Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Community Continues to Protest Houston Police Department Brutality for Seventh Week

Houston, Texas

Today, a coalition of community organizations continues to protest demanding a citizen’s review board with subpoena power, prosecutorial power, and proper funding. Protests began after the release of a video showing the brutal beating of 15 year old African American Chad Holley.

Several town hall meetings have shown the outrage of the community, along with opinions being continuously expressed on local talk shows. Numerous citizens have come forward with claims of excessive force and brutality, including the death of their loved ones.

In addition, in the past two weeks, two police shootings seen as use of excessive force or outright murder by some witnesses have taken place.

As of the latest scheduled protest, Mayor Annise Parker and the District Attorney have been unresponsive to the righteous demands of the public.

Source

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Dallas Officer Accused of Car Burglary While On-duty

Dallas, Texas

A Dallas police officer is accused of breaking into cars and burglarizing them while on duty and in uniform.

The department confirmed that a long-time veteran of the force has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs probe.

Sources very close to the case say that a Northeast Patrol officer is facing allegations that he broke into at least four vehicles over the past four months while on duty.

In at least two of the cases, the officer was captured on tape driving up in his Dallas police cruiser, getting out and opening the doors of random, unlocked vehicles and then getting inside, the sources said.

The officer had a hard time explaining his proximity to two cars with broke windows in two other cases, the sources said.

Another source very close to the case said the officer turned over what appeared to be car-burglary tools after investigators pressed him.

Source and Video

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Disturbing Truth About Brutality Complaints With The Houston Police Department


Houston, Texas

Tonight, ABC13 took a look into the truth about Houston police brutality complaints -- they virtually never result in an officer getting punished.

HPD's own records paint a controversial portrait; during the last decade, 2,135 complaints about alleged police brutality. Only 33 were sustained -- less than two percent. And if you count only citizen complaints, the number of times the brutality allegation has been confirmed is just 16 -- 16 of more than 2,100.

Even HPD brass admits without the recent video depicting officers beating teenager Chad Holley, the officers would have likely never faced an internal probe.



But there's another reason too. None of the HPD officers on the scene that day said a word about what we can all clearly see on the video.

Under current state law, a person who complains about a cop is not allowed to even see what internal affairs investigations did, who they talked to.

And the public isn't allowed to see an officer's history of complaints unless police prove they are true. We've got the numbers but no names.

Check out the stats
 
Source

Diboll police chief pleads guilty to theft

Diboll, Texas

Diboll Police Chief, Kent Havard, pleaded guilty to theft by a public servant, and was sentenced to 3 years deferred adjudication probation according to Angelina County's District Attorney, Clyde Herrington.

Under the terms of Havard's probation he must pay a $500 fine. He must also permanently surrender his peace officer license within 60 days. In addition, Havard owes the City of Diboll an estimated $5,100 in restitution.

Earlier this month, the former police chief resigned following an investigation. According to Herrington, city officials noticed some discrepancies in credit charges.

Herrington said Havard kept several reimbursement checks issued to the city. He also, made unauthorized credit card charges at Minute Maid park, and Walmart, and he admitted he took money from the police department's scholarship fund.

Source

Houston's KTRK To Expose Mountain of Brutality Complaints, Internal Corruption and Cover-ups, Within Houston Police Department




KTRK-TV Houston's Wayne Dolcefino, tonight at 10, will uncover a mountain of brutality complaints against the Houston Police Department. Also, internal corruption and a system designed to protect the officer and cover-up complaints.

Source 

Cameron Co. Sheriff's deputy gets nearly 5 years in prison for gun smuggling

Cameron County, Texas

A Cameron County sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to gun smuggling charges.

Jesus A. Longoria, 31, appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle for the sentencing.

Longoria had been employed as a sheriff’s deputy since March 2006. He resigned Nov. 1, the day he was arrested, authorities said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports that Longoria admitted that while assigned in May to the Veterans International Bridge and Gateway International Bridge, he tried to export 13 semiautomatic firearms from the U.S. to Mexico.

Longoria said he believed the weapons were to be used by a Mexican drug cartel. In exchange for letting the guns through, he said he was paid $4,000.

Source

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Texas state trooper gets 30-180day jail sentence in plea deal for selling steroids to Kerrville TX police officer


Kerrville, Texas

Former state trooper Jeff Jerman was sentenced Friday to 30 to 180 days in prison and three years of probation after admitting that he sold $800 worth of steroids to a Kerrville police officer from his patrol car.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...