Author: HCMUD 150

Nearly two dozen teammates from across our agency completed a 10-week course at the University of St. Thomas to learn the basic concepts of the Mandarin language. The specialized training program designed for law enforcement personnel improves communication and public safety by providing those on the front lines of protecting our community with language and cultural training, which helps them better connect with the diverse communities they serve.

As part of the course, participants learned common phrases peace officers are most likely to use when interacting with Mandarin Chinese-speaking residents. They also visited local businesses and restaurants in Asiatown to practice the language lessons beyond the classroom.
The curriculum included recognizing common words and tones used during police encounters, such as traffic stops, calls for service, medical emergencies, and other situations.

Throughout the course, students wrote down phrases in practice activities. They said them out loud, individually and as a group. Their knowledge was evaluated through scenarios, oral reviews, and question and answer reviews.

It’s more about the simple interactions, not necessarily reaching a great level of fluency. A simple, “Hello, I’m a deputy with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office,” can go a long way. The class included patrol deputies, criminal investigators, detention officers, communications officers, bailiffs, and other team members.

“Language is a big part of a community’s culture,” said Major Tony Huynh, who oversees our Professional Development and Standards Bureau.

Major Huynh, who took the course, said, “This is the first time our team members participated in this specialized program for law enforcement.

We are now able to use key terminologies and basic phrases while understanding culture differences to connect with the community we serve.

It is amazing how a simple ‘Good morning,’ ‘How are you,’ and ‘Thank you’ in the native language of a resident can break down barriers and open hearts and minds.

“Language is a big part of a community’s culture,” said Major Tony Huynh, who oversees our Professional Development and Standards Bureau.

We want to extend our sincere gratitude to the University of St. Thomas and the Taipei Economic and Culture Office in Houston for bringing this training opportunity to our agency.”

As public servants, our actions must be driven by our training and love for our community. This opportunity builds on our philosophy of community-oriented policing and reinforces the vital role that our residents and partners play in ensuring public safety. Communicating and building trust with those we serve are key to our jobs.

This is an extra step toward more effective community policing.

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Now in its 27th year, our annual holiday toy drive brings joyful memories to the children served by the Children’s Assessment Center (CAC), an advocacy center dedicated to providing compassionate services to abused children in our area.

Every holiday season, Sheriff’s Office team members purchase toys and other gifts from wish lists to help make the holidays brighter, making a difference in the lives of children in need. Today, our teammates and CAC staff unloaded a semi-truck full of gifts for 512 children.
Our agency participates in a coordinated response against child abuse that includes partnering with advocates. It’s a heartbreaking issue and one we cannot confront alone. Our close, long-time partnership with the CAC has helped ensure the well-being and safety of our community’s most valuable asset. Our Crimes Against Children Unit investigators, whose mission is to thoroughly investigate allegations of child abuse, work hand in hand with the advocacy center to provide abused children with the proper assistance, treatment, and support services to start their healing process.

Shop With a Cop Benefiting Sunshine Thru the Rain

This weekend, Sheriff’s Office deputies and detention officers plan to shop with 22 children served by Sunshine thru the Rain for holiday gifts at a Walmart in Tomball. Each child will work on a holiday craft and get $200 to spend on gifts, including clothes, toys, and other things they need or want.

“It’s not uncommon for the officers to open their own wallets at the registers to make sure everything in the shopping cart makes it home,” said Joanne Rodriguez, president and founder of Sunshine thru the Rain, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children that have lost one or both of their parents.

“This is their favorite event and something they look forward to all year,” said Heather, one of the surviving parents. “It’s hard to describe it – it’s seen in their faces and felt by being there.”

I’m thankful to lead an agency that comes together during this special time of the year to benefit children in our community. Our community’s giving spirit makes a difference in the lives of children who may not have experienced the warmth and joy of the holidays without their neighbor’s support.

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On Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved Harris County Safe, a data-driven policing initiative that will target communities with the highest incidence of violent crime in unincorporated Harris County.

This is another step toward a comprehensive strategy for reducing violent crime – an approach grounded in research, data mapping, transparency, and constant review. It’s also focused on engaging our communities as critical partners and aligns with our values.

Senseless violence has shaken our communities and taken the lives of too many people. In Harris County alone, murders have increased nearly 33 percent since 2019. And violent crime offenses overall have increased nearly 18 percent since 2019. Our Violent Crimes Unit investigators have responded to more than 380 scenes so far this year.

