Press Release: Standing for Victims, Crime Stoppers CEO Rania Mankarious Supports Director of Victim Services Andy Kahan and the Community Amidst Concerning Commissioner’s Court Session

HOUSTON (November 10, 2020) – For more than 40 years now, Crime Stoppers of Houston has worked tirelessly to solve crime in our community and advocate for the many victims who have been impacted by crime in our area. In late 2019, Crime Stoppers’ Director of Victim Services, Andy Kahan, noticed a concerning pattern with defendants charged with murder: many of them had been released on multiple felony bonds, bond forfeiture and/or a personal bond. He began studying the issue and in mid-March of this year began tracking the issue based on data from court records.

In each case Andy tracks, the victims were killed by a Harris County suspect who:

• was a defendant who had been released on multiple felony bonds; or
• had a bond forfeiture reinstated; or
• had a motion to revoke bond denied; and/or
• was released on a PR Bond.

On Tuesday, October 27, 2020, Andy Kahan appeared before Commissioner’s Court with the intention of sharing this critical data and offering support. We thought the information would be relevant to maintaining public safety while navigating critical changes to felony bail reform. Andy was invited as a guest and in doing so, represented himself, Crime Stoppers of Houston, and the countless victims impacted by crime in Harris County.

The data presented by Andy was just that – untainted data from court records. More importantly, Andy had information regarding the over 60 victims who lost their lives (three of which were pregnant) as a direct result of county’s push to continually release defendants, including many violent defendants, under the notion that bail holds them unfairly.

Andy presented his findings on the Zoom session but was then muted leaving him with no opportunity to reply. He was labeled an “interested party” with an “axe to grind” who was only sharing data to engage in “fear mongering.”

“As the largest public safety nonprofit in our city, we were extremely disappointed with how Andy and Crime Stoppers were treated. Common sense indicates that public safety is at a higher risk when career habitual offenders are continuously released back into the community; our community members see this and they are talking about it. By muting Andy and maligning his intentions, our organization’s efforts were dismissed, the voices of the many victim families Andy was there to represent were muted, and the rising concerns stemming from the very large community we serve were disregarded.” said Crime Stoppers of Houston CEO Rania Mankarious.

Crime Stoppers CEO sent Commissioner’s Court a letter in response to the October 27th meeting. To view the letter, click here.

Crime is up, with some residents saying it has never been as bad as it now. The increasing crime rates detrimentally affect all of us. Andy and Crime Stoppers will continue to work around the clock on this public safety issue and take proactive measures to make our community safer.

Today, we are releasing Andy’s report that outlines the over 60 men, women and children who have been killed by suspects released on a variety of bonds, including felony and personal bond(s) from Harris County. View report here. This report includes victim names and photographs, as well as the location of where they were murdered by Precinct.

Crime Stoppers will continue to aggressively work with partners and citizens, law enforcement and victim families, media and colleagues, to ensure the utter most safety of everyone who calls Harris County home. We encourage the community to get involved and follow the work of Andy @akahancrimesto1 and Crime Stoppers @CrimeStopHOU.

To learn more about Crime Stoppers of Houston, including their Victim Services and Advocacy Program, visit crime-stoppers.org.

Bullying Differences and Similarities

I am aware that some people have a difficult time making a distinction between traditional bullying and cyberbullying, so let us discuss these aggression types and add clarification. I confess to being born in the late 70’s. When I was in grade school, the coolest advance in technology was the Boom Box (Google it) Walkie Talkie or the portable cassette player with earphones. Pictures were taken on portable cameras, either using a polaroid camera or captured on a roll of film. Cell phones did not exist and call waiting had not been invented yet. The number of kids per class were approximately 25, there were a few hundred kids on campus and the number of bullies on campus seemed quite minimal. The school-yard bully seemed like a kid’s worst nightmare. This type of bully generally victimized others by teasing, threatening, belittling, committing acts of physical violence, vandalizing, taking personal items by force or coercion. We will call this bully, the Traditional Bully. The Traditional Bully would usually carry out these aggressions on school property, buses, bus stops or school sponsored events. The number of victims that the Traditional Bully would interact with was limited to those within a physical proximity of the Traditional Bully and his minions.

