HARRIS COUNTY COALITION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT DEBUNKS GOVERNORS CLAIM OF DEFUNDING THE POLICE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday February 13, 2023
Harris County, Texas. The Harris County Coalition of Law Enforcement, consisting of members of law enforcement across Harris County and the City of Houston, issued the following response to Governor Greg Abbott’s tweet concerning funding for law enforcement in Harris County.
“Over the last few years law enforcement has been unfairly attacked due to a number of nation wide events of police misconduct. We all agree that our police force must be adequately trained and adequately paid while also holding them accountable for misconduct. This is not up for debate. Unfortunately there are those who have created this false idea of “defund the police” and those who are exploiting it.
Unfortunately Governor Greg Abbott is one of those who are exploiting this situation. We want to make sure Governor Abbott is aware that no one supports defunding our law enforcement. No one at the State, County, or City level including Harris County, has called for the defunding our police force or cutting our budgets. In fact if the Governor would take a few minutes to review the budget he would find that our budget has increased which is far from the hyperbole of defunding.
Law enforcement over the year have had a great relationship with the Governor. Under his leadership he put more guns on the street, allowing anyone to open carry assault weapons with body armor piercing bullets in the streets that we patrol. These individuals are there to provide backup to our members when needed. There is nothing more comforting to law enforcement than to see well armed, well trained, and throughly vetted gun owners ready to provide needed firepower. Governor Abbott and his party’s support of our men and women during the Jan 6 Capitol riot was greatly appreciated. We will never forget it.
We encourage the Governor to put down his phone, get off of twitter and off his ass, and learn how to read a budget.”
Staff Sergeant Getz A. Lief
Harris County Coalition of Law Enforcement
Bay Area Houston 