Harris County Constable Ted Heap has announced that six officers in his department have been promoted. Combined, the promoted officers have more than half a century of experience among them.

“The sergeants went through a rigorous promotional process which includes a writing exercise, a written test, an oral interview assessment like process. Forty-eight candidates started the process after each phase those who scored high enough moved on to the next phase after Oral interview these were the top candidates,” said Precinct 5 Chief Deputy Brian Harris.

Frank Salas was promoted to sergeant. Salas has been with Precinct 5 for 17 years and has served mostly with the department’s strategic response unit. After his promotion, he will be taking a supervisory position in the Energy Corridor.

Bobby Ferguson has been in law enforcement for 14 years and after his promotion to sergeant will be serving as a district sergeant for the evening shift.

Robert Felix, an 18 year veteran of Precinct 5, has also been promoted to sergeant. He will serve as a day shift supervisor in the Nottingham Country portion of the precinct situated between I-10 and the Barker Reservoir.

Daniel Keeton (not pictured above) has also been promoted to sergeant and will supervise activities on the toll road and serve as an incident manager as needed.

Investigator Kayla Fesperman has been promoted to corporal and will now be a supervisor in the Animal Crimes Unit.

Deputy Courtney Reyes has been promoted to corporal as well and will serve Harris County Municipal Utility District 165. As part of her duties she will serve as a field training officer, teaching new deputies in the department’s Patrol Division.

Harris said the department has worked hard to ensure that its deputies are well-trained and reflects the community it serves which is made up of about 78% minorities. Only one in 12 applicants make it through the hiring process, he said.

Five deputies were sworn in June 18. These include deputies David Ventura, Emmanuel Gonzalez-Sosa, Cody Lindsey, Yaribette Torres and Eric Yanes. The new deputies will ride with a field training officer for some time before serving the community on their own.

“The standards are high,” Harris said. “Constable Heap continues to have a department that reflects the diversity of the precinct.”