There were usually physical signs of the Traditional Bully’s activities. School administration and teachers clearly understood their powers and authority to punish an aggressor. Victims were often told to stand up to the Traditional Bully. A physical confrontation was usually a one on one encounter between victim and aggressor. When I think of this Traditional Bully, I think of Nelson from The Simpson’s cartoon. While I assure you that the Nelson’s of the world have not disappeared, now there is a second type of bully. The extremely dangerous, cyberbully. How can you distinguish the differences between the Traditional Bully and a cyberbully?
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology to harass, threaten, intimidate, humiliate, and target victims. Cyberbullying is basically the electronic version of bullying. It occurs when an individual engages in bullying through the use of any electronic communication device, including a phone, computer, camera, e-mail, instant message, text message, chat room, social media, website or other form of electronic communication. Cyberbullies can be obvious, remain anonymous, create fake profiles, and can strike at all hours of the day and night on multiple platforms. With minimal effort, they can threaten, taunt, harass and humiliate their target, causing severe emotional distress that, in some instances, bullying has even led to suicide.

Some examples of cyberbullying could include:

• Social circle shaming victims for having low numbers of social media follow or likes.
• Sending viscous text messages.
• Spreading rumors or gossip by posting it to social networking sites.
• Taking and sending embarrassing pictures or videos without permission.
• Creating a fake profile and pretending to be the victim.
• Sending harassing emails or instant messages.Sending messages or images that disappear after the victim receives them.

Here, there are limited to no physical signs of the cyberbullying activities, although there may be physical and psychological responses. The responses include, but are not limited to depression, anxiety, aggression, low self-esteem, lack of sleep or feeling overly exhausted, stomach aches, headaches, bedwetting, and other stress induced reactions. These are some signs parents and teachers may observe that indicate a child is the victim of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying attacks are often gang attacks, where each person who views, likes, or comments on a cyberbullies social media post can be perceived as an additional attack on the intended victim.

While we have identified some differences between bullying and cyberbullying, there are some common impacts between them. Being bullied increases cortisol levels – a stress hormone – in the body, which typically happens after a stressful event. Stress from bullying can impact the immune system and hormones. Imaging studies show that brain activity and functioning can be affected by bullying, which may help explain the behavior of children who have been bullied. Research has consistently shown that bullying can have a negative impact on how well children and adolescents do in school. It has a negative impact on both grades and standardized test scores starting as early as kindergarten and continuing through high school. According to the Center for Disease Control, suicide is the second leading cause of death for American teenagers and young adults. “Bullying is a risk factor for depression and thinking about suicide. Children who bully others, are bullied, or both bully and are bullied are more likely to think about or attempt suicide than those who are not involved in bullying at all.”

What I take from this information is that bullying of all types has a significant impact on the aggressors. While Traditional Bullying is an activity that is easier to identify, cyberbullying may be deadlier, in part, because of its silent methods. Bullying of all types is a problem not only for local communities, states, nations, but a global problem. Hopefully being able to identify and help the victims will reduce the incidents of aggressors.

So what can schools do to discipline cyberbullies?

One basic premise of cyberbullying is that the activities can occur whenever and wherever the aggressor may be. This created a gray area of hesitation for educators when the issues of punishment for an aggressor were presented, if the activities occurred outside of campus. We have previously discussed the longevity of bullying, the rise of cyberbullying, and the creation of David’s Law; now let us talk about what schools can do to punish aggressors.

With the passing of David’s Law, every school district in Texas was and is required to incorporated the provisions of David’s Law into their district policies. This mandate gave schools and school districts the powers to punish cyberbullies for their transgressions. We will briefly revisit David’s Law.
David’s Law is named after 16 year old David Molak who took his own life due to cyberbullying. Senate Bill 179 changed the definition of bullying in the Texas Education Code and now makes cyberbullying a punishable offense.

CYBERBULLYING DEFINED UNDER DAVID’S LAW: “Cyberbullying” as defined in David’s Law means bullying arising from a pattern of acts or one significant act that is done through the use of any electronic communication device, including a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, an Internet website, or any other Internet-based communication tool.

Now, we will examine how David’s Law has been implemented in Texas.

(I) The Texas Education Code was modified as follows:

Under Section 37.0832 of the Education Code
(a) In this section:
(1) “Bullying”:
(A)  means a single significant act or a pattern of acts by one or more students directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that satisfies the applicability requirements provided by Subsection (a-1), and that:
(i)  has the effect or will have the effect of physically harming a student, damaging a student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s person or of damage to the student’s property;
(ii)  is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student;
(iii) materially and substantially disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of a classroom or school;  or
(iv) infringes on the rights of the victim at school;  and

(B) includes cyberbullying.
(37.082 a-1) This section applies to:
(1) bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school property or to the site of a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property;
(2) bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for transportation of students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity;  and
(3) cyberbullying that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school-related activity if the cyberbullying:
(A) interferes with a student’s educational opportunities;  or
(B) substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related activity.
(37.082 a-2):
“Cyberbullying” means bullying that is done through the use of any electronic communication device, including through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, an Internet website, or any other Internet-based communication tool.

