TCOLE'S BURRUSS BRINGS ROUND TABLE TO BROWNSVILLE AT TSC

Brownsville TCOLE commission member Patricia Garza Burruss (r) hosted the roundtable. 

By Juan Montoya

With 11-year veteran commission member Patricia Garza Burruss hosting the event at Texas Southmost College where her mother Adela Garza is board president , Gregory Stevens, the Executive Director of the Texas  Commission on Law Enforcement, held a wide-ranging round table discussion with area law enforcement entities on how best to collaborate to provide security to Texas residents.

With some 25 law enforcement officials in attendance representing local police departments, school districts, constables, the Cameron County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Willacy County, and the Port of Brownsville, Stevens said Friday that this was the first time ever that the TCOLE had held such an event in the city.

"We always enjoy coming to the Rio Grande Valley and we are excited to come to Brownsville,' Stevens, a 35-year law enforcement veteran, said, noting that previous meetings had been held in McAllen the past two years. The round table was held in a second-floor conference room at the Arnulfo Oliveira Student Center at Texas Southmost College.

Burruss opened the round table and introduced Stevens to the group, after which each attendee introduced themselves. Garza introduced herself as "her mother" and TSC president Jesus Roberto Rodriguez told the group that although he held three departments close to his heart, Criminal Justice was closest because "you keep our community safe. You don't call your English teacher or an electrician when something goes wrong. The people who keep our most vulnerable safe are you guys."

Brownsville Police Department Chief and Asst. City Manager Felix Sauceda welcomed Stevens and said the local department looked forward to collaborate with TCOLE to stay abreast of legislative changes that affect local departments and other law enforcement agencies.

His remarks were followed by Brownsville Independent School District Chief of Police Oscar Garcia who said that the roles of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and TCOLE had to be synchronized so that school district departments could get a clear definition of their roles and obligations. Specifically, Garcia asked Stevens how TEA directives that require "guardians" in schools in response to active school shootings. Are "guardians" and "school marshals" the same?, Garcia asked. And were the TEA requirements the same as TCOLE's as far as training and certification?

During a recent athletic event, Garcia said that marshals from the visiting school showed up in full tactical gear, while BISD preferred them to exercise more discreetness as not to alarm the public.

This was followed by Cameron County Asst. District Attorney Edward Sandoval who told Rogers that in prosecuting active shooting cases, if a suspect was detained and held by a "guardian," would the rules of evidence and chain of custody required by courts the same? What is a guardian and what is a marshal? Can a guardian search children?

"We recently had a report of a student with a loaded gun at a school and a 'guardian' (under TEA rules) and he was detained by a teacher until the police arrived," he said. "What are the minimum standards which are needed to prosecute in a court?"

"A guardian could be a shop teacher who can lock the door and keep the students safe, while a marshal is a person who is well trained and has the authority to hunt down the school shooter and is required to attend an 80-hour program academy.," Stevens said. We need a consistent definition."

Toward that end, Stevens said the TCOLE has established three statewide committees to address the minimum standards on officer wellness, job standards, and define job descriptions.

What we have is a mess," Stevens said, as  some participants nodded in agreement. "We need to bring order back to these things. We need to bring order to these things."

"Citizens call law enforcement when everything goes sideways," he said. "When they call us what they expect is a uniformed law enforcement officer in  marked patrol unit to show up in a reasonable amount of time. How do we make this happen?"

"We appreciate our TCOLE Executive Director (Stevens) and commissioner Burruss for choosing to hold their Law Enforcement Round Table at TSC," said board president Garza. "This listening session is important to our entire law enforcement community, as it provides a unique opportunity to hold one-in-one discussions with the TCOLE leadership. Through this forum, our local law enforcement representatives have been invited to express their concerns and suggestions regarding topics such as policies, administrative issues, and training that will assist them in keeping our communities safe."