Body cams and a wellness program for jailers. Tarrant sheriff proposes ‘major reforms’

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office made three proposals to reform its policies and procedures at the county Commissioners Court session on Wednesday.

They include body cameras for jailers, a wellness program focused on mental and physical health and a comprehensive policy review by an external third-party firm.

Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez called them “major reforms,” in a press release shared with reporters during Wednesday’s Commissioners Court session.

He announced his “full support for a series of comprehensive reforms proposed by Sheriff Bill Waybourn aimed at enhancing the operations of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.”

The sheriff’s office made the proposals without fanfare or announcement.

The Sheriff’s Office does not propose programs by press release,” said Chief Deputy Jennifer Gabbert when asked if the department had announced the reforms. Proposals are requested of the Commissioners Court by placing items on the agenda for consideration, she wrote in an email exchange.

Three of the five reforms mentioned in Ramirez’s press release were listed on Wednesday’s agenda as requests for information, a formal process by which government agencies seek information about what types of services are available to solve problems. They are the first step in seeking requests for proposals for companies to provide services to the government.

The review will ensure “that the Sheriff’s Office adopts a framework of best practices to promote greater professionalism and operational efficiency,” the press release said. And the body cameras “will enhance both transparency and accountability, bringing the Sheriff’s Office in line with leading law enforcement agencies nationwide.”

Gabbert told commissioners that many of the items on the agenda have been “in the works for months or years.”

The third-party policy review would look into creating general orders for the sheriff’s department, she said. General orders are usually stricter than standard operating procedures.

Waybourn has declined to make the department’s standard operating procedures public . An investigation by KERA found in August that the Sheriff’s Office’s restraint policies had not been updated in 15 years.

“I think that it’s very important that policies, procedures and structure in any organization are set in order to be the most professional possible,” Ramirez said at the beginning of Wednesday’s court session. He later left to attend an event.

“So I’m very pleased that the Sheriff’s Office has decided to go seek a third party firm to come in and do a comprehensive review of those policies so that we can ensure best practices are in,” he said.

A nationwide search for a new jail administrator and a streamlined background check process were also on the list of proposed reforms on Ramirez’s press release, but they were not mentioned in commissioners court or put on the agenda.