By Karen Gleason
830 Times
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez Friday shared his reactions to the Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s visit and the eight-point plan the governor proposed to “secure the border.”
Abbott unveiled his multi-tiered plan during a visit to Del Rio Thursday.
“Out of the eight-point plan that he presented, what benefits the sheriffs, the Border Sheriffs Coalition, is the $1 billion he has set aside for border security. So for Val Verde County, that’s of interest to us, because we have some things that we can probably ask or request out of that $1 billion to better serve our community,” Martinez said.
He said upgrading the sheriff’s office’s communication system is high on the list of ways he might spend money provided by the state.
“So we’ve been struggling with the communications system for the region. The trunking system, it’s up and down, so that, immediately, was at the front of what we’re going to work on. There’s a group of individuals that developed that system years ago, so they’ve already begun making that ask, for the trunking system,” Martinez said.
“For us, it’s going to be in the form of manpower. Not so much overtime, but manpower. We also have some other necessities for the sheriff’s office, that will make our job a lot easier, so that’s going to be an ask there,” he added.
The sheriff said the governor also said he’d “found 1,000 beds” to house more inmates.
“Where those beds are, I don’t know, so that might be equipment to transport people to some of those facilities if we need to,” Martinez said.
“So I don’t know. A billion dollars is not going to go a long way with the border crisis. It’s not going to go a long way,” the sheriff said.
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