HPD KILLING WOUNDS CITY

I was shocked to read that one of the six Houston Police Department
officers under investigation in the death of Pedro Oregon Navarro had
been charged with a Class "A" misdemeanor ("Panel clears six from HPD
of homicide; One indicted on trespass" Chronicle, Page One, Oct. 20).
All law-abiding people should be outraged by the grand jury decision.
We can no longer expect the jury system in this country to prevail
against the worst police travesties and barbarisms. If gun-wielding
police without proper authority or justification can bust in your door
and gun you down without fear of reprisal, what can we expect from
citizens? Respect for authority and government ... ? I doubt it. And
why didn't the Chronicle describe the makeup of the grand jury? That
should be standard in high-profile cases.

Allen Armstrong, Houston

Regarding the slaying of Pedro Oregon Navarro by Houston police
officers, the grand jury has failed in its responsibility to
acknowledge the murder of an innocent man. What happened to Oregon
could happen to any of us. Furthermore, the Police Department, the
city, the legislators who write the laws used to break and enter, and,
ultimately, all of us have failed in our responsibility to handle the
problem of drugs in our community. You don't train "attack dogs" to
handle high-stress situations and then expect anything different than
what took place. Decriminalize drugs to remove the profit from this
"business" and provide early education in schools and rehabilitation
for addicts in return for community work. An enlightened approach to
dealing with the problem of drugs is the only long-term solution.
Violence is no answer.

Evelyn Chorush, Houston

This is ridiculous. Pedro Oregon Navarro deserves to be alive. He did
not deserve to be the object of a firing squad who illegally entered
his home and hit him 12 times. How could the grand jury, presented
with the facts that have been in the paper, possibly have only
indicted one policeman for trespassing? This is insane -- the police
started the firing and even wounded one of their own.

Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes was quoted in the
Chronicle ("Cops may have had right to shoot" July 17) that it was OK
for them to shoot, even though they were in there illegally. After
that, for me it was a foregone conclusion that the case would not be
presented to the grand jury with any force.

Donald E. Fallis, Houston

Maybe state law says "no one can use force to protect themselves from
an arrest or search by the police, even if it is illegal," but what
happened to Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful search and
seizure? The six thugs who killed Pedro Oregon Navarro may be
technically innocent of murder, but they are indisputably guilty of
illegally invading Oregon's home without a search warrant. Why aren't
all six being prosecuted for that?

Police officers are supposed to enforce the law -- that does not place
them above it.

Stan Kulp, Sugar Land

If I and five cronies (none of us employed by a police agency) broke
into Pedro Oregon Navarro's home and shot and killed him, there is no
question that we would all have been arrested, charged and indicted.
Could someone explain to me why behavior that is criminal for me is
not criminal for a police officer?

Charles D. Toney III, The Woodlands

Don't the killers of Pedro Oregon Navarro and their apologists have
any sense of shame?

Is Houston so beyond the pale that we accept without a murmur the
illegal storming of someone's home, the subsequent killing by those
who perpetrated the crime and then listen in stupefied amazement as
our so-called protectors, watchdogs of our civic honor, tell us that
trespassing is not a good thing? Oregon's killers, I believe, will
eventually meet whatever fate and the law have in store for them.

Robert J. Yankow, Houston

I was filled with disgust and outrage regarding the grand jury's no
bill on Pedro Oregon Navarro's death. Welcome to the police state.

I feel neither served nor protected. I am ashamed of HPD, our grand
jury and the district attorney's office. Even though justice has
failed this time, I hope these men will pay with society's scrutiny
and the weight of their own guilty conscience.

Devon Righter, Houston

While all the facts may not be public knowledge and the police may
have been acting in good faith, the fact remains that if it weren't
for the "war on drugs," both Pedro Oregon, who was killed by HPD
officers and Esequiel Hernandez, killed by Marines while patrolling
the border, would be alive today.

Tammera Halphen, Houston

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst