Republican Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez says the sheriff’s office needs to do a better job keeping the public – and grieving families — informed after someone dies in the county jail.
In April, two men died within a few days of each other. One of them was Anthony Johnson, 31, who died after jailers pepper sprayed him during a contraband check, according to the sheriff’s office. The county medical examiner has not yet released his cause of death.
On Tuesday, Johnson’s family and concerned Tarrant County residents demanded answers from county leaders at an emotional Commissioners Court meeting.
Johnson’s mother told reporters she wants to see the jail video that captured her son being pepper sprayed, and his sisters criticized the Sheriff’s Office for giving them little information about how their brother died.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office needs to do better, Ramirez told KERA News.
“Clear communication and letting them know exactly what happened – that is what they deserve,” he said.
Ramirez, who’s the former president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, said the sheriff’s office has no policy laying out how to inform the public about in-custody deaths, unlike other law enforcement agencies, including the Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD). He sent a proposal to county staff, including policies from around the country and from FWPD.
FWPD follows a timeframe for releasing information about police killings. They release video of an incident within three to five days, unless there are “sensitive items that you can't release at the time,” he said.
“There's nuance to every single case, but I certainly understand the public's frustration with not receiving any information,” he said.
Since Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office in 2017, more than 60 people have died in county custody. These deaths have cost the county more than $1 million in lawsuit settlements and raised the alarm about jail conditions, amidst allegations of mistreatment and medical neglect.
Sheriff Bill Waybourn and his media relations manager, Robbie Hoy, did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment.
Ramirez said he hasn’t spoken to Waybourn about his policy proposal, but he expects him to cooperate because of their shared law enforcement background. Any final decision on policy is up to the sheriff, he added.
“My goal is to make sure that a situation like this never happens again, where we have lingering questions hanging out there,” Ramirez said. “I want every single case to be handled with absolute transparency.”
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
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