April 24, 2020 —
As our county battles the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m proud of every one of you for prioritizing our third core value — to protect our residents with honor and courage.
It has been a difficult week, and we are heartbroken, as we had to say goodbye to two members of our family. We lost retired reserve Lt. Tom Morgan and we also lost Deputy Tobias Gray.
World War II veteran Lt. Morgan passed away from natural causes on Tuesday, April 21, at the age of 99. He retired as Texas' oldest certified lawman at the age of 98. Please keep the Morgan family in your thoughts and prayers. May he rest in peace.
We're also extremely sad about the passing of Deputy Tobias “Tobi” Gray. Concerned colleagues found him deceased inside his home this week from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Deputy Gray was 36-years-old and served our residents for five years. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.
If you are thinking of harming yourself, please seek help. Please dial the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or COPLINE at 1-800-267-5463. You can also reach out to our staff psychologist, Dr. Robert Seals, at 346-286-3150. Services are free and confidential. Remote visits are now available as well.
Please remember that your life matters. We’re a family and I’m here for you.
COVID-19 REPORT
As of Friday, 181 teammates — including 163 who work in the Harris County Jail — tested positive for coronavirus. And as of Friday, 129 inmates in the jail have tested positive for COVID-19. I'm thankful for the 39 employees who previously tested positive for the virus, and have recovered, and are back on duty. And I keep praying for the recovery of our eight teammates currently hospitalized because of the virus.
CARING FOR OUR HCSO FAMILY
Much-needed supplies, such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes, are continuing to arrive for distribution to our teammates daily. If you need supplies, please contact your supervisor so that we can take care of your needs.
In keeping with our 5th core value, our Wellness Unit, as well as our Chaplaincy, are available to assist you. Should you or your family have a physical need for hard-find-supplies, financial assistance, emotional, and or spiritual support, please reach out to them.
Lt. Shannon Bowdoin 936-776-6537
Don Savell 832-233-4387
Dr. Robert Seals
I want to thank you, for keeping our agency moving forward during these challenging times. We are resilient and we will get through this together. God bless you, and God bless the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Sincerely,
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez
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"World War II veteran Lt.Thomas Morgan died at 99 years old on Tuesday. The Harris County Sheriff's Office Reserve Command honored Morgan last year, thanking him for his service. He retired as Texas' oldest certified lawman at the age of 98. He lived quite an extraordinary life. At the age of 70, he was not ready to retire. Instead, he decided to join the academy, graduating in 1992 and the rest is history."
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“We were afraid we were going to lose him,” Rynda Scholwinski said, on Sunday. For the last five days, he has remained in critical, but stable, condition. It marks a significant improvement over when he first entered the hospital, his wife said."
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"In our environment, we're often forgotten because we're a jail system. But people forget that they're innocent until proven guilty," Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. "These are human beings. They have families as well." Jail Medical Director Dr. Laxman Sunder said testing is at 2% inside the jail, but the goal at this point is to get to 20%."
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Do you or your family need assistance?
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In keeping with our 5th core value, our Wellness Unit as well as our Chaplaincy are available to assist you. Should you or your family have a physical need for hard-find-supplies, financial assistance, emotional and or spiritual support, please reach out to us.
Lt. Shannon Bowdoin 936-776-6537
Don Savell 832-233-4387
Dr. Robert Seals
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Employee Hand Sanitizer Refill Station
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As a reminder, an employee hand sanitizer refill station has been created at our Centralized Supply located at 1307 Baker St. This refill station is available daily during all shifts and hours. If you have any personal sized bottles, preferably 1 – 8 ounces, please bring them to the 1307 Refill Station and pump what you need to keep yourself as safe as possible during your tour of duty.
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Child care options for essential Harris County personnel
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Harris County recognizes that with school closures, and the closure of some child care facilities, some families--including Harris County employees--are faced with the challenge of finding child care solutions while still being called upon to provide essential services during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Hidalgo's office has partnered with Collaborative for Children and others to offer a resource to help address this challenge.
