Department: County Administration
Department Head/Elected Official: David Berry, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Office of County Administration for approval to create the Harris County Violent Persons (
VIPER) Warrants Task Force, a multi-agency task force led by the Harris County Sheriff's Office in collaboration with Harris County Constables, and to allocate $2,613,919 in ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to support the program.
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Background and Discussion:
Harris County has seen a spike in violent crime as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise in crime has contributed to an increase in warrants issued and in turn has created a backlog of outstanding warrants, leaving violent and dangerous criminals out on the streets. As of March 2022, the Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) Criminal Warrants Division had 50,247 outstanding warrants, of which 4,883 were for aggravated offenses and 703 for murder. Before 2019, the Criminal Warrants Division was receiving between 3,000 and 4,000 warrants per month; in the past year, the division has been receiving an average of 6,000 new warrants per month.
Expected Impact:
The program expects to clear 1,804 felony warrants, resulting in accelerated prosecution and resolution for victims, a reduction in violent crime by potential repeat offenders, and a reduction in extradition costs due to early apprehension.
Alternative Options: Continue at current resource levels, allowing warrant backlog to plateau or increase.
Alignment with Goal(s):
x_ Justice and Safety
_ Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
_ Transportation
_ Flood...
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