HOUSTON – In light of the attack on a Harris County Detention officer, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee proposes sending some inmates to other facilities.
“We need to look at the potential of transferring numbers of individuals to other facilities that will be able to take them,” the congresswoman said. “That will be less crowded to ease the crowding that is going on in the jail.”
Detention Officer J. Valdiviez said he was attacked by Christian Dillard while checking on inmates.
“As soon as I was making my way downstairs, that’s where he snuck me from behind and one ended up turning around immediately, I guess, trying to like swing back or fight back in general; defending myself,” Valdiviez said.
Dillard was sentenced to life in prison for a 2020 murder case.
“We’ve got to find a way to solve this problem and help create the atmosphere where workers can go safely to work and do the job that they’ve been hired to do,” Jackson Lee said.
Moving inmates out isn’t new.
According to the Harris County jail dashboard, 1,184 inmates were “outsourced” elsewhere, as of Tuesday, July 25. The dashboard shows most inmates - 7,194 to be exact - are waiting for trial.
The congresswoman said she’s reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice and is trying to see if there are any federal dollars Harris County could receive.
“I believe that the Department of Justice could be an excellent partner and it will as well provide those federal funds,” said Jackson Lee. “The C.O.P.S. program can act quickly because it can deal with detention officers, and it can also bring in technical assistance and federal dollars.”
According to the DOJ, the C.O.P.S. (Office of Community Oriented Policing Services) is, “responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation’s state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources.”
“And so, you need to look at those options to ensure that you create a safe place for detention officers and those who are incarcerated in the Harris County Jail,” Jackson Lee said.