More we know about Kmart raid, the worse it gets

Houston Chronicle ^ | August 25, 2002 | Editorial Board

[Dog Gone]

A contingent of op-ed and letter writers to the Chronicle has taken the position that arresting 278 young people during a raid on a shopping center and restaurant parking lot last weekend was entirely justified because of the annoying late-night loitering and drag racing that had become typical at that spot. But the problem with the raid is not that police officers tried to arrest lawbreakers in and around the 24- hour Kmart Super Center parking in the 8400 block of Westheimer. It is with the contemptuous attitude police showed toward the citizenry by not bothering to sort out the good from the bad.

The people who so enthusiastically applaud law enforcement for shoddy police work more than likely would be singing a different tune if they or one of their children had been unjustly swept up in the botched raid and they found themselves spending all of a weekend day working through the city's criminal justice bureaucracy and coughing up large sums to retrieve their car from the pound.

More nettlesome than the irritation of being arrested for no cause, possible long-term consequences of a needlessly acquired criminal record and the potential for significant lawsuits that will have to be defended and settled with public funds, is the fact that the officer who led the Kmart debacle, Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre, apparently has operated unchecked for years in this free-style arrest mode.

Police Chief C.O. Bradford says he has ordered an inquiry into the parking lot arrests. And Mayor Lee Brown has referred the matter to his Office of Inspector General. But Brown otherwise has been strangely quiet for a mayor who so heavily touted his extensive law enforcement experience during his three election campaigns.

The Chronicle does not condone behavior that is unlawful, or even just annoying, including drag racing, underage drinking, drug use, disturbingly loud music playing or anything else a bunch of kids hanging out late at night in a parking lot might be up to. But neither does the paper support police- state tactics that show an alarming disregard for the right of law-abiding citizens to to go about free from fear of sudden arrest.

[FITZ]

The Sonic owners never filed any kind of complaint, and even refused to allow the police to tow the vehicles of their customers that were arrested.

I think this is a very important detail ---if the businesses wanted trouble makers removed from their property who wouldn't leave when told to leave, it would be a whole different matter. It seems the police went way overboard.

[ASDFGHJK]

won the case = I won the case.

[bat-boy]

Give me a break. Maybe if teenagers/young adults faced some consequences for behavior that is unlawful, or even just annoying, including drag racing, underage drinking, drug use, disturbingly loud music playing they might think twice before doing it.

Yeah....these things never went on when you were a kid did they? You grew up in the perfect little town where all children attended mass every night and no one loitered, drag raced, drank or played loud music.

Or is it that "things were different then"?

[justlurking]

I kept checking the newspaper to see if any little old ladies had been busted with drugs, but I never seen anything.

She probably talked back to the officer during a traffic stop and he decided to teach her a lesson.

We are all criminals just waiting to be caught! That is the attitude of Law enforcement.

Over all, the rank-and-file officers are good people. I'm less charitable toward the top brass, because they have to kiss a lot of politicians' backside to get there (and I won't bother to tell you why I'm suspicious of politicians).

However, the "blue wall of silence" is a problem. Police departments tend to close ranks and protect all but their worst offenders, even after multiple instances that should indicate that it's time to eliminate the problem before it escalates into a tragedy.

In all fairness, it's self-preservation. In any business, whistle-blowers will be victims of both subtle and obvious retribution. But, most of us have the opportunity to take our services to another employer, while good opportunities for law enforcement officers are limited.

[Ditter]

Not clever enough. They should have stayed until the whole thing was over. I would have. ;9}

[Bobby777]

one could well imagine her applauding Hitler's boys as they loaded the Jews onto trains ... she'd be yelling "how are they supposed to tell the good Jews from the bad Jews when they're loading 10,000 on a train?" ... may she be caught in one of this sweeps while stopping in Sonic for a shake ... I'll bet she sings a different tune then ...

[Bob Mc]

"I don't get it. I was sure that only Kaliforniastan was a jackbooted socialist cesspool, and that Texas was a shining paradise of liberty. What gives?"

Austin, Houston, San Antonio are also becoming socialist government cesspools. In fact so are most of the major "big" cities across America. Remember the red/blue county by county map that showed where Bush won and Gore won. Rural America voted for Bush, cities voted for Gore. Texas was one huge red for Bush map, except for the counties containing Austin, Houston. These big cities are getting the kind of government they want.

