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The raid happened Aug. 19 in the parking lot of a Kmart department store, located in the 8400 block of Westheimer Road, in southwest Houston.
HPD officials had previously said that it conducted the crackdown in response to numerous complaints from citizens and previous police surveillance regarding street racing and large crowds forming in the area.
Police said that these crowds impeded the access to and from businesses and that as a result of the operation 278 people were arrested with the majority being charged with criminal trespass.
"Zero tolerance does not override the need for probable cause to issue citations or to make arrests, nor does it mean to arrest everyone in sight," Bradford said.
Bradford answered some tough questions Wednesday for more than two hours by some members of the City Council.
He admitted that the parking lot raid arrests may be illegal, if people were never told they were trespassing and given a chance to leave.
Bradford said that if that's true, then he wonders why his officers followed an illegal order to arrest everyone.
"No officer in the Houston Police Department has ever been cited with insubordination or any other offense for their refusal to obey an unlawful order nor will they be on my watch," Bradford said.
Councilman Mark Ellis and others said that they wondered why no one blew the whistle before this raid, because a smaller sweep was done the night before at a James Coney Island eatery in which 25 people were arrested.
"Friday night, I didn't know. A chief in charge of the department didn't know, because no one reported it in a significant event report that it had occurred," Bradford said. "So, therefore, there was not that opportunity to intervene before the next night occurred."
The city attorney told the council that if an internal affairs investigation reveals that the arrests were illegal, the city will dismiss all of the charges against all of the people and even overturn the convictions for those who pleaded guilty to get out of jail.
Thirteen officers have been suspended in the wake of the raid, including the officer in charge of the operation, Capt. Mike Aguirre.
One of those people arrested has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the city, accusing Aguirre and the city of falsely arresting him for "attempted trespass."