Tarrant commissioners urge sheriff’s office to improve communication following jail death

Tarrant County commissioners discussed a media policy for the sheriff’s office on Tuesday, following calls for transparency after the death of an inmate. But only Sheriff Bill Waybourn can establish such a policy as he is the elected official in charge of his department.

The proposed policy was put forth by Republican Commissioner Manny Ramirez, a former Fort Worth police officer, in response to the sheriff’s office handling of information related to the April 21 death Anthony Johnson Jr.

Ramirez said the most recent critical incidents at the jail made it clear the sheriff’s office needed a policy on when and how information is released.

“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here we just need to implement something that provides a bridge of trust, Ramirez said. “We need to have clear, consistent policies so that the public can hold us accountable to those policies.”

Jennifer Gabbert, chief of staff for the Tarrant County sheriff’s office, acknowledged that the sheriff’s office has been “slow to catch up” but said that the department policy is dictated by Texas Government Code on how information is released during investigations.

Gabbert also said the sheriff’s office just recently added a communications team and that was part of the reason there isn’t a clear policy in place.

Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons spoke in support of the policy.

“It is a common sense practice,” Simmons said. “I’m not sure it requires a tragedy the magnitude of Anthony Johnson Jr.’s death in our jail, eight years into Sheriff Waybourn’s term, to be considered, but we’re here now.”

Simmons cited her 20 plus years of experience as a the spokesperson for the Tarrant County 911 District. She said a communications team is not necessary to start and follow a policy.

Simmons used the discussion to ask the office to release the full video of Johnson’s death. She also repeated a request from the last commissioners’ meeting to see the video in closed session.

Last week the sheriff’s office, in a joint press conference with the Texas Rangers, showed partial footage of the moments leading up to Johnson’s death. The video cut off when Johnson appeared to be unresponsive.

Since then multiple calls have come asking for the full release of the video, including from an attorney representing the jail supervisor who recorded Johnson’s death with his phone.