NOTE: A parent of a minor who is the victim of cyberbullying may request a court order (e.g. an injunction or temporary restraining order) requiring the perpetrator of the bullying to stop. If the perpetrator is a minor, the court would then order the minor’s parent(s) to cause the bullying to stop. The court orders likely will not directly apply to schools or employees, but as a practical matter may be provided to the school so the school is informed.

• Among other things the law classifies cyberbullying as a misdemeanor offense. By doing so, the courts may issue subpoenas and uncover people who are posting anonymously online. The law also requires intervention from public schools when any cyberbullying behavior is suspected.
• Parents of students who cyberbully others may also be held responsible if they could have intervened but didn’t.

(II) School districts must create policies.
The law requires each school district to include cyberbullying in their district policies and to adopt and implement districtwide policies and procedures that will:

• prohibit bullying of a student;
• prohibit retaliation against anyone who provides information about a bullying incident;
• establish actions students can take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying;
• design available counseling options for victims, perpetrators, and witnesses of bullying;
• create a procedure for notifying parents and guardians about bullying incidents (notify a victim’s parent or guardian within three business days after a bullying incident. School officials must also notify the parent or guardian of the alleged bully within a reasonable amount of time);
• create a way for students to anonymously report bullying; establish procedures for investigating and verifying reported incidents of bullying;
• prohibit disciplinary measures on a student who is a victim of bullying and used reasonable self-defense in response to the bullying;
• ensures that discipline for bullying a student with disabilities complies with federal law, including the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.

(III) PUNISHMENT OF THE AGGRESSOR: Texas Penal Code 42.07, makes cyberbullying a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up 180 days in jail and a maximum $2,000 fine. The offense becomes a Class A misdemeanor if the offender has a previous conviction for cyberbullying or if the victim was under 18 years old and targeted with the intent to make the victim commit suicide or hurt themselves. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine. Cyberbullies can also face expulsion, be removed from a classroom, or be sent to alternative school. Schools have options of creating alternative disciplinary measures within reason. Principles will involve police after an investigation if the bullying activity appears to arise to a criminal offense.

(IV) SCHOOLS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TEX. EDUC. CODE 37.0151
(a) The principal or designee may make a report to the school district police department, the city police department, or the sheriff if after an investigation the principal has reasonable grounds to believe that a student engaged in conduct that constitutes an offense under 22.01 or 42.07(a)(7), Penal Code.
(b) This report may include the name and address of the students involved in the conduct.
(c) The principal may designate another employee to make this report.
(d) A person who is not an employee but is employed by an entity that contracts with a district is not required to make a report under this section and cannot be designated by the principal to make such report. A person who voluntarily makes a report is immune from liability.
(e) A person who acts under this section is immune from civil or criminal liability or disciplinary action resulting from that action.
(f) This section does not create a civil, criminal, or administrative cause of action or liability to create a standard of care, obligation, or duty that provides a basis for a cause of action for an act under this section.
(g) School districts, personnel, and school volunteers are immune from suit under this section.
(h) An act by school personnel or volunteers is not considered a ministerial act for purposes of liability of the school district or the district’s employees.

So where can parents or educators begin, when facing a cyberbullying issue or disciplinary question? The simple answer is to examine the available procedure in the school district where the school is situated. By way of example, if a school is located in Fort Bend County, Texas, and the aggressor and victim are students in Fort Bend County, Texas, the district policies should be examined for the guidance provided for addressing cyberbullying. In these district policies, often found online, the incorporation of David’s law should be easily found and used as guidance to navigate through the circumstances. There, within the text of these policies is the power to help, correct, discipline, stop or reduce harm and change or save lives for victims and aggressors!

David’s Law: What is it and who benefits?

As we have previously learned in Blog 1 “Let’s talk about cyberbullying month,” and Blog 2, “Cyberbullying, what is it,” there are actions which are considered bullying and some which are cyberbullying. Throughout the United States, cyberbullying is punishable by civil and criminal laws. In Texas, one of the methods of punishing aggressors is utilizing “David’s Law.” David’s Law was an Act initially passed as Senate Bill 179, and its codification into the Texas Education Code and Penal Code created the framework for how students who are victims of cyberbullying can be protected.

But why is the law called “David’s Law?” The law is named this way because of the life it honors and the motivation behind the movement. David Bartlett Molak, age 16, took his own life on Monday, January 4, 2016, in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. David was a son, brother, Eagle Scout and friend to many. David’s passions included hunting, fishing, professional football and playing various games with his family. In the last few months before his death, David became the repetitive target of relentless cyberbullying. The Molak family describes David’s experience as David becoming “overwhelmed with hopelessness after being continuously harassed, humiliated and threatened by a group of students through text messages and social media.”