[ChiMark]

No one has a right to be obnoxious and drunk on private property. Arrest them all. Where is there a right to loiter, drink, play earth shattering music, fight? What happens most often is customers will stay away. The problem is people see all forms of selfish behavior as a protected right. But we no longer have a younger population considerate of other people's rights. There was a time when curfews were enforced upon teenagers.

[HighWheeler]

I don't know if this was posted, I just found it:

------------------

Aug. 21, 2002, 1:17PM

Captain at center of Kmart raid hurt in wreck
By S.K. BARDWELL
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre suffered minor injuries late last night when his unmarked police car was struck by an 18-wheeler in northwest Houston.

Aguirre, the target of both criticism and kudos for a raid that resulted in the arrests of 278 young people at a popular westside gathering spot early Sunday, was off duty when the accident occurred about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

HPD spokesman Robert Hurst said Aguirre, driving an unmarked city-owned Dodge Stratus, was attempting to turn left onto West 18th from the inside lane of the West Loop North service road when he was struck, Hurst said.

The 18-wheeler, which belongs to Kirby Trucking and was driven by Allen Tompkins, 27, of Liberty, was trying to make the same left turn from the outside lane, Hurst said.

The truck damaged the roof and right side of Aguirre's car. Tompkins was cited for failing to maintain a single lane of traffic while making a left turn, Hurst said.

Aguirre complained of some pain in his legs after the accident, but was not transported to a hospital, opting instead to see his personal physician today, Hurst said.

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crybaby, it wan't even a real collision.

[Dog Gone]

No one has a right to be obnoxious and drunk on private property. Arrest them all. Where is there a right to loiter, drink, play earth shattering music, fight?

There weren't any reports of any alcohol at all. Or fighting. And I certainly don't share your opinion that the police should arrest everyone in sight if a few people are violating the law. Collective criminal guilt is not a concept embraced by our Constitution.

[Fixit]

That was actually the second accident Aguirre has had while driving a police car. The first one, a few years back, was surrounded by rumors of drunk driving. (which were never proven, or even tested for.)

[Dog Gone]

Actually, Bush carried the counties around and including Houston, too. The city limits of Houston is carefully managed to make sure it stays reliably Democrat, but the unincorporated suburbs are quite conservative. Think Tom DeLay.

[SarahW]

No, the father of the ten year old girl said it happened.
The teenager who was EATING ICECREAM ourchased on the premises was a different girl.
You can't keep the stories apart in your head, I'm not going to do it for you.

The fact remains, anyone who went to the restaurant to buy food and ate it on premises was not trespassing. The business was open, inviting customers; (there were tables for the patrons outside, and patrons were invited to use them- BTW) and had not asked them to depart.

The cops detained, handcuffed, arrested and through in jail people there for legitimate purposes. That's illegal, and also a civil tort.

[SarahW]

"threw", not through.

If the cops knew (or should have know) they were arresting innocent people, to discourage patronage of the businesses, the businesses have a tort action, too.

[sweetliberty]

"Thirty or so years ago this 'mass arrest' would have led to about two hundred parents yanking driver's licenses and or priveledges from half the kids arrested"

30 or so years ago, this would not have happened.

[sweetliberty]

"to alot of "law and order" Texan types (many on this forum), this sort of thing IS an example of a shining paradise of liberty."

Frightening isn't it?

[sweetliberty]

"Now shut up and quit rattling those chains around your neck..."

We only thought slavery was abolished. Actually, it has just taken a new form.

[sweetliberty]

"somewhere else in Houston there may have been a mugging, a rape, a murder, a drunk careening through the streets, or any number of more serious crimes taking place"

I'd be willing to bet on it. I'd also be willing to bet that we won't hear anything about other crimes that occurred in that time frame..

[Ken H]

No, they were appropriate for a mass arrest. Which, by coincidence is exactly what it was.

The courts will decide how appropriate this mass arrest was.

I'll bet this little stunt is going to cost the city of Houston multi-millions of dollars.

[Free Trapper]

When the FReepers with less knowledge of this fiasco go back and read the older links,"most" seem to have a pretty drastic attitude change.

They usually just need the information that is already provided if they will just read them.