Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

HARRIS
COUNTY
SHERIFF’S RACE
REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
GLENN COWAN
“I remember the first night of the
George Floyd riot in downtown
Houston. As soon as I reported to
my division, I was ordered downtown
immediately to assist. I reported
to the Central Patrol Division at
61 Riesner, and the building had a
security perimeter like a compound
under siege. I remember downtown
looking post-apocalyptic, with people
running around on the streets
with no cars to be seen anywhere.
On the radio, I heard officers asking
for assistance at a specific intersection,
so I headed that way. I saw
officers in disarray with no leadership
– we were short on supervisors
– so I stepped up and eased the
panic I saw in some of the officers’
faces. Officers were asking me for
directions and looking to me for
leadership, and I stepped up to the
challenge. As I stood downtown, I
was in absolute disbelief.
I considered the county and
community that I grew up in and
wondered, “How did we get here?”.
Harris County, for all its problems,
has historically enjoyed one distinct
characteristic beyond other large
cities and counties - lower crime.
Why? Because county leadership
resembled the citizens’ bi-partisan
attitudes toward law and order and
their resistance to relinquishing a
safe community by submitting to
contrary ideologies. I witnessed the
chaos in that riot with the realization
that it was a byproduct of
weak local and national leadership.
The riot was indicative of endemic
attitudes that were against law
and order produced by politicians,
judges, and their activist associates.
The cameras and journalists were
there covering every minute of the
riot, but it was just one example
of the community’s influence being
appropriated by people who didn’t
represent or respect them.
I later learned that most of the rioters
who were arrested that night
weren’t members of our community
- they were bused in as far as out
of state. It was in this situation that
92 The Blues - February ‘24