The Molak family fought for David, as his aggressors harassed him. David’s schools made effort to intervene, but the powers to discipline cyberbullies was insufficient or altogether absent from the Education Code and the school’s abilities were extremely limited. The cyberbullying did not stop, ultimately David took his own life. After David passed, the Molak family – along with a support from the community – pushed the Texas legislature to address the void in Texas laws in regard to cyberbullying and enforcement. The outcome of these efforts was the advent of David’s Law.

David’s Law has empowered schools and parents to seek legal remedies against perpetrators of cyberbullying activities. Now there are civil and criminal implications for such activities. Now, aggressors can be punished for their behaviors, regardless of the location and time of day those communications occur. Now, families of victims have more tools, more support, more hope! Among other things, David’s Law requires each public-school district to include cyberbullying in their district policies and to adopt and implement districtwide policies and procedures that will:

• prohibit bullying of a student.
• prohibit retaliation against anyone who provides information about a bullying incident.
• establish actions students can take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying.
• design available counseling options for victims, perpetrators, and witnesses of bullying.
• create a procedure for notifying parents and guardians about bullying incidents (notify a victim’s parent or guardian within three business days after a bullying incident. School officials must also notify the parent or guardian of the alleged bully within a reasonable amount of time).
• create a way for students to anonymously report bullying.
• establish procedures and time tables for investigating and verifying reported incidents of bullying.
• prohibit disciplinary measures of a student who is a victim of bullying and used reasonable self-defense in response to the bullying.
• ensure that discipline for bullying a student with disabilities complies with federal law, including the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.
• And more…

In the 2019 Legislative Update (86th session) additional modifications were made, affecting Public Schools:

1. All public schools are required to teach digital citizenship, including criminal consequences of cyberbullying.
2. Suicide prevention training will be done through health classes (Mental Health Bill & School Safety Bill)
3. Expansion of anonymous reporting to now provide anonymity to school staff.

We owe these advances in the law to David Molak and the Molak family. They have turned the worst day of their lives into a mechanism for community change and Texans owe you hugs and standing ovations. Thank you to Matt & Maurine Molak, the Molak family and the David’s Legacy Foundation. I am honored to share your story and this information.

Domestic Violence Does Not Discriminate

The most often used definition of domestic violence is a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence does not discriminate and occurs in every race, ethnicity, socio-economic background, education, age, gender or sexual orientation. It has no age limit and can occur from teens to the elderly. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) nearly 1 in 5 women and nearly 1 in 7 men report having experienced severe physical violence from an intimate partner in their life- time. So basically, anyone reading this blog, is someone who has experienced domestic violence or knows someone who has, whether you know about it or not.

Research has shown that domestic violence increases during times of natural disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic is a unlike anything we have experienced. During this time, victims may be unable to find shelter, go to family or friends, or even know what resources are still available to them during their time of need. Victims may be trapped with abusive partners if they lose their jobs or cannot work. In addition, minimal access to paid time off or unemployment insurance, can leave victims dependent on an abusive partner for housing and support.

Frequently, friends and family are the first people that victims turn to for help. Many do not know how to respond so how can you help? Each victim has their own story and cannot be compared to your story or anyone else’s story so first and foremost – LISTEN and BELIEVE them. Do not judge or blame the victim for what is happening. The abuser will often tell a victim that no one will believe them and that it is their fault the abuse is occurring. Do not prove the abuser correct. The question most asked of a victim is why didn’t they just leave? And the answer is because the most dangerous time for the victim is when they leave. The abuser is losing their power and control over the victim and it could have deadly consequences. Local resources are available during this time and help them seek local resources by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to their website at www.thehotline.org. The Hotline can put them in touch with a local service provider near them who can help them decide what is their best course of action. Support and encourage them, respect their decisions but most importantly let them know they are not alone and there is help available for them.

Amy Smith, Deputy Director, Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council
Amy Smith has spent her career as a Victim Advocate in Harris County, Texas having worked in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Victim Witness Division, Crime Stoppers of Houston, and now with the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. She served on several local and statewide committees including committees for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, Texas Attorney General’s Crime Victim Services Advisory Council and the State Bar of Texas’ Crime Victim Committee. She has done trainings and presentations at the local, State and National level on all issues related to crime victimization.

Additional resources:

Domestic violence during COVID-19: https://nocovidabuse.org/ 

National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to their website at www.thehotline.org.

Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council: https://www.hcdvcc.org/ 

Houston Area Women’s Center: https://hawc.org/