Author: HCMUD 150

The holidays are a time for us to reflect on our blessings and the true meaning of the celebrations. We have witnessed countless displays of neighbors helping neighbors and overwhelming support from our community for those in need. And our teammates have come together to donate toys and gifts and to spend quality time with children and seniors in our area.

The compassion and resilience that so many in our community have shown this year is inspiring. As we celebrate Christmas and the holiday season, I just wanted to pause and express my gratitude for your support.

Some of our teammates will work through the holidays, sacrificing time spent with their loved ones. Our job never stops, and I’m grateful for those who serve and protect our residents with honor and courage.

I hope everyone enjoys time with their loved ones. We’re grateful for your readership and partnership and wish you and yours a restful and joyous holiday! Stay safe.

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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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