Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI
The new contract between the city of Houston and the HPD Officers Union is getting closer to becoming official, with City Council set to vote on it later today. There are still some concerns about what this might mean for deputies of the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
As has been previously reported, this new contract will end up creating a pay disparity between first year HPD officers and county deputies of around $20,000.00. That could very well lead to a massive exodus of county deputies.
Jose Lopez, President of the Harris County Deputies Organization, FOP Lodge 39, says they're already expecting deputies to leave. He told KTRH, "This is the talk from our deputies, detectives, and even some of our sergeants. They're gonna go to the Houston Police Department."
With the Harris County Sheriff's Office already facing many of the same staffing issues that law enforcement agencies across the country have been facing for years, losing even as many as 70 deputies could be a major hit to their ability to patrol Harris County. Lopez said, "It's gonna definitely put, particularly our patrol division, in crippling numbers. Patrol districts are going to have very few deputies."
He went on to say that it's up to County Judge Lina Hidalgo, and the other members of the Harris County Commissioners Court to solve this issue, but so far, only Commissioners Ramsey, Briones, and Garcia have even met with him to discuss the issue.
Lopez says while every member of the court has voiced support for giving a raise to HCSO deputies, that's not enough. He said, "We really don't want to entertain the lip service, we need action. We're not seeing it, particularly from Judge Hidalgo and Commissioner Ellis."