MAY 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 5

AROUND THE COUNTRY DORA

AROUND THE COUNTRY DORA NEEDS PROTECTION Harris County Commissioners approve ,000 per Month for No-Bid Contract for “Executive Protection Services.” by Bill King & Michael Barron On Tuesday, April 26, 2022 Harris County Commissioners Court approved (Item No. 201) a request from the Purchasing Department to approve a no-bid contract to XMi Protection, LLC for three months of “executive protection services for the Harris County Office of County Administration” at a cost of 1,000. That protection is allegedly for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. According to Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, after the January 6 riots in DC, you can’t trust the police to protect you. In other words, Constable Rosen, given that you backed your admin assistant to run against Dora, she’s firing Pct. 1 as her body guards. Before the vote Hidalgo said: “It’s very clear that security, broadly speaking, particularly in the unfortunate political environment we’re in, is something that’s necessary for the institution, as opposed to ad hoc for one elected official or the other,” said Hidalgo, a Democrat who is seeking a second four-year term in November. “I want to make sure that it’s clear that the firm has the EXPERIENCE required, that ETHICALLY, there are no issues here....That it’s cost-effective.” Well that’s not the case at all. Cortez Richardson has little to NO EXPERIENCE. He just received his license on April 4/2022, less than a month go. And XMi is only licensed as a Private Investigation company that was formed last October, and is not qualified for a no-bid contract for armed security for the esteemed Dora. So how ethical is that? Finally since neither Mr. Richardson nor XMi are properly licensed with the state, that makes it a Class A Misdemeanor to hire his company. Not to mention, Richardson can be charged as well. OCC §1702.3875. IMPERSONATING SECURITY OFFICER; OFFENSE. “A person commits an offense if the person: (1) impersonates a commissioned or non-commissioned security officer with the intent to induce another to submit to the person’s pretended authority or to rely on the person’s pretended acts of a security officer; or (2) knowingly purports to exercise any function that requires registration as a non-commissioned security officer or a security officer commission. (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.” “In Texas, class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to ,000, or both jail time and a fine.” Texas law requires any person or company who provides investigations or security services in the state to be properly licensed to offer or to engage in such services. This requirements of law was originally passed by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and has been in effect ever since. To offer or provide a service required to be licensed without a license carries criminal penalties of up to a year in jail and a ,000.00 fine. Hiring or employing an unlicensed company also carries this penalty. The contract specifies that the contractor is to provide one “armed close security agent” 7 days a week for 12 hours each day at a rate of per hour. That is roughly 2-3 times what a Harris County Sheriff’s deputy earns per hour. In addition, the contractor will be reimbursed for leasing a SUV at the rate of ,000 per week plus any fuel used. All in, the Purchasing Department estimates that the contract will cost the County a little over ,000 per week. The back-up for the agenda item does not include any information about XMi’s qualifications or how it was selected for this no-bid contract. Nor does it give any clue as to what happens at the end of the three-month contract. XMi is apparently owned by Mr. Cortez Richardson. Mr. Richardson formed the company about eight months ago. The registered office is shown in the Secretary of State records as a residence in Spring. The contract shows that XMi’s office is located at 18482 Kuykendahl, Suite 159 (emphasis added). However, it turns out the XMi’s “suite” is actually a post office box at this mailbox storefront. I could not find any website or other listing for the company. However, Mr. Richardson does maintain a LinkedIn page. According to his page, he was a police officer in Oklahoma in the 1990s and then spent 20 years doing investigations in the Office of the Inspector General of HUD. The only “executive protection” experience mentioned on his page begins this month. The agenda item provides no information about the person or persons in the Office of County Administration who will be provided the protection services or why such person(s) needs protection 12 hours per day, seven days a week. Most of you will recall the news coverage of the horrific rape and beating of a 61-year old, female Sheriff’s deputy by a prisoner in the Harris County jail, and the even more horrific story about a prisoner with developmental issues being brutally beaten to death by another prisoner. Sheriff Gonzales has repeatedly begged for more resources to adequately staff the jail. But the Commissioners Court has only provided token increases, claiming that the County does not have the money to do so. The Sheriff could hire about ten new deputies for the monthly cost of this contract. I rather doubt that anyone in the Office of County Administration is at risk of being raped or beaten to death. If the County has a spare ,000 per week to spend on “executive protection services,” perhaps that money would be better spent protecting the deputies and prisoners in the Harris County jail. 14 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 15