MESSAGE FROM SHERIFF HERNANDEZ

www.tcsheriff.org

CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WEEK

AKINS HIGH SCHOOL PANEL

The Steve Titsworth Scholarship was established in 2011 by the Travis County Sheriff’s Reserve Officer Association (TCSROA) as a tribute to Titsworth and his lifelong dedica-tion to serving his community as a fireman and paramed-ic. During his life, Titsworth also served the community as a volunteer supporting the Civil Air Patrol, For the Love of Christi, Challenge Air (flying kids with disabilities) and the Travis County Sheriff’s Reserve Deputy program. Earlier this month, TCSROA presented scholarships to two very deserving young individuals: Caitlin Kauff, daugh-ter of TCSO employee Mara Kauff and Marissa Warren, daughter of TCSO employees Cristina and Jon Warren.

CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH

One out of five children have a diagnosable mental health need. Unfortunately, not every child receives mental health services. Whether this is due to a lack of knowledge about services, difficulties accessing services, or because of the perceived stigma of receiving mental health services, children and families need to know it’s okay and important to seek help. On May 5th, TCSO partnered with state agencies, mental health organizations and the local community at the annual Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day celebra-tion at the Texas State Capitol. Sheriff Hernandez had the privilege of being a guest speaker. We had a great time lis-tening to youth testimonies, keynote speaker Vince Young, and participating in all the carnival-themed activities.

STEVE TITSWORTH SCHOLARSHIP

On May 7th, Akins High School’s Criminal Justice program invited TCSO deputies from the following law enforce-ment specialized units to a panel discussion: K-9, SWAT, Estray, Highway Enforcement, Lake Patrol, Criminal Inves-tigations, DWI and Community Outreach. The deputies shared their career experiences with the students, encouraging and educating them towards a career in law enforcement. TCSO recruiters were on hand afterward to address any interests.

The TCSO Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) deputies work in partnership with many local agencies serving those who live with mental illness. They strive each day to provide the help needed by utilizing the least restrictive means necessary. Each deputy possesses skills and traits to evaluate and de-escalate situations involving persons in a mental health crisis. This evaluation will determine if the person meets the criteria for a Peace Officer’s Emergency Detention (POED). In some instances when a law has been broken and it is determined the incident was caused due to a mental health crisis, they are able to divert the individual from jail to an appropriate mental health facility. A number of these calls they respond to do not rise to the level where a POED would be appropriate. In these cases, they rely on our community partners at Integral Care’s Expanded Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (EMCOT). EMCOT is a team of master-level licensed clinicians spe-cially trained to work with law enforcement in the field. EMCOT personnel will respond to the scene with the goal of releasing law enforcement from the scene with-in 10 minutes. These clinicians have access to an array of resources to help the person in crisis receive further services and follow-up care. EMCOT has helped reduce the number of contacts made by CIT for those who would not need to be placed on a POED, but would benefit by receiving professional assistance. If you or a loved one is ever in need of 24/7 support during a mental health crisis, call 512.472.HELP (4357).

MENTAL HEALTH PARTNERS

SPECIAL OLYMPICS OF TEXAS LAW ENFORCEMENT TORCH RUN

The Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics was started in 1981 by Wichita, Kansas Police Chief Richard LaMunyon, and is Special Olympics’ largest grassroots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle in the world. Law enforce-ment officers throughout the world carry the “Flame of Hope” through the streets of their communities and deliver it to their local, state, national or world Special Olympics Games. For many years, TCSO has proudly participated in this event alongside our brothers and sisters of the Austin Police Department (APD) and together we represent the Central Texas Region. On May 23rd, Chief Anthony Johnson joined Interim APD Chief Brian Manley at the Austin Final Leg Torch Run. Many of our TCSO staff participated in the run up Con-gress Ave., concluding with a press conference on the Texas State Capitol south steps. On May 25th, TCSO also sent 12 employees to participate in the opening of the Special Olympics of Texas Summer Games which included the completion of the Law Enforcement Torch Run. We enjoyed the camaraderie with agencies from all over the state, but most importantly, had the best time engaging with all of the Special Olympic athletes and their families.

We had a great time celebrating the over 1,000 employ-ees, sworn and civilian, who work in our jails in recogni-tion of National Correctional Officers Week May 7 - 11. Theirs is an often thankless job, in an environment most people never see or experience. On May 8th, jail supervisors served a wonderful meal to their units. The team who volunteered to cook started in the wee hours of the morning and worked around the clock to make sure each shift was served a hot, scratch-made meal. We also initiated an Employee of the Quarter honor and our first recipient was Senior Corrections Officer Beatriz Gallegos. Congratulations!

