HIGHLANDS – Captain Nathan Douglas of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office was a guest speaker at the weekly Rotary club luncheon last week.
Captain Douglas spoke about the current state of policing and crime in our society, and of his own career in law enforcement.
Douglas is Captain over the Patrol District III, where he has worked for over 31 years. This district extends from Huffman on the north, to Pasadena and almost to Pearland on the south.
Douglas is a native of Clear Lake and keeps busy in off-hours as assistant chief of the Seabrook Volunteer Fire Department.
Douglas describes his peace-keeping role as “Top Cop — like the small town Chief of Police.” His department is headquartered at the courthouse on Wallisville Road, and has 130 personnel that protect residents and property on the East side of the county.
Personally, he is a master peace officer, an emergency medical technician, and firefighter, and is a member of the FBI National Academy Association. He received a B.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston, and graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
In 1999 the Space Center Rotary Club named him the Officer of the Year, and in 2020 Governor Abbott appointed him to the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System Board of Trustees.
Douglas spoke to the Rotarians about the problems of enforcing laws and reducing crime in today’s society. He said that all police departments are dealing with manpower shortages, with retirements and attrition, and the difficulty of attracting new recruits. Although he has 16 less officers than two years ago, he still is able to have 4 to 5 patrol Continued. See “TOP COP” Page 5 cars each day on the east side of the San Jacinto River, he noted. He also indicated that the Highlands area is not what his office considers a “hot zone” of crime, but that Channelview is.
Douglas talks about the general attitude people have toward policing and crime, and how it has changed in the 31 years he has been an officer. In the past, there was more respect for officers, and minor laws could be enforced. Today with a “bad” bail bond program, too many criminals are released back to the streets, and many crimes such as shootings and burglaries continue because of this.
He noted that our jails are full, with Harris County jail holding 10,000 now, when it was at capacity of 8000 just a few years ago.
Douglas said that policing is more difficult today also because the public attitude is more critical and demanding, and often his officers are criticized for just making normal arrests.
In a Q&A session that followed, he was asked why they didn’t write more tickets for speeding, drag racing, and passing school buses on local streets. Douglas lamented that when taken to court, there is often no enforcement or judgement. He indicated this has made his job harder and encouraged more crime.
Nevertheless, Captain Douglas said he likes to meet citizens in his district, and loves his job and finds it rewarding to help keep the peace and help residents.