Where do Tarrant County sheriff candidates stand on the issues? Here are the details
It’s no secret that Bill Waybourn has become a superstar conservative during his time as the Tarrant County sheriff. He’s fought for conservative ideals (namely 287G, which allows his deputies to act as ICE agents), has spoken at President Donald Trump’s White House, is often a guest on conservative radio talk shows and has stood next to a Republican congressional candidate in uniform for a TV spot.
Those actions have led to criticism from his opponents who believe Waybourn is more of a politician than a sheriff.
On Nov. 3, he will face someone who is the opposite of him for the office of Tarrant County sheriff. Democrat Vance Keyes, a Fort Worth police officer, has built a campaign that highlights a year of problems at the jail under Waybourn’s watch. Early voting runs through Oct. 30.
The two men engaged in a heated interview during a meeting with the Star-Telegram’s editorial board on Oct. 9.
Waybourn, whose campaign has raised more than $100,000, defended his speeches at the White House, and his frequent appearances on conservative radio talk shows. When Keyes, who has raised nearly $14,000, talked about the ways he would prevent deaths at the jail (there have been 10 this year), Waybourn fought back, saying he has the No. 1 hospital in the country (John Peter Smith Hospital) to help him assess the health needs of people being brought to jail.
Preventing deaths at Tarrant Jail
Eighteen people have died in the jail since Waybourn took office in 2017. Ten of those deaths have happened since February.
Of them, one was due to COVID-19. Four people died of a preexisting medical condition and one man died by suicide.
The cause of death hasn’t been determined for four people, all of whom were found dead in their cells.
Asked about the deaths and what can be done to help prevent them moving forward, Waybourn said he’d like to explore technology and would like to see some kind of vital-monitoring wrist band that prisoners could wear 24/7.
“Even if officers are walking by the cell every 20 minutes, we still don’t know, especially at night when they’re resting or asleep. You don’t know that they’re going into cardiac arrest, you just don’t,” he said.
When people are processed for booking, Waybourn said they’re screened by on-site nurses through JPS. If someone is deemed too sick to be booked, they’re sent to the hospital.
“We stand on the shoulders of the science and the professionals at the jail,” he said, adding that some “very, very dangerous people” are treated at the jail and cannot be released.
Since January 2017, JPS has seen 15,055 inmates who were brought to the hospital from the county jail, according to hospital data. Of those, 1,155 needed inpatient care.
If elected, Keyes said he would advocate for the compassionate release of critically sick inmates (which Waybourn said he does already). He questioned Waybourn’s blanket statement that the people they were talking about were dangerous and questioned the sheriff’s argument that his office is transparent.
Their charges faced by the inmates who died this year included DWI, drug possession, criminal trespassing, burglary, evading arrest, failing to register as a sex offender and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. One man was suspected of a road rage shooting where no one was injured.
“A lot of these deaths happened after the fact of people being in custody,” Keyes said before bringing up that the jail lost state certification for about a week after an inmate died by suicide. The state found that regular checks on the inmate weren’t being conducted as they should.
“So I don’t think it’s just, ‘putting it on the shoulders of medical’ and I don’t think it’s just, ‘lack of technology,’” Keyes said. “There’s a human component that goes into the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department and we have to be held accountable for our actions.”
Politicizing the office
Asked what he would say to critics about his time spent in conservative circles, Waybourn said they should look at his calendar.
“I’m here 50-60 hours a week walking the jail floors,” he said. “I do warrant service, I’m involved operationally as much as I can be ... There have been times when people have asked me to be on shows or so forth like that and it takes 10 minutes.”
The Star-Telegram requested copies of Waybourn’s calendar from 2017 to 2020 and compared them with his media appearances found online. There were about 50 times in that period where he was scheduled for some type of interview, mostly with conservative shows. The calendars also showed times when Waybourn was scheduled to attend events for U.S. Senator John Cornyn and former state Sen. Konni Burton.
Despite that (and being involved with a few sheriff’s organizations), Waybourn said the jail gets his full attention.
Keyes took issue with Waybourn wearing his uniform during political appearances.
“You will not see me at anyone’s White House in uniform,” Keyes said. “You will not see me in any campaign commercial in uniform. The people of Tarrant County own that uniform and you don’t call it Republican, you don’t call it Democrat.”
Waybourn defended his actions snapping back with, “I didn’t come here to be lectured by Vance Keyes.”
“Appearing in uniform, I guess the president shouldn’t appear with Air Force One or Secret Service,” Waybourn said, bringing up times when past sheriffs appeared at events in uniform. “It was checked out by a host of attorneys and ethics commissions and all of those things were checked out before I did anything. ... Law enforcement leaders should stand up, in uniform, and say, “Hey, we are your neighbor and we don’t believe defunding the police is a good thing,’ and that’s exactly what my point was.”
Keyes also said he, a career police officer, does not support actions to defund the police. He does support reallocating some funds to support after-school and mental health programs that have been proven to reduce crime.
“There’s a lot of things you can do that doesn’t involve defunding the police,” he said. “I am a Democrat, there is no secret. … All I want to do is build trust and legitimacy for all people and to establish policies that benefit all people.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