YUMMY REWARD

Pierce’s parents set some achievement goals for him during this school year and the reward was ice cream with a deputy. He accomplished the tasks and it certainly looks like he had a blast with Sergeant Darrell Gibson. He even brought a few good questions with him. Way to go, Pierce!

Sheriff Hernandez had the opportunity to join a panel discussion on community partnerships and their value in addressing the needs of people in a mental health crisis at the “What’s the Fix?” Conference on May 17th. According to the conference organizers, “What’s the Fix?” (#WTFix) is a movement and an event started in 2017 to help the industry learn from people. Most health care conferences focus on industry insiders talking to each other, but this event highlights real people with real stories of overcoming health care challenges and driving change to the system as a result. We invite you to view the panel discussion HERE.

WHAT’S THE FIX? DRAGON BOAT RACES

Have you ever heard of Dragon Boat Races? Each year, our TCSO team participates in this one-of-a-kind event on Town Lake. We practice hard and endeavor to be in top form on competition day. This year, we took first place by a nose or should we say by a dragon’s front tooth?! Only .27 seconds separated the top two teams in the final heat. It’s a family-friendly event and we hope you’ll come out and join us next year!

PEACE OFFICERS’ MEMORIALS BASIC PEACE OFFICER COURSE

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15th National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15th falls, National Police Week. Dep-uties from TCSO attended the ceremonies in Washington, D.C. Sheriff Hernandez, Chief Johnson and members of the TCSO Motors Unit participated in the Texas Fallen Officers Memorial here in Austin at the Texas State Capitol. In its history, TCSO has lost several deputies in the line of duty. You can read more about their stories HERE.

Attaining a basic peace officer license can be a chal-lenge for many, including those currently working for the Sheriff’s Office as personal and professional lives merge with a rigorous academic program. During the academic portions of peace officer programs, students are tested on a variety of subjects to include Fitness and Wellness and Stress Management; Professional Policing; Professional-ism and Ethics; U.S. and Texas Constitutions, Bill of Rights and Criminal Justice System; Multiculturalism and Human Relations; Code of Criminal Procedure; Arrest, Search and Seizure; Penal Code; Traffic; Intoxicated Driver and S.F.S.T; Civil Process; Alcoholic Beverage Code; Health and Safety Code; Family Code; Written Communications; Spanish; Force Options; Mechanics of Arrest and Defensive Tac-tics; Firearms; Emergency Medical Assistance; Emergency Communications; Professional Police Driving; Communica-tion and Problem Solving; Patrol Tactics; Consular Notifi-cation; Victims of Crime; Family Violence and Related As-saultive Offenses; Crisis Intervention Training and Mental Health; HAZ-MAT; Criminal Investigations; Racial Profiling; Asset Forfeiture; Identity Crimes and more.

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May is Mental Health month and is a topic about which I’m passionate. Mental illness is a huge issue in our society and it makes its way into our jail each and every day. Over 30% of our jail population has some form of mental illness and on any given day, 7 - 10% of our jail popula-tion is acutely psychotic. Mental illness is not a crime, but unfortunately, people in a mental health crisis oftentimes commit crimes without even realizing they’re doing so. I believe that we must all work together as a community to do better for the mentally ill. It’s not an easy problem to solve because it affects adults, teens and children of every race, gender and status with no apparent rhyme or reason. There’s also such a strong stigma attached to it that people hide their experiences, whether it be personal or a family member’s, from the public eye. In an effort to make a positive impact, TCSO and I are developing partnerships and strategically implementing programs and campaigns designed to educate families and provide resources to those in need as well as offer treat-

ment options to people suffer-ing from mental illness before they find themselves in a crisis situation. We’re working with NAMI of Austin, the Children’s Mental Health Crisis Task Force, Integral Care and others to get the job done. Last week, I traveled with a group of Travis County elected officials and advocates of mental health reform to Harris County, where we learned how our colleagues are addressing mental health from the street through the courtroom. We’ll benefit from each other’s experiences and together we’re better at solving these tough problems. I firmly believe that we can do better by the mentally ill than a jail cell and I’m committed to seeing a significant decrease in the number of mentally ill inmates in our Travis County Jails.

DWI can have life changing consequences. We invite you to watch Joseph’s story above.

DWI VIGNETTE