POLICE BLUES

FIND WHAT IS WRONG IN HPD BEFORE MORE TRAGEDY STRIKES

Most thoughtful people appreciate the danger that police officers face every
day and hold them in high esteem for putting themselves at risk for the sake
of public safety. But reasonable people also expect from them a high degree
of professionalism and integrity. In the Houston Police Department, there
have been enough unsettling incidents over a short period to bring into
question the level of trust the people of this city should place in its force.

The incidents vary in severity: Eight Houston Police officers assigned to
the Southwest Patrol Division's bicycle patrol were suspended July 1,
accused of falsifying work records between October and December last year.
And in an example of mind-boggling bad judgment this April, two officers
brandished their weapons before arresting a man acting as a chaperone aboard
a school bus loaded with small children for a springtime field trip.

Most recently, with fatal consequences, officers assigned to a gang task
force burst into a man's apartment and shot him 12 times after drug dealing
was reported in the apartment. The autopsy report indicates the officers
fired nine of the shots into the man's back while virtually standing over
him. They had no warrant and were acting on information provided by an
unregistered informant they had arrested minutes before on a drug charge.

From what is known so far, the department has handled the investigation of
these incidents properly. And citizens are counting on District Attorney
John B. Holmes Jr. to prosecute fully any officers involved in the shooting
who are found to have violated the law. The public is also expecting an open
airing of all findings turned up in Holmes' investigation and in the
department's internal inquiry.

It is impossible to pinpoint at this time what, other than perhaps sad
coincidence, is causing so many high-profile errors in judgment in HPD. But
Police Chief C.O. Bradford ought to be working on determining whether these
recent incidents were the work of a few bad apples or simply mistakes made
by basically conscientious officers. Or perhaps they are an indication of a
department-wide problem, such as improper training or a lack of discipline.
Bradford has a duty to the public to take whatever steps are necessary to
end the alarming frequency of these problems.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett