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5 HPD Officers Shot


Lobwedgephil

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Nothing we didn't already know, but chilling article to say the least...

 

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Which means that if an officer wanted to, they could in theory escalate a routine traffic stop into a physical confrontation?

The number one concern is: are you lawfully present? Even if that’s an expired license plate on a car, you can say, “Yes, I’m lawfully present,” and from there you can work that use of force continuum up. And some officers manipulate it. While on its face the legal training appears to be a litany of what police can't do in order to respect subject rights, the result is officers know more about hundreds of confusing laws that you don’t know about, and it gives them the ability to reverse-engineer them to justify the virtually unlimited force and violence you see today. They can almost guarantee a suspect’s non-compliance. That’s what you see in a lot of these resisting arrest charges, an officer can subtly manipulate by doing something like giving people conflicting demands: “Put your hands up, don’t move,” for example. No matter what they do after that, you can say they didn’t comply. Or they might panic, and then it’s resisting.

https://www.gq.com/story/a-former-cop-explains-how-the-police-get-away-with-killing-people

Edited by Cajun
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  • 4 weeks later...
28 minutes ago, Updawg said:

7 months after it happened. What a joke.

That's because their hand keeps getting forced, if the family hadn't hired their own investigators there wouldn't be any 7 months after, there would be nothing. Art is an amateur at this, or so it appears.

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Seems like a good time to review the words, on record, of the head of the pig labor union there in Houston...

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“We are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives when all we’re trying to do is protect this community and protect our families,” Gamaldi said. “If you’re the ones that are out there spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy, just know we’ve all got your number now, we’re going to be keeping track of all of y’all, and we’re going to make sure that we hold you accountable every time you stir the pot on our police officers.”

Go ahead fuckwit, hold us ALL accountable.

Looks like some of your pals got held "accountable" right on the spot that day.  Bravo Citizen!!!

Maybe you can pick up a few fragments of your pal's jawbone, stuff 'em up your cunt and then lecture us again about how it's a "war out there" and you're "just not going to take it anymore".

I mean, that is, if you've got enough energy after your long days of framing, cover-ups, and revenge seeking.

Edited by Cajun
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3 minutes ago, Player said:

I believe Goines was allowed to “retire” so that he could keep his full pension.

That money will stack up while he’s in prison.

pretty well known that hpd has a blank check when it comes to murdering ‘suspects’. Damn ‘suspects’ always grabbing for the cops gun !

Edited by tx 3 putt
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I have seen multiple references to Goines being shot in the neck, but maybe it was his jaw instead.

Regardless, with all of the other lies that have been spread by HPD, I’m not currently willing to believe that he was shot by Tuttle.

Maybe forensics can clear that up, but I think the cops shot each other.

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According to officials, two of the officers were shot in the face and went through surgery. Doctors at Memorial Hermann hospital told the media in the news conference that those two officers are in stable condition but that one of them will require additional surgery for facial reconstruction.

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/01/29/5-houston-officers-injured-shooting-drug-warrant/

 

I'm looking for a "jaw" reference, but I'm almost positive that one of these Heroes is minus a lower mandible.

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Knowing what we know now, just re-read this complete work of fiction by Acevedo and crew.  Just comes so naturally.  Rolls right off their tongues as if they do it all the time...

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"After we had two officers down and another shot, the remaining officers ... started laying down cover fire, left positions of cover themselves and, I believe, they heroically pulled their fellow officers out of harm's way," Acevedo said.

He said Tuttle followed the retreating officers to the front door and continued to fire at them before he was shot and killed.

Police recovered two shotguns and three rifles from the residence and seized marijuana and a white powder they believe to be either cocaine or the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, Acevedo said.

He said it was the third time in 25 years that the 54-year-old lead investigator on the case had been shot in the line of duty. He said the officer was previously shot in 1992 and again in 1997.

"He's a big teddy bear," Acevedo said of the officer. "He's a big African-American, strong as an ox, tough as nails. The only thing bigger than his body in terms of stature is his courage. I think God had to give him a big body just to be able to contain his courage."

While visiting the lead investigator at the hospital on Tuesday, Acevedo said, the wounded man passed a note to a colleague that read, "I had to get in there because I knew my officers were down."

"A lot of drug houses have surveillance systems that are better than businesses," Acevedo said.

Ferrari said her brother had served in the U.S. Navy and received an honorable medical discharge years ago.

