Chris Milam (photo)
Republican candidate for
Bexar County Sheriff
Adult Probationer violators are not being arrested by the Bexar County Sheriffs Office
As the only Republican Candidate for Sheriff, I fail to see why there is a problem in not arresting adult probationers who continue to violate their probation by the Sheriff's Office, as a current article in the Express-News indicates.
The current practice is that we are not having the Warrant division pick up prisoners from Adult Probation. This was a bad idea under the previous Sheriff Ralph Lopez, and is just as bad an idea under the Interim Sheriff Tafolla, now.
The Bexar County Commissioners Court budget gives the Sheriff's Office a Criminal Warrant Division dedicated to locating persons with criminal warrants.
The Taxpayers pay for this service. The reason the Sheriff's Office gives for not picking them up is to save money. Keep in mind that these probation violators are sitting in front of their probation officers less than 1-mile from the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.
It's a poor excuse not to arrest these offenders, just as they do everyday in our courtrooms.
If a District Court Judge sees reason to rescind the probation of the offender, I can't see why we, the Administrators of the Bexar County Probation Office, and the Bexar County Sheriff, can't work out a solution.
I just can't believe that staffing of a Sheriff's Office which employs over 450 Law Enforcement officers and 680 Detention officers, cannot spare (1) person to arrest someone located less than (1) mile away.
It's common sense that if we don't arrest these offenders when they are located, then we will be forced to pay for the Criminal Warrant Division to expend even more resources and money to try to locate them again.
Republican candidate for
Bexar County Sheriff
Adult Probationer violators are not being arrested by the Bexar County Sheriffs Office
As the only Republican Candidate for Sheriff, I fail to see why there is a problem in not arresting adult probationers who continue to violate their probation by the Sheriff's Office, as a current article in the Express-News indicates.
The current practice is that we are not having the Warrant division pick up prisoners from Adult Probation. This was a bad idea under the previous Sheriff Ralph Lopez, and is just as bad an idea under the Interim Sheriff Tafolla, now.
The Bexar County Commissioners Court budget gives the Sheriff's Office a Criminal Warrant Division dedicated to locating persons with criminal warrants.
The Taxpayers pay for this service. The reason the Sheriff's Office gives for not picking them up is to save money. Keep in mind that these probation violators are sitting in front of their probation officers less than 1-mile from the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.
It's a poor excuse not to arrest these offenders, just as they do everyday in our courtrooms.
If a District Court Judge sees reason to rescind the probation of the offender, I can't see why we, the Administrators of the Bexar County Probation Office, and the Bexar County Sheriff, can't work out a solution.
I just can't believe that staffing of a Sheriff's Office which employs over 450 Law Enforcement officers and 680 Detention officers, cannot spare (1) person to arrest someone located less than (1) mile away.
It's common sense that if we don't arrest these offenders when they are located, then we will be forced to pay for the Criminal Warrant Division to expend even more resources and money to try to locate them again.
Our past Sheriff was was just using a well known method of capture that did save money at this level. If you take a look at the numbers, one would see that once you are in the system it is hard to get out of it and repeat offense are going to occur. At this time you got your wish and he/she is again off to jail.
ReplyDeleteAnother way of saving money is the additional money that would be spent for the person to be jailed, housed, clothed, amd feed while waiting for court or thru a bonded release. We already have a problem with this, known as jail over crowding, and no real solution. And I am not talking about a tent city as a solution.
I know this first hand. I have been on probation since 1989. I am currently on my fifth probated sentence. I only completed one. The problem: it was my first and within a couple months of finishing I was picked up on my second offense.
I am currently on a 10 year probated sentence of which I am on my last 20 months and do not plan to remain in this system. Something different happened in court this last time. It took a SAFPF to get my mind straighten out from all of the wrong thoughts I had made to be correct in my mind (honestly being dishonest with myself for years and believing myself), and from what I was told at that time a cost of $30,000.00 from the Tax Payers of Texas.
The Bexar County Jail nor does the Supervisions and Correction Department offer this type of treatment.
The Bottom Line is Cost and when and where to spend it. I am a living example of this madness. I give thanks to the 144th District Court and Judge Mark Randal Luitjen for doing something different that changed my way of thinking.