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CRIMINAL JUSTICE & COMMUNITY

NEW DAWN FOR WCSO Sheriff works to overcome county’s ‘Wild West’ reputation

BY EDIE ZUVANICH

GEORGETOWN – Law enforcement officers made over 7,500 arrests in Williamson County last year, and the majority were processed through the Williamson County Jail.

Under initiatives championed by the jail’s current administration, programs are now in place to reduce recidivism, end a revolving door of incarceration and help treat psychological issues.

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office is also working to restore a tarnished reputation in the wake of indictments and the lingering fallout from a custodial death in the aftermath of the taping of a television show a few years ago.

“You have to put a different spin on getting people out of jail so they can be productive and not come back,” Sheriff Mike Gleason said of the reforms. “We’ve installed a lot of programs so when they get out, they stay out. We don’t want them back. We’re not a Motel 6.”

County jails were originally intended to hold prisoners for up to 30 days, from booking through trial and sentencing. Today, it can take up to two years for a case to be adjudicated, and inmates who cannot get bail are kept incarcerated months or years before their innocence or guilt is determined by a jury.

“They may have done heinous things, but we have to treat them like human beings,” said Kathleen Pokluda, assistant chief and jail administrator. “We always have to be mindful that these people belong to somebody.”

Pokluda and Gleason represent a new way of thinking when it comes to promoting Williamson County corrections policies.

Gleason, who holds a master of business administration degree and has 30 years experience in law enforcement, was elected in November 2020, replacing former Sheriff Robert Chody, who has been charged in an indictment by a Travis County grand jury with tampering with evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

The former sheriff stands accused of taking part in the elimination of video evidence from his department’s pursuit and detainment of Javier Ambler in 2019, which occurred during the taping of “Live PD.” According to reports, body cameras worn by Austin Police Department officers caught two Williamson County deputies using a stun gun on Ambler, who died at a hospital an hour later.

Gleason, a Democrat, defeated Chody, a Republican, with more than 56% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. Gleason also had the backing of an association representing the rank-and-file.

During Chody’s tenure, according to reports and court filings, the jail was anything but safe. Mentally ill inmates were placed in the general population. Prisoners who had a bad day were reclassified as violent, and restraint was used as a punishment, according to Gleason.

Inmates were injured, some died, and the county got sued “We’ve paid millions in settlements and we’re still paying. There are still more lawsuits pending,” Gleason said.

All told, there were 14 legal claims filed against the county or Sheriff’s Office,

“You have to put a different spin on getting people out of jail so they can be productive and not come back.”

— MIKE GLEASON Williamson County sheriff the latter which operates the jail at 306 W. 4th St., stemming from incidents or complaints linked to practices that predate Gleason’s time as the top cop for the county.

Gleason, at the time a 20-year veteran of WCSO, was tagged as Chody’s chief deputy but chose to retire just weeks after Chody took office in 2016.

Pokluda also left the Sheriff’s Office during that period and went to work for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. She traveled across Texas as a mentalhealth trainer, working with corrections staff regarding mental-health conditions and the best practices for management of jail populations.

Pokluda and Gleason weren’t alone in their exodus from Williamson County. All told, about 275 employees left during that time, according to officials.

“We did the math. We lost 1,700 years of experience the taxpayers paid for to train and educate,” Gleason said. “I brought everybody back.”

Gleason wasted no time in convincing Pokluda to return and manage the Williamson County Jail.

“It was a mess,” Pokluda said, “It was amazing how things had changed in the three years I was gone.”

“This place was an abomination,” Gleason added.

They made sweeping changes to the jail and the culture of the department, including releasing 19 of the 20 command staff hired under the previous administration. Many deputies who had complaints against them or who did not have law enforcement experience were also replaced.

Now over two years in office, Gleason said he is finally starting to see forward momentum both at the jail and among the force.

Today, when the state commission on jail standards wants personnel from underperforming jails to see how one should be run, they visit Pokluda and the Williamson County Jail, the sheriff said.