The
Child Care Now
registration page is now available to assist essential Harris County personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. You will be able to register for child care options through this program. As part of the program, applicants may request financial support from the State of Texas, facilitated by Workforce Solutions, to pay for child care services.
For questions, please contact:
The Office of Judge Lina Hidalgo
Additionally, Harris County employees may request child care service provider information from our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) by contacting the Cigna Voluntary EAP directly at 1-855-626-0739.
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Basic Peace Officer's Course physical agility test
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With the new changes to the entrance into the BPOC, the academy staff will be conducting Physical Agility Testing at the front entrance into The Harris County Sheriff's Academy, 2316 Atascocita Road, Humble Texas 77396. We are limiting the testing to a maximum of 10 candidates during a single session. In order for your application to be processed by Human Resources you must successfully pass the Physical Agility Test.
The PAT consist of the following:
• Radio manipulation
• Weapon manipulation (Pistol & Shotgun)
• Push-ups (20 in one (1) minute)
• Sit-ups (45 in two (2) minutes)
• 1.5 mile run (15 minutes and 30 seconds or less)
If, you fail any portion of the test, you will not continue forward for that session. The academy staff will allow you some time to go home and practice. An additional test will be set up on a later date.
You are allowed a maximum of three (3) attempts to pass the physical agility test. You must contact Sergeant Williams through email
charlotte.williams@sheriff.hctx.net
or Deputy Sled at
daniel.sled@sheriff.hctx.net
to schedule a Physical Agility Test. Only the candidates who are scheduled will be allowed to participate in the test. Once you are scheduled for a PAT, it is imperative to attend on your assigned test date and time since the test is limited to 10 candidates.
If you need to cancel or reschedule, please contact Sergeant Williams (713) 274-4923 or Deputy Sled (713) 274-4913. Upon arrival for the PAT, your identification will be checked at the front entrance of the academy building. The testing will start promptly start at 9:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. Please wait at the front entrance and be prepared to be screened prior to testing.
You should be dressed in appropriate fitness attire; no sheer garments, ensure your fitness garment covers your torso and extends to the thighs. Please bring water for hydration.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, you will not be allowed into the academy building for any reason.
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Online training available for HCSO employees
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Harris County Human Resources & Risk Management is working with a new vendor, KnowledgeCity, to meet the current need for online training.
Online training classes will be available to Harris County employees starting, Wednesday, April 1st.
Please click
here
for the course catalog for KnowledgeCity, and
here
for the list detailing the duration of each class.
To get started, please contact your supervisor to request permission. Employees
MUST
be approved by their supervisor to register for the online training courses. Once approval is received, employees can submit an email request to register for online training to
Syrenthia.Bonds@sheriff.hctx.net
(Please CC: supervisor). Thereafter, a link will be sent to for the requesting employee to register for the available training courses online.
***Important***
Employees who are on the following may NOT take the online training courses:
*FMLA
*Using Sick time or Compensation (Comp) time
*Regular Days Off (RDO)
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Free ClassPass Fitness membership for
Harris County employees
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Staying active is not only part of your routine – it’s often a critical component of your mental well-being. Enjoy ClassPass’ digital solutions for free and experience your favorite classes on-demand from the comfort of your home
To sign up for free, click
here
.
As a Harris County employee, you have access to a $0, 0 credit plan which gives you over 1,000 audio and video workouts to choose from!
New to ClassPass? So glad you’re giving it a try! You can sign up for a digital only membership via the link and select “Create an Account”. From there, you will be prompted to sign up for this digital plan.
Already have a membership?
Awesome! You can access all of our audio and digital content under the “Videos” tab and on your app home page.
Had a membership in the past?
Welcome back! When you click the link above, please select “Log In”, from there, if you get a pop up, make sure to type:
classpass.com/videos
into your URL.
Your membership is month to month, so you can cancel or switch your plan at any time.
On that note, I’d also like to introduce our Customer Experience team - they can be reached at ClassPass.com/contact. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your membership, they’ll be ready to help.
For additional information, please contact:
Ronisha Mathis
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