers after a fight broke out during a regular cell check for contraband that revealed Johnson had two weapons in his pod.
Even still, there have been some 60 deaths in county custody since 2017, KERA News reported.
Waybourn previously stressed that mental health is a challenge Tarrant County jailers have had to deal with.
“Mental health has been absolutely thrown onto law enforcement. We are doing everything we know to be that safety net for the community, including de-escalation training for officers dealing with exploding mental health issues,” Waybourn previously told DX.
“This issue must be addressed, including not only care but what is the root cause, one of which is the plethora of drugs including K2, marijuana, along with other hard substances,” Waybourn said.