The initiative builds on our philosophy of community-oriented policing and reinforces the vital role that our residents and partners play in ensuring public safety. And it helps establish effective methods for deploying our personnel and other critical resources to hotspot areas.

Our Crime Analysis and Intelligence Division has identified seven micro-zones throughout the county where crime is concentrated. About 96 additional Harris County deputies will patrol the most violence-prone areas at the times of day and week when violence is most often reported.

This proactive policing strategy draws on the deterrent value of high-visibility, targeted enforcement. It’s about prioritizing street-level deterrence and removing repeat violent offenders from our communities.

We know that violent crime is not a problem that can be solved by law enforcement alone. Our Community Problem-Oriented Policing Unit, also known as CPOP, will engage residents throughout the initiative. They will be seeking input from the communities impacted.

At the Sheriff’s Office, we have embraced emerging technologies to give us the kind of real-time, actionable crime-fighting information that we need to make our neighborhoods better places to live. Our goal is to make strategic and analysis-driven decisions that reduce violent crime, as well as overall social harm over time. Harris County Safe will tell us when and where to target our countermeasures for long-term change in disproportionately affected areas.

Regularly generated reports by our crime analysts will keep deputies and residents informed and lay the foundation for assessing the effectiveness of specific operational techniques and personnel deployment. This will provide valuable feedback for adjustments and realigning resource allocation. It will also serve as a complement and force multiplier to our existing crime reduction efforts seen in our various dedicated units and task forces.

We are grateful to the County Judge and the entire Commissioners Court for investing in proven approaches and viable public safety strategies to prevent and respond to the worst crimes. With their leadership and support, we have continued to implement multi-pronged solutions to protect our communities and keep gaining insight into the unique needs of each neighborhood.

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As we prepare to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives and within our communities on Thanksgiving Day, I want to start by sharing my deep appreciation for your partnership and contributions to our wonderful county.

I admire our community for its strength, compassion, and commitment to supporting one another. We are a community where neighbors lend a helping hand to those in need, do their part to make it a better place, and band together to build a more caring and safer home. The Sheriff’s Office is glad to have you with us every step of the way.

The Blue Family Thanksgiving

On Tuesday, our Sheriff’s Office teammates joined the Houston Police Department and other area law enforcement agencies and community partners to pack holiday food baskets for families.

The annual tradition, now in its 10th year, is an opportunity to come together to volunteer as an extended family. Volunteers packed about 1,250 turkey dinners.

After the event, some volunteers personally delivered the turkey dinners to families across the region.

Deputy Blanco visited the Villages at Loch Katrine apartments in northwest Harris County, where she shared more information about the Unidos program and other critical services with residents.

Unidos assists Spanish-speaking residents by introducing them to the various ways we serve them and connecting them to resources to meet the community’s needs.

Thanksgiving is a special holiday where we take an extra moment to pause and reflect on what matters most. It’s a holiday with significant meaning for our nation that encourages us to wrap ourselves in gratitude for our family, loved ones, opportunities, and growth.

I also want to thank all our deputies, volunteer reservists, detention officers, dispatchers, medical personnel, and teammates from every corner of our agency who serve us every day with empathy and professionalism. Many sacrifice time with their families to ensure you can celebrate safely with yours. I am grateful to those who will be working on Thanksgiving to keep us safe. I hope you will join me in expressing your gratitude to them and all first responders.

You may have seen a social media post from KHOU with one of our deputies, Deputy Almeida, embracing a baby who was inside a chase suspect’s truck with other children in the early morning hours on Sunday. At around 1:30 a.m., DWI deputy Caudillo observed a truck driving erratically near West Sam Houston Parkway N at Clay Road in west Harris County. When the deputy signaled the driver to pull over, they refused to stop. The brief chase reached speeds up to 100 mph, ending in the suspect exiting the truck in a parking lot carrying an infant.

Deputy Almeida’s heartfelt actions were met by a flood of supportive posts that thanked the deputy for his humanity and compassion during a scary moment. “Beyond good police work, our deputies’ response to a bad situation included taking care of children as if they were their own,” said Lt. Benoit with the Sheriff’s Office Vehicular Crimes Division. That’s not just a testament to our deputies, it’s Harris County at its best. That’s what so many of you in our community represents.

Let’s keep pushing our world in the right direction. And let us be thankful for our neighbors and the state that we are blessed to call home. Take each day as a gift and fill them with positivity and gratitude. We wish you and your family a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday!

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