Exclusive: Constable seeks county-backed patrols for MAGA…
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Exclusive: Constable seeks county-backed patrols for MAGA super donor Tilman Fertitta’s River Oaks district
Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen wants to assign a sergeant and eight full-time deputies to patrol a ritzy Galleria-area shopping district owned by one of his top donors, billionaire Tilman Fertitta, in a proposal that would be subsidized by all Harris County taxpayers https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/houston-republicans-blast-plan-cut-subsidy-paid-18496841.php .
Rosen first suggested dedicating deputies to the River Oaks District the month after Fertitta bought it in 2024 https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/tilman-fertitta-buys-river-oak-district-houston-18694344.php , but commissioners did not approve the contract. Recent legislation Rosen and other elected constables supported, however, stripped commissioners of their authority to regulate patrol contracts.
Policing and political experts said the proposal validated their concerns that the legislation would worsen existing inequities in the county’s long-controversial contract patrol program, granting constables limitless authority to direct public safety resources, including for the benefit of wealthy donors.
“I am entirely against this, and always have been, because why should you be able to rent cops because you have money?” said Jay Coons, a Sam Houston State University criminology professor who retired as a captain at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in 2018. “The whole thing stinks to me.”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/tilman-fertitta-harris-county-constable-22290084.php
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Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen wants to assign a sergeant and eight full-time deputies to patrol a ritzy Galleria-area shopping district owned by one of his top donors, billionaire Tilman Fertitta, in a proposal that would be subsidized by all Harris County taxpayers https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/houston-republicans-blast-plan-cut-subsidy-paid-18496841.php .
Rosen first suggested dedicating deputies to the River Oaks District the month after Fertitta bought it in 2024 https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/tilman-fertitta-buys-river-oak-district-houston-18694344.php , but commissioners did not approve the contract. Recent legislation Rosen and other elected constables supported, however, stripped commissioners of their authority to regulate patrol contracts.
Policing and political experts said the proposal validated their concerns that the legislation would worsen existing inequities in the county’s long-controversial contract patrol program, granting constables limitless authority to direct public safety resources, including for the benefit of wealthy donors.
“I am entirely against this, and always have been, because why should you be able to rent cops because you have money?” said Jay Coons, a Sam Houston State University criminology professor who retired as a captain at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in 2018. “The whole thing stinks to me.”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/tilman-fertitta-harris-county-constable-22290084.php
#local
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