WEST HARRIS COUNTY, TX (Covering Katy News) – Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap will retire when his term ends Dec. 31, 2024. Precinct 5 patrols the Harris County unincorporated areas of Katy.
"After a little over 40 years of law enforcement here in Harris County, I am not going to be running for the next term," he said during an interview on KTRH's Michael Berry Show.
Heap noted that he will be in office for a full year before stepping down and that Precinct 5 Assistant Chief Terry Allbritton has filed to run for constable.
"He's very knowledgeable; he's the chief who is in charge of my budget," Heap said of Albritton. "I've worked with him a little over 30 years. He's very familiar with the county. He's very familiar with the contract deputy program and our toll roads, parks, and many other aspects of the department.”
Constable Ted Heap began his law enforcement career in 1984 with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. He soon joined the Constable's Office and began working his way up the ranks. He was elected constable in 2017.
Heap added additional deputies, established higher training standards, and created a new rank structure that included corporals, allowing more opportunities for advancement.
Under Constable Heap's direction, his office established several new ways to improve service to residents, including:
- A Uniformed Investigative Deputies Unit
- A Strategic Response Unit
- An Animal Cruelty Task Force
- A Community Relations Unit
- Citizen and Teen Police Academies
- Women's self-defense classes
Precinct 5 also enhanced and expanded its training unit and field training officer program, which Heap says "far surpassed state requirements."
With active shooter crimes becoming more prevalent, Heap not only trained his deputies on response techniques, but his office hosted training classes for citizens to teach them best practices when confronted with a gunman intent on shooting people indiscriminately.
See a complete list of Precinct 3 programs.
Heap is an ordained deacon in the Archdiocese of Galveston—Houston. He also speaks on behalf of Special Olympics and coaches the Katy Wolfpack, a local Special Olympics team.