The lawsuit, led by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, is among the biggest civil actions to date against the Sheriff’s Office over jail conditions.
Eileen Grench / Staff writer
Eileen Grench covers public safety for the Houston Landing, where two of her primary areas of focus will be the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office. She is returning to local news after a year as the national justice reporter at The Daily Beast. Eileen previously covered juvenile justice for a nonprofit newsroom, THE CITY, in New York as a Report for America Corps member. At THE CITY, she was a 2021 Livingston Award finalist for her coverage of inequities in child welfare, and won the Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Award in Local Investigative Reporting for her series on education in juvenile detention centers during the coronavirus pandemic. Eileen also worked as an investigative reporting fellow at the Global Migration Project at Columbia University, covering immigration issues for outlets such as The New Yorker, The Intercept, The Nation and Documented.
Posted inPublic Safety
Harris County kept $1M in unclaimed jail account funds. Here’s how to get your money back.
County auditors recently found the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, has held $1 million in leftover commissary money.
Posted inPublic Safety
Harris County sheriff’s deputies shoot, kill man while serving murder warrant in north Houston
Authorities said deputies fatally shot the man in an exchange of gunfire while serving a murder warrant tied to a May homicide in southeast Houston.
Posted inPublic Safety
Harris County’s jail mail system is going digital — and it’s got some advocates worried
The county plans to eliminate most physical mail and give incarcerated people access to more electronic communication tools — often at a price.
Posted inPublic Safety
Houston Police fires officer accused of shooting his wife in the face
The termination of Galib Chowdhury comes one week after Houston Police concluded he intentionally shot his wife in northwest Houston.
Posted inBreaking News
K-9 unit dog dies of heat exhaustion after being left in Houston police cruiser
Aron, a dog working in the Houston Police Department K-9 unit, died of heat exhaustion after being left in a patrol vehicle.
Posted inPublic Safety
Houston police officer arrested, relieved of duty after allegation he shot wife in face
A 31-year-old Houston Police Department officer has been accused of shooting his wife in the face with a rifle while off duty in northwest Houston, according to HPD Chief Troy Finner, who announced the officer’s arrest at a press conference on Monday. Galib Waheed Chowdhury, a patrol officer, was charged with aggravated assault of a […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Thousands of nonviolent suspects were eligible to avoid jail in Houston. Why were they booked?
Three years after it started, the much-lauded cite and release courtroom in Houston often remains — quite literally — empty.