OCT 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 10

AROUND THE COUNTRY
MONTGOMERY, TX.
Harris County Precinct 5 Deputy Chief fired after arrest
during prostitution sting in Montgomery County.
SPRING, TX. – Brian Harris, a
former Houston Police Department
detective who was working
at the Harris County Precinct
5 Constable’s Office, was among
14 people arrested and charged
with solicitation of prostitution.
Harris County Precinct 5 Constable
Ted Heap said Thursday
that Precinct 5 Deputy Chief
Brian Harris, a longtime law
enforcement officer in Southeast
Texas, had been terminated. Harris,
57, was among 14 men arrested
and charged with solicitation
of prostitution, a felony, as
part of an undercover operation
Wednesday at a hotel on Interstate
45 in the Spring-Woodlands
area, according to the
Montgomery County Sheriff’s
Office.
“We hold our deputies to the
highest standard,” Heap said in a
statement released by a spokesperson.
“(Harris’) termination is
effective immediately.”
It was not clear Thursday
morning whether Harris had
enlisted an attorney. An online
search on the Montgomery County
District Clerk website did not
yield any criminal cases listing
Harris as a defendant.
The arrests were
made at about 8 p.m.
Wednesday by the
Montgomery County
Sheriff’s Office Organized
Crime Unit in
cooperation with the
Human Trafficking
Rescue Alliance, according
to the sheriff’s
office, which did
not identify the other
13 people arrested in
its Thursday morning
news release. The
sheriff’s office said
Harris remained in the
county jail as of about
9 a.m. Thursday.
According to Harris’
LinkedIn page, he first worked as
a police officer in Port Aransas
in the late 1980s and early 1990s
before a stint as a deputy for
the Precinct 5 constable’s office.
He later worked as a homicide
detective for the Houston Police
Department and also has been
an instructor for the FBI National
Academy as well as a public
speaker, according to the LinkedIn
page.
“We are sending a message
that we are not going to tolerate
this activity in our community,”
the Montgomery County Sheriff’s
Office said. “We will arrest
and charge those who engage
in this illicit act. We will also
continue to identify those who
have been forced into trafficking
by rescuing them from their
situations and connecting them
with services to help with their
recovery.”
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