"Our prayers are with the officers and their families who were affected," said Ferrari, who drove to Houston from her home near Dallas as soon as she heard of the deadly police raid on her brother's home. "It's a very tough situation. I do not know any details other than I came here hoping it was incorrect."

She said she just spoke to Tuttle last week by phone.

"He was just telling me he loved me and he was proud of me," she said. "I just shared with him that I loved him. It was a good conversation."

Acevedo said the shooting again proves just how dangerous law enforcement work can be.

"We know that we live in a society where there's a proliferation of firearms, where you can assume there will be firearms at just about every location that you hit," Acevedo said. "Unfortunately, some people just don't have respect for the sanctity of life."

On Monday evening, the president of the Houston Police Officers Union, Joe Grimaldi, said he was "sick and tired of having targets on our back."

"We are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives when all we're trying to do is protect this community and protect our families," Gamaldi said during an emotional news conference.

 

Edited by Cajun
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I don’t think the home owners fired a single shot. 
Looking like they didn't. I'm thinking hpd purposefully botched the forensic investigation once it started becoming clear what happened. After the scene was abandoned and left half ass it will give them the excuses they need to toss any new evidence from there
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/A-botched-Houston-drug-raid-led-to-a-wave-of-14267638.php

A botched Houston drug raid led to a wave of leaks. Cops starting peeking at internal records and found themselves under a different kind of investigation.

 

Spoiler

 

Amid a wave of workplace rumors and leaks to the media over a bungled no-knock drug raid in January, the Houston Police Department launched an internal probe into dozens of officers for looking up personal information of a narcotics supervisor and another officer linked to the operation.

The investigation, which came several weeks after the Jan. 28 raid, scrutinized 37 officers and civilian employees accused of reviewing the pair’s information in the police department’s personnel database, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle and interviews with people familiar with the probe.

Months later, 17 people were disciplined with so-called “supervisory interventions,” a warning that is less severe than a written reprimand, according to Doug Griffith, a vice president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union.

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Griffith said investigators should have focused on more serious matters stemming from the raid at 7815 Harding Street that left two people dead and five police officers injured.

“We lost a lot of manpower hours on an investigation that had nothing to do with the Harding Street incident,” he said.

Chief Art Acevedo could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hunt for snoops

The narcotics supervisor filed the complaint in February, saying she believed officers were looking up her information without legitimate reasons, according to officials and documents reviewed by the Chronicle.

The supervisor said she became worried for her safety after learning that reporters were trying to contact her.

 

The department’s May 30 report summarizing the investigation shows that employees including rank-and-file officers, mid-rank supervisors and one commander were accused of looking up information on the Police Personnel System.

Officers provided a variety of explanations for why they looked up their colleagues’ information, ranging from filling a public records request to asking for her help on a theft investigation, according to the report. Several officers told investigators they looked up the information to “quash” rumors spreading about the Harding Street shooting.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Evidence left behind after botched Pecan Park drug raid raises new questions about shootings

Other officers admitted looking out of curiosity, records show.

Internal investigators sustained allegations of “improper computer use” against 17 officers and a former employee who had already resigned and moved out of state. The department could not sustain charges — meaning there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegations — against five officers. Fourteen officers and employees were exonerated, according to the report.

The “supervisory interventions” will disappear from officers’ personnel files after six months, officials said.

 

Professor Phillip Lyons, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University and a former police officer, said the department has an obligation to investigate when officers file complaints against their peers.

“Whether the punishment is too lenient or too severe, or just right, I wouldn't be in a position to know,” he said. “But it does seem to me as though, if there is a complaint that is filed, and the complaint alleges a policy or law violation, and evidence sustains the complaint, they have to do something.”

Internal findings not released

The internal investigation was conducted simultaneously with another internal probe into the botched drug bust in southeast Houston.

The raid went awry almost immediately, with gunfire erupting moments after an undercover narcotics team broke down the door to the Harding Street home. Dennis Tuttle and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, were killed and five officers were injured, including case agent Gerald Goines, who was shot in the neck.

 

The operation turned up a small amount of cocaine and marijuana — but none of the heroin police said the couple was dealing. Investigators have since raised questions about whether the confidential drug buy cited in the search warrant affidavit ever happened, or if the informant even existed.

