By Mike Snyder
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — Harris County needs more “boots on the ground” to arrest criminals, prevent crime and help residents of its far-flung neighborhoods feel safer, newly instated Sheriff Adrian Garcia said Sunday.
In an inaugural address to hundreds of supporters, Garcia said he would ask county commissioners to pay for additional academy classes while he took steps internally to free up more deputies for patrol duties. About 800 deputies now patrol an area that would be the seventh-largest U.S. city, Garcia said.
The Sheriff’s Office has no “cold case squad” to reopen old investigations, Garcia said, and its academy needs more trainers. Deputies complain of being overworked while residents say they rarely see a patrol car, he said.
“Among the highest priorities,” the county’s first Hispanic sheriff said, “is getting more boots on the ground. I will serve as the chief recruiter for the Harris County sheriff’s department.”
Garcia, 48, spoke in the lobby of Union Station at Minute Maid Park after being sworn in by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore.
The ceremony, which followed a private swearing-in last week, included music, a law enforcement color guard, prayers and introductory speeches by Houston Mayor Bill White and County Judge Ed Emmett.
The crowd filled every seat and spilled into the aisles. It included elected officials; law enforcement officers; members of Garcia’s extended family; and members of the general public, including young couples with children in carriers. The sheriff’s daughter, Nina, 13, led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Garcia’s campaign paid for the event, aides said.
Garcia, a Democrat and former Houston police officer who was serving his third term on the City Council, soundly defeated 14-year incumbent Republican Tommy Thomas on Nov. 4.
After the event, Emmett said commissioners would carefully consider any requests by Garcia for new positions in the Sheriff’s Office. The timing of the request is good, Emmett said, because the county is just starting its annual budget process.
Garcia didn’t specify how many more deputies he needs, but he said it should be enough that deputies can get to know people in the neighborhoods they serve and establish a regular presence. Such tactics reassure the public and deter criminals, Garcia said.
Garcia pledged to improve the department’s relationship with the community by instilling values of mutual respect within the department. If commanders treat subordinates fairly and deputies treat one another respectfully, he said, the public will reap the benefits.
He said he would work to strengthen the department’s homeland security and emergency preparedness efforts in addition to focusing on its core mission of arresting criminals.
“For the drug traffickers, the human traffickers, the street gangs, there will be no safe place for them to do their deeds,” Garcia said.
White, who appointed Garcia to serve as mayor pro tem, noted Garcia’s immigrant roots -- his parents were born in Mexico -- and the diversity of the people who turned out on a Sunday afternoon to see him sworn in.
Garcia’s election, the mayor said, is consistent with a national movement for change.
“The politics of hope, of confidence, of inclusiveness are on the rise,” White said. “The politics of fear, patronage and wedge issues are in retreat.”
After the event, Garcia said two former high-ranking deputies who sued him last week after he fired them had every right to take their grievance to court. The officers claim civil service rules and state law entitled them to demotions.
Garcia said his actions were justified.
“I need to be able to determine who shares my vision” for the department, Garcia said. “The taxpayers who elected me voted for change.”
Indeed, the name of Garcia’s predecessor, Thomas, was never uttered during Sunday’s ceremony.
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle