Posted on 09/22/2008 11:22:03 PM PDT by weegee
Since Hurricane Ike struck — pitching much of the city into darkness — Houston police have made about 280 arrests every day.
Most were for nonviolent offenses, including 388 for public intoxication and 335 for drug possession, police said.
The totals actually show a decrease from pre-Ike levels, when Houston police were arresting about 370 people daily, according to department officials.
"A lot of the credit goes to the visibility of the officers. We're trying to deter as much crime as we possibly can," said HPD spokesman John Cannon.
Arrests for looting have dwindled. Of the 168 arrests made since the storm, most occurred between 6 a.m. Sept. 13 to 6 a.m. Sept 14. In that time, 61 arrests were made. From 6 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday, four arrests were made.
Houston police also issued about 950 citations for violations of the city's Hurricane Ike curfew order, which remains in effect from midnight to 6 a.m. until further notice.
"Everyone has been fairly well-behaved," Cannon said. "Those who have not are in jail."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
A power grab like we have not seen before. 10 days after the storm. 80% of the city has power (and the toy train downtown has been brought back online).
At least the city has dropped the fine from $2,000 to a "maximum of $500" for violations that occur tonight-onward.
While the number of arrests for break-ins hasn’t been that high, the number of REPORTED break-ins is higher:
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080922_mp_looter_sets_up_shop.a21b7a89.html
Alleged looter sets up shop during Ike
12:55 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Jeff McShan / 11 News
The Houston Police Department reported that from time Ike stormed into the city until September 20th, they arrested 130 people for breaking into homes or businesses.
Over two hundred more people were either written a citation or arrested for breaking the curfew.
In Harris County, the Sheriff’s office received more than 300 complaints from homeowners and businesses that were broken into during this past week. They have arrested 24 people to date.
Houston PING
Good grief, Houston...lift the damned curfew.
“Storm frenzy overshadows girl’s death, crime news”
Hurricane Ike and the aftermath have also overshadowed reports of internal corruption in the HPD...
HPD Negotiates With Cops Accused of Double Dipping
Last Edited: Wednesday, 10 Sep 2008, 9:12 PM CDT
Created: Wednesday, 10 Sep 2008, 9:12 PM CDT
HOUSTON — Fox 26 news has learned there are quiet negotiations going on behind the scenes at the Houston Police Department. It involves more than 40 police officers caught up in an extra duty job scandal.
Some of the officers are accused of being on the clock for HPD while also working extra duty jobs. They were allegedly double dipping. That’s a violation of the department’s policy.
There is talk of long term suspension and lifetime banishment from extra duty jobs for some officers but because a police officers’ union is involved in the negotiations, I’m not seeing anything about TERMINATION or PROSECUTION for their crimes of stealing from the tax payers.
I so have a problem with indefinite curfew. When did we all become criminals?
I doubt that this current curfew is legal by several standards (limitless, initiated by HPD, and it is not listed on the Harris County Homeland Security and Emergency Management website as the previous one was: http://www.hcoem.org/Default.aspx?P=News, see earlier extension of the curfew listed here: http://www.hcoem.org/PressRelease.aspx?ID=292)
The again Chuck Rosenthal (the RINO DA who got run off earlier this year) openly expressed disgust at the state legistlature permitting citizens to carry firearms in their cars and threatened to prosecute legal citizenry as felons and dared us to challenge it up through the state courts.
Pasadena lifted the curfew yesterday... but it’s not on their website yet. Apparently the public doesn’t know either.
Walmart is open from 8:00AM to 8:30PM. I don’t know if they are only letting a small number of people in at a time or not. Some of the grocery stores were doing that last week even if they did have full power. (insert eye-roll here)
I’m listening to Johnny Isbel’s address from yesterday. What did people ever do before FEMA and complete government control? The “man” wasn’t there to bail every one out after Alicia. Power and cell phone weren’t constitutional rights. Grrrr.
I’m surprised at the number of people who think indefinite curfew and corporate hand holding/criminalizing the customer are perfectly fine.
Bill White and METRO need to open up the HOV lanes!
Bill White can’t lift this curfew because he did not impose it. HPD did and it probably wouldn’t pass legal tests but you’d have to cover expenses to go to court and challenge it.
Only the mayor and governor can impose a curfew when a state of emergency has been declared, no?
20 plus, of those break-ins occured within 8 blocks of my house...In the week just following the storm...
But you’d never really hear about it until now, and the report given to the media is a little ambiguous on details like where and when...Just that they arrested who they could catch...
I thought we could just shoot looters??? And that survivors would be shot again...
I guess that is why I am still on a generator...
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