Six months later, the ramifications of the raid continue to unfurl: Goines has since retired under investigation, as has his partner, Steven Bryant. The FBI launched a civil rights investigation into the incident, while District Attorney Kim Ogg announced prosecutors were reviewing more than 2,000 cases previously handled by Goines and Bryant and dismissed dozens of the two officers’ active cases.

The police department has turned over its internal investigation into the shooting to the DA’s office but has not publicly released the findings. Acevedo has said the department has completed an audit of the Narcotics Division, but the department has yet to release the findings.

While Acevedo has said Goines — and potentially additional officers — could face criminal charges, the DA’s office has yet to file charges in the case. A federal grand jury recently subpoenaed three officers, including the narcotics officer and her colleague, to testify about the case.

 

Still, the records investigation surprised some law enforcement veterans. Former chief Charles A. McClelland recalled officers frequently used the system to find colleagues’ contact information to discuss extra jobs or other issues.

“I have no information on this internal affairs investigations, but just from my personal experience, officers from time to time are curious and look up coworkers information,” he said.

As chief, he ordered a yearly audit of officers who’d researched his information, he said.

“There was always a list of officers who’d researched me through HPD computers,” he said. “But I never launched an investigation into them.”


 

 

Edited by hopkinsnhorns
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So their main complaint is their investigation of their own corruption and ineptitude was so exhaustive that they have to bury it and come up with new formats of internal investigation?  

Lying and stupidity were so rampant—they gotta start over and draw a new blue line on the heroin?   I mean sand. 

It’s impossible they’re this stupid.  

Edited by Lobo
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I doubt they even found coke. The initial report was of a white powdery substance. It's a travesty that it has taken this long for the truth to begin to surface. I expect(and hope) that Art loses his job over this, and that criminal charges are filed against the cops who shot these people....and their dog. Fuck all of them with a white hot poker.

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On 7/30/2019 at 4:54 PM, hopkinsnhorns said:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/A-botched-Houston-drug-raid-led-to-a-wave-of-14267638.php

A botched Houston drug raid led to a wave of leaks. Cops starting peeking at internal records and found themselves under a different kind of investigation.

 

  Hide contents

 

Amid a wave of workplace rumors and leaks to the media over a bungled no-knock drug raid in January, the Houston Police Department launched an internal probe into dozens of officers for looking up personal information of a narcotics supervisor and another officer linked to the operation.

The investigation, which came several weeks after the Jan. 28 raid, scrutinized 37 officers and civilian employees accused of reviewing the pair’s information in the police department’s personnel database, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle and interviews with people familiar with the probe.

Months later, 17 people were disciplined with so-called “supervisory interventions,” a warning that is less severe than a written reprimand, according to Doug Griffith, a vice president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union.

  • Unlimited Digital Access for as little as 95¢
  • Read more articles like this by subscribing to the Houston Chronicle
 SUBSCRIBE

Griffith said investigators should have focused on more serious matters stemming from the raid at 7815 Harding Street that left two people dead and five police officers injured.

“We lost a lot of manpower hours on an investigation that had nothing to do with the Harding Street incident,” he said.

Chief Art Acevedo could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hunt for snoops

The narcotics supervisor filed the complaint in February, saying she believed officers were looking up her information without legitimate reasons, according to officials and documents reviewed by the Chronicle.

The supervisor said she became worried for her safety after learning that reporters were trying to contact her.

 

The department’s May 30 report summarizing the investigation shows that employees including rank-and-file officers, mid-rank supervisors and one commander were accused of looking up information on the Police Personnel System.

Officers provided a variety of explanations for why they looked up their colleagues’ information, ranging from filling a public records request to asking for her help on a theft investigation, according to the report. Several officers told investigators they looked up the information to “quash” rumors spreading about the Harding Street shooting.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Evidence left behind after botched Pecan Park drug raid raises new questions about shootings

Other officers admitted looking out of curiosity, records show.

Internal investigators sustained allegations of “improper computer use” against 17 officers and a former employee who had already resigned and moved out of state. The department could not sustain charges — meaning there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegations — against five officers. Fourteen officers and employees were exonerated, according to the report.

The “supervisory interventions” will disappear from officers’ personnel files after six months, officials said.

 

Professor Phillip Lyons, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University and a former police officer, said the department has an obligation to investigate when officers file complaints against their peers.

