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Memo Sheds Light On Kmart Parking Lot Raid
Houston KTRK Television ^ | August 26, 2002

Posted on 08/26/2002 3:55:11 PM PDT by Dog Gone

Memo Sheds Light On Parking Lot Raid
Lawsuit Filed
Posted: 5:35 p.m. CDT August 26, 2002
HOUSTON -- A memo shed light Monday on a controversial raid in a Kmart parking lot that netted nearly 300 arrests.

An attorney for Houston Police Capt. Mark Aguirre said that a memo dated Aug. 13 to Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford showed that there would be mass arrests in a crackdown on street racing.

Aguirre's attorney said that if his client is reprimanded over the raid, the police chief should be as well.

"For the chief's office now to say they didn't know there were going to be mass amount of arrests out there, it's just not true," said Terry Yates, Aguirre's attorney.

Aguirre was behind "Operation Eracer," where 278 people were arrested on Aug. 17 in the parking lot of Kmart, 8400 Westheimer Road.

Many of those arrested said they were innocent and filed complaints with HPD.

"If there's something wrong with that, then Chief Bradford is just as responsible as Capt. Aguirre," Lewis said.

Aguirre has been relieved of duty while the internal affairs division investigates the case.

Yates filed a temporary restraining order, asking for a stop to the investigation.

"That should be done by a panel appointed by city council or the mayor's office -- a side apart from (internal affairs division), which is controlled directly by Chief Bradford," Lewis said.

 SURVEY
What do you think of the Houston Police Department's parking lot raid that netted 278 arrests?
I disagree with what the police did.
I agree with officers having to arrest the people.
I'm not sure.
I don't care.

Residents in the neighborhood where Aguirre patrols support him and said that he has helped clean up the area.

"Everything he's done over there has been for the good of the whole community. We have never seen anyone work as hard as he has to try to solve the problems that we have over there," former Houston city councilman Felix Fraga said.

"I feel terrible for him because I feel that the man has worked hard to work to get where he is and to help the rest of us and I feel that this is unjust and I feel that a lot of it starts at the top," resident Sam Lasell said. "I don't think that it's all his fault."

"He's controversial. There's no doubt about that. But he has done the citizens of this community a great service and served them admirably for 23 years," Lewis said.

Lawsuit Filed

The Houston chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday in connection with the parking lot sting.

The ACLU filed it on behalf of Justin Esparza. Aguirre and the city of Houston are listed as defendants.

An ACLU attorney expects that more lawsuits will be filed.

Exclusive: Internal Memo Detailed Raid

While Aguirre claimed headquarters was in on every step of the raid, the News2Houston Investigators obtained an internal Houston Police Department memo that contradicts that.

Many of Aguirre's fellow HPD managers said the memo mapped out the full plans for "Operation Eracer" and it mentions nothing about arresting everyone in sight, according to an exclusive News2Houston report.

The document is dated just before the raid.

Assistant chief C.A. McClelland wrote that he approved the plan of action submitted by Aguirre.

Throughout the five-page memo, it mentioned that the operation was aimed at eliminating street racing, and then on page three, it listed specifics.

The memo said only those identified as "racers" will be arrested.

Curfew violators or those drinking in public would be arrested too, but for everyone else -- the spectators -- the memo said they would be told to leave, then they would be checked for license and insurance -- a zero tolerance-type crackdown.

The plan approved by headquarters said citations would be issued for all violations discovered in the sweep.

Nowhere in the memo is there a single mention of arresting people for trespassing, which is the charge that sent 378 people to jail that night.

Fellow HPD supervisors told News2Houston that they were completely caught off guard when the raid detailed in the memo turned into an "arrest everyone on site" operation.

Aguirre signed the bottom of the memo, which is much more recent than the memo from May that he's now using to show that headquarters knew what he was up to.

In the May memo, Aguirre made a brief mention of mass arrests, but offered no specifics.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: kmartraid
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1 posted on 08/26/2002 3:55:11 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Dog Gone
Aspiring officers and officers who would like to move to a larger cvity should get their resumes in to HPD. There will be some vacancies soon.
2 posted on 08/26/2002 4:02:50 PM PDT by arthurus
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To: Dog Gone
That memo must have shed more light on the raid. I see where ten more officers have been suspended. Looking good HPD.
3 posted on 08/26/2002 4:04:36 PM PDT by FreePaul
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To: Dog Gone
This just gets better and better.
4 posted on 08/26/2002 4:06:48 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: FreePaul
The poll the station is currently running isn't looking too good for the cops.
5 posted on 08/26/2002 4:14:08 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Thud; Arkinsaw; neutrino; Spirited; Fixit; FITZ; sweetliberty; freebilly; Dec31,1999; ...
More fun.
6 posted on 08/26/2002 4:17:20 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Dog Gone
Hmmmm....the thick plottens! ;-\
7 posted on 08/26/2002 4:19:27 PM PDT by Pablo64
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To: Dog Gone
Thanks for the ping!

Curfew violators or those drinking in public would be arrested too, but for everyone else -- the spectators -- the memo said they would be told to leave, then they would be checked for license and insurance -- a zero tolerance-type crackdown.

Exactly the point I've made...they can do lots of things legally. But Aguirre decided to play stormtrooper...and shatter (not just break!) the law.

8 posted on 08/26/2002 4:23:46 PM PDT by neutrino
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To: Dog Gone
Fellow HPD supervisors told News2Houston that they were completely caught off guard when the raid detailed in the memo turned into an "arrest everyone on site" operation.

So why didn't they "Just Say No"?

9 posted on 08/26/2002 4:32:50 PM PDT by justlurking
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To: Dog Gone
It is becoming my impression that the race of many of the participants is intentionally being excluded. Either the folks in the parking lot and K-Mart were mostly black or the offending cops were mostly black. Can anyone comment on the race of the Captain and the race of the Chief? If they are black, are they any good or simply affirmative action tokens?
10 posted on 08/26/2002 4:33:52 PM PDT by Tacis
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To: Dog Gone
Interesting that Aguirre would give the press the May memo and not the updated one. Maybe in his mind the updated memo was not acceptable. I wonder if that is what the falling out with the other Captain was about.

I would love to hear what the other Captain has to say about this whole mess.

11 posted on 08/26/2002 4:41:42 PM PDT by niki
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To: Tacis
I can't really do much more than make an educated guess on the arrestees. There's only about 10 seconds of film clips, and it's only maybe 30-50 of those arrested. The majority appear to be white in those clips, maybe 20% black and 20% hispanic. It definitely was a mix, but the Houston population is about 1/3 from each group.

Captain Aguirre is hispanic, but there's no information that he got his job through affirmative action. It's possible, but he seems to be fairly bright and certainly motivated. He's also a bully and a jerk and a thug who I believe deserves jail time, but a token he isn't.

The police chief is black. Bradford was chosen by our Mayor, Lee Brown, who is definitely an affirmative action token. The police chief strikes me as being 100 times brighter than our mayor, but he's a liberal who won't arrest illegal aliens because he doesn't think they're breaking our laws, and he's currently under investigation himself for possible perjury charges.

