The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office is pursuing multiple policy reforms including body cameras for jailers and outside experts to review department standards.
It comes more than four months after a Tarrant jail inmate died while being restrained by jailers in an incident the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled a homicide.
In a vote on Wednesday, Tarrant County commissioners approved requests to research information on three fronts: an outside consultant to review sheriff’s office policy and procedures, consultants to create a physical and mental wellness program for law enforcement officers and body cameras for law enforcement officers including Tarrant jailers.
“It’s heartening to hear that the sheriff’s office, the sheriff, are interested in making these changes that clearly need to be made,” said Alisa Simmons, Precinct 2 commissioner for Tarrant County.
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In a statement after the vote, Tarrant commissioner for Precinct 4 Manny Ramirez said the sheriff’s office would also be launching a national search for a new chief at the Tarrant jail and working to expedite background checks for hiring detention officers.
This proposed action came months after conditions inside the Tarrant jail became a flash point in the community.
“Each death is impactful, but the Anthony Johnson Jr. death highlighted that there are serious concerns,” said Simmons.
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On April 21, Tarrant inmate Anthony Johnson Jr. died while being restrained in the jail, with video of the encounter showing a jailer placing his knee on Johnson’s back before he died.
The medical examiner’s office ruled Johnson’s death a homicide by asphyxiation, and two jailers involved have been fired and face criminal charges.
Data from the sheriff’s office showed Johnson is one of at least 64 Tarrant jail inmates who have died in custody since 2017, the third-most of any county in Texas during that time.
“This is going to be the one case that’s going to show that there is a major problem existent in Tarrant County,” said the Johnson family’s attorney, Daryl Washington, in July.
NBC 5 went to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office to ask if these measures were being explored in response to the death of Anthony Johnson Jr.
“The policy initiatives have been in progress since soon after the COVID pandemic calmed and personnel could focus on such a daunting project…this general order project has been in progress, and continues today, long before the Johnson case,” a spokesperson responded.
Some county leaders said they had concerns about the potential cost of hiring outside policy consultants, but they remained hopeful these measures could make a difference at the Tarrant jail.
“We cannot continue to have this high number of jail deaths,” said Simmons.
Wednesday’s vote approved a request for information on these potential reforms. The sheriff’s office would still need to submit a final plan and the amount of funding needed for another vote but there was no timetable yet for when that could happen.
