Six
Shooter Junction – There may not be a new Sheriff in town yet, but
changes are coming thick and fast in local law enforcement as
Operation Countdown proceeds apace.
No
one is quite sure of what, exactly, Operation Countdown may consist.
Knowledgeable
observers were surprised to find a complete McLennan County Jail
population report on-line today, a comprehensive list of inmates of
McLennan County's lockups that lists both accused and convicted
offenders by name, offense, court in which they are charged, and
cause number.
Other
information available includes the criminal identification number of
the individual agencies, such as the various police departments and
federal agencies who made the arrests.
The
link to the .pdf file may be activated by inserting this URL address
in the search engine of any computer.
The
first name on the list, for instance, is that of Jason Naser Abdo, a
prisoner held on federal detention on two charges for which he was
convicted last week – a weapons violation and domestic terror, for
which he was arrested by the Killeen Police Department in July of
2011.
It
is a matter of some mystery if this development is part of Operation
Countdown.
What
is known is that the operation's planners are claiming a total
success, what with 200 volunteers staffing all 58 voting precincts in
McLennan County as poll watchers, greeters and observers.
Even
the fact that signs put up earlier at a proper distance from each
polling place disappeared by the time polls opened at 7 a.m. did not
mar the enthusiasm of Operation Countdown operatives on election day.
Re-elected
by an overwhelming margin as Precinct 1 Commissioner, Kelly Snell
remarked the sudden appearance of the jail population report with
surprise.
He
said he only gets some information from the Sheriff's Office on
certain days, and that only concerns the total number of prisoners
held by the private jail operator, CEC, Inc.
“They
don't do anything consistently,” he said.
He
characterized his experience during his one term as a County
Commissioner as that of finding it difficult to get information he
needs to make intelligent decisions.
“It's
very hard; it's like pulling teeth...
“That's
why we've got to get the Sheriff's office to come forward and give us
their plan. I've got to have numbers; I've got to have reports; I've
got to have facts.”
So
far, no such information is available, according to Mr. Snell.
When
the contract with CEC to operate the downtown jail expires in
mid-month of June, he said, county operation of the 324-bed lockup
could save the expense of $10 per per prisoner per day off the
present expense of $45.50 per prisoner charged at the Jack Harwell
Detention Center.
Present
expenses to house “overflow” prisoners from the County Jail on
Highway Six in the privately operated Jack Harwell Detention Center
run from $7,000 to $14,000 per day, especially on weekends when,
according to Mr. Snell, “We're just performing baby sitting chores
for the weekend prisoners.
“I
think it's pretty much a dead issue until after November,” he said.
Informed
that the Sheriff's Office is required to have an operations plan on
file with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in order to obtain
an operating permit, he expressed surprise that the information is
available from the state government as a part of the public record.
Re: "sudden appearance of the jail population report"
ReplyDeleteIt did not suddenly appear. It has been posted since 4/19/2012 and had NOTHING to do with this election or any pressure from any one person, group or blog.
Operation count down... would that be count down to you getting a story right???? The list in question has been posting for well over a month......and oh, had nothing to do with the puppets...er, possee
ReplyDeleteJail personnel worked with the IT department to automatically produce the jail list, updating it every hour to include posting it the county web site. Work started on 4/19 and scheduled postings started 4/20.
ReplyDeleteWho knew? Sorry about that, Chief. - The Legendary
ReplyDeletewhoooooooooooooo,haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,they worked on it because of the election,you think after 11 years.
ReplyDeleteIt was added because of mounting questions on the daily shuffle of inmates to and from the CEC controlled jail. Old political tactic, hide the truth by blinding the public with numbers.
ReplyDelete