The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office received notification on Friday, March 22, from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) stating that licenses are being canceled for 19 graduates of the latest law enforcement academy held at the sheriff’s office by the College of the Mainland in Galveston.
In the letter sent to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, which Bluebonnet News obtained through a request for information from TCOLE, it states, “Preliminary investigative findings corroborate that this BPOC (Basic Police Officer Course) was fundamentally inadequate in providing students with minimum state training requirements and course content, including a lack of lesson plans, learning objectives, course evaluations, enforcement of attendance, and training from qualified instructors.”
According to TCOLE, students who attended the BPOC course between January and November 2022 did not receive training that is required by Texas law enforcement standards. While the training coordinator for this particular BPOC class, Ann Marie Mitchell, currently is an employee of the sheriff’s office, her supervision of this course was handled and overseen by the College of the Mainland through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the sheriff’s office.
“The Academy reported training rosters to TCOLE which represented successful completion of the BPOC and addendum hours by 19 students, even though they did not receive the required minimum training for licensure,” the letter states. “As a result, this will require the cancellation of all peace officer licenses issued to the students on these rosters.”
TCOLE’s letter states that the Academy’s failures were “serious and systemic.”
“Widespread deficiencies were exemplified by the award of training credit for repainting a World War II anti-tank gun at the Liberty County Courthouse,” the letter states.
Peace officers impacted by the cancellation are employed by agencies in and around Liberty County. Chief Deputy Billy Knox of the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office revealed that out of the 19 graduates, five are employed by the sheriff’s office, with one of the five serving as a correctional officer at the county jail.
Bluebonnet News contacted other law enforcement agencies and found that the Pct. 6 constable’s office, Liberty Police Department, Liberty Fire Department and Dayton Police Department are among the agencies impacted.
Knox added that the affected law enforcement officers have the option to appeal the license revocation once they are officially notified in a written letter from TCOLE. Gretchen Grigsby, a spokesperson for TCOLE, confirmed that appealing the cancelation is an option.
“They will be eligible for a hearing at the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Hopefully that will then go back to our commissioners for their final decision,” she said. “They can also go through another academy, but would have to take the entire academy.”
While the cases are being appealed, the impacted officers may remain on duty and continue working as peace officers if their agencies choose to keep them. As for the length of time for appeals, Grigsby said the process is dependent on the dockets at the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
“This is not a disciplinary action against these officers. This is due to them receiving substandard training,” she said.
Pct. 6 Constable Zack Harkness, who has two deputies impacted, believes TCOLE made a knee-jerk reaction by pulling the licenses of all the former cadets.
“One of my deputies has had 1,000 hours of extra education since graduating the academy. The other deputy has had more than 200 hours of education,” Harkness said. “They are light years ahead of the minimum required. They are good officers and have done nothing else to disqualify them.”
Liberty Police Chief Gary Martin said only one officer for his agency is impacted, and added that Liberty Fire Department has two employees impacted. Martin said his employee plans to appeal.
As of the posting of this article, calls and emails for comment from the College of the Mainland are unanswered.
How many arrest have these Non-Peace officers made during this time?
Sub standard training but yet passed the peace officer exam? Maybe the exam is sub standard!!
If the officers took the TCOLE test and passed they should be qualified. TCOLE test is no easy test. The department training officer should evaluate them for training and knowledge.