The department paid for many of these upgrades through funding made available when Gleason renegotiated contracts initiated during the previous administration.

Gleason said he met with the Williamson County Commissioners Court before he took office to let them know about the changes he wanted to make, and how he would pay for them.

“I promised them I’d renegotiate all these contracts and save them millions of dollars. Phone contracts, food contracts, clothing, all those. And I did,” the sheriff said.

One contract that will never be renewed stems from a controversial agreement with the now-canceled television show, “Live PD,” which aired on the A&E Network from 2016 to 2020.

A camera crew for the show was allowed to ride along with deputies selected by Chody and film their actions while on patrol. Lawsuits filed against the county claimed deputies used excessive force in order to provide content for the show.

That motivation is considered to have been a factor in the death of Javier Ambler II, a 40-year old former postal worker who died after an encounter with Williamson County deputies.

According to officials, deputies James Johnson and Zachary Camden chased Ambler down because he failed to dim his high beams as his vehicle turned into traffic.

Ambler hit a number of stationary objects before coming to a stop in Travis County. When the 400-pound father of two had difficulty following the law officers’ orders, a Taser was repeatedly used on him, according to reports.

Ambler told the officers he was suffering from a heart condition and begged for help, officials said. When he went limp, the deputies handcuffed him, then realized he had no pulse, reports stated.

In 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Javier Ambler Act into law, banning reality TV shows from filming law-enforcement officers in the line of duty.

The “Live PD” recordings of Ambler’s death never aired and were subsequently erased by the production company.

Documents indicate Chody and Jason Nassour, the Sheriff’s Department’s former general counsel, were indicted on charges of tampering with evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

Johnson and Camden have been charged with second-degree manslaughter.

The cases will be tried in Travis County, but no court date has been set.

Meanwhile, Gleason said the Sheriff’s Office is moving past those allegations and rebuilding its reputation.

Officials with area police agencies said Gleason is headed in the right direction.

At the same time, local police departments said their own officers are embracing a concept known in criminaljustice circles as community policing, in which officers are more engaged on a personal level with the people they are sworn to protect.

“I’ve never before lived in such a place where peace officers are so valued and appreciated. There’s no us versus them, it’s a special feeling,” Hutto Police Chief Jeffrey Yarbrough said in a 2022 interview.

Yarbrough’s department makes special efforts to be seen as a resource for helping the community. His officers are known to help change flat tires on the roadside, or take drivers to the corner store to get gas for their stalled vehicles.

New officers spend their first week on the job learning about the city and identifying areas of community service.

“Hutto is such a special place and when you love something there’s no limit to what you’re going to invest in it. If it’s precious to you, you’re going to keep it as safe as you can,” Yarbrough said.

In Taylor, Police Chief Henry Fluck is quick to point out his force was never part of the “Wild West” antics related to creating television content.

“Taylor police never embraced ‘Live PD.’ We felt it violated confidence and trust in people, making a spectacle of them in some of their worst moments,” Fluck said. “Maybe that’s great entertainment for some people, but it’s not what our residents deserve.”

Since 2021, the Taylor force has been an accredited agency under the Texas Police Chief ’s Best Practices Recognition Program.

It’s more than a plaque on the wall. Officials said Taylor officers demonstrated those “best practices” June 14 when distraught neighbors called in reports of a man walking down a street firing a rifle.

The city had only three officers on duty at the time, and one was at the county jail booking a suspect. Taylor’s call for backup was answered by Williamson County deputies and a special-response team, the Hutto Police Department, a Department of Public Safety aircraft, a specialresponse team from Round Rock and the Central Texas Regional Special Weapons and Tactics team.

After a four-hour standoff during which the suspect reportedly fired on the officers, the man surrendered.

“The situation was answered by welldisciplined officers who used considerable restraint,” Fluck said.

Not a single officer from any of the agencies discharged a weapon.