Good evening to you. We begin first with Governor Greg Abbott saying that the road map for cleaning up Texas streets was written right here in Houston. But as that model goes statewide tonight, a major political showdown is brewing over who should really be in charge of our local courtrooms. >> McKenna Earnhardt joining us now live in studio with the breakdown. McKenna.
Yeah, that’s right. Governor Abbott was in Austin today essentially taking a victory lap for what he’s calling the Houston blueprint. Now, for 7 months a state led task force has been hunting down repeat offenders right here in our backyard. The governor says it’s worked so well resulting in more than 700 arrests that he’s now expanding it to every other major Texas metro. But while he’s praising the police work here, he’s sharply criticizing local prosecutors.
Abbott claims a revolving door in courts is still letting dangerous people out before the paperwork is even done. Montgomery County is right next to Harris County. And when a criminal gets arrested in Montgomery County, I said, “Oh my god, I thought I was in Harris County.” Well, [laughter] no no one there in Montgomery County, they’re stuck because they they know they have judges and a district attorney who are going to hold them accountable. The governor is now pushing for a new state prosecutor, a position that could actually step in and take over cases if local DAs don’t move fast enough.
But Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare isn’t taking that criticism sitting down. And in a statement to Fox 26 tonight, Teare fired back with his own numbers claiming murders are down 36% and sexual assaults are down 30% under his watch. Teare says, quote, “Running on crime for political purposes is easy. Actually reducing it at the street level is leadership.” The governor spent much of his morning praising Montgomery County as the standard for how the system should work.
We spoke with District Attorney’s office there and they say that reputation is exactly what keeps the revolving door from swinging their way. It’s very You know what we’re doing here is not rocket science. We are victim focused and we hold people accountable. Serious offenses result in serious consequences. There’s three pieces to this.
You need the police, you need prosecutors, and you need judges and juries. In Montgomery County, the judges and juries will do that last piece and that’s not true everywhere. Now, this isn’t just a war of words. With the World Cup just around the corner, the governor is making it clear he wants the Houston model of policy, but he’s willing to bypass Houston’s elected leaders to get the results he wants. Now, we’ll see if the legislature gives him that power when they head back to the capital.
For Fox 26, I’m McKenna Earnhardt.
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