‘We don’t have resources’: death in prison resulted from Harris County not investing in resources, not training: attorney with parliamentary organization

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas “The Harris County Legislators’ Attorney, who is familiar with the Eric Morales case, said deaths in custody have nothing to do with the training of prison officers. Instead, Robin Foster said they are the result of a systemic problem that runs much deeper.

“We don’t have the resources. We don’t have staff,” Foster said.

Detention officers hired by Harris County to work at the prison receive five weeks of extensive state-regulated training, with their first week dedicated to de-escalation tactics.

“It all starts with a lack of staff and funding,” Foster said.

She added that the county has failed to invest in resources so desperately needed to improve conditions at the Harris County Jail for staff and inmates.

“Whenever we see the number of deaths in prisons skyrocketing, it will be the ones who are least involved, namely the detention officers,” Foster said.

Foster said the prison population is the highest in a decade, and while inmates are being sent to other facilities in West Texas and Louisiana, the county jail is still full.

“We can’t keep skimping on this because it’s an important feature,” Foster said.

Harris County had 23 incarcerated deaths last year, more than counties like Bexar, which had 14, Dallas had 12, Tarrant had 11, and Travis had five, according to the Texas Judicial Initiative. .

Of the majority of the inmates who died, 48% were black.

In terms of mode of death, the highest rate, 43%, was categorized as “other”, followed by natural causes/illness. Four percent of the deaths were homicides.

“What can we do to improve prison conditions to prevent these preventable deaths,” Foster said.