“Whether the punishment is too lenient or too severe, or just right, I wouldn't be in a position to know,” he said. “But it does seem to me as though, if there is a complaint that is filed, and the complaint alleges a policy or law violation, and evidence sustains the complaint, they have to do something.”

Internal findings not released

The internal investigation was conducted simultaneously with another internal probe into the botched drug bust in southeast Houston.

The raid went awry almost immediately, with gunfire erupting moments after an undercover narcotics team broke down the door to the Harding Street home. Dennis Tuttle and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, were killed and five officers were injured, including case agent Gerald Goines, who was shot in the neck.

 

The operation turned up a small amount of cocaine and marijuana — but none of the heroin police said the couple was dealing. Investigators have since raised questions about whether the confidential drug buy cited in the search warrant affidavit ever happened, or if the informant even existed.

Six months later, the ramifications of the raid continue to unfurl: Goines has since retired under investigation, as has his partner, Steven Bryant. The FBI launched a civil rights investigation into the incident, while District Attorney Kim Ogg announced prosecutors were reviewing more than 2,000 cases previously handled by Goines and Bryant and dismissed dozens of the two officers’ active cases.

The police department has turned over its internal investigation into the shooting to the DA’s office but has not publicly released the findings. Acevedo has said the department has completed an audit of the Narcotics Division, but the department has yet to release the findings.

While Acevedo has said Goines — and potentially additional officers — could face criminal charges, the DA’s office has yet to file charges in the case. A federal grand jury recently subpoenaed three officers, including the narcotics officer and her colleague, to testify about the case.

 

Still, the records investigation surprised some law enforcement veterans. Former chief Charles A. McClelland recalled officers frequently used the system to find colleagues’ contact information to discuss extra jobs or other issues.

“I have no information on this internal affairs investigations, but just from my personal experience, officers from time to time are curious and look up coworkers information,” he said.

As chief, he ordered a yearly audit of officers who’d researched his information, he said.

“There was always a list of officers who’d researched me through HPD computers,” he said. “But I never launched an investigation into them.”

 

 

 

 

 

They play this fast and loose with each other's privacy, just imagine how they are with us lowly citizens.

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Hey Art, how'd this guy escape your recruiting net?

https://www.kxan.com/news/former-texas-dps-chief-fired-after-arrest-on-sexual-assault-charge/

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The chief of the Texas Department of Public Safety Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division has been fired from the department Tuesday after he was arrested on a charge of sexual assault.

According to Texas DPS, John Jones, 45, was arrested after a joint operation between both the Travis County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers. He was booked into the Travis County Jail.

According to a police report on the case, Jones threw a party at his home in Leander on July 20. The 44-year-old victim accuses Jones of the rape while they were riding an ATV on the property. Once they reached a secluded spot, Jones assaulted her and returned to the party, according to the victim. She left with a friend afterward and went to the hospital with her mother to get a forensic test.

According to the police affidavit, Jones told the victim “I know it’s wrong” during the assault. 

The victim considered Jones a “pillar of the community” because of his position in state law enforcement, according to the report. The victim was at the party because she was a friend of Jones’ wife. 

Jones faces a charge of sexual assault-rape and is being held on a $750,000 bond. 

The case is being investigated by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Texas Rangers and the Travis County District Attorney’s office.

"Pillar of the community"?

No, no darlin', that's HERO.

All caps.

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Wow. I just read the last few pages. I was reminded of Joe Campos Torres which someone may have mentioned earlier. Handcuffed and drowned by HPD.

The Uranium Savages wrote a song about him to Hank Williams' On the Bayou.

Went something like:

Good bye, Joe, we gotta go me oh my oh

We gonna go throw your ass down in the bayou

Stand around, watch him drown and be gone-o

Badge and gun gonna have big fun on the bayou.

 

Edited by RomaVicta
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  • 4 weeks later...
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"He's a big teddy bear," Acevedo said of the officer. "He's a big African-American, strong as an ox, tough as nails. The only thing bigger than his body in terms of stature is his courage. I think God had to give him a big body just to be able to contain his courage."

While visiting the lead investigator at the hospital on Tuesday, Acevedo said, the wounded man passed a note to a colleague that read, "I had to get in there because I knew my officers were down."

"A lot of drug houses have surveillance systems that are better than businesses," Acevedo said.

these quotes aged well.

austin had some real bad shoots when he was chief here. there's something culturally toxic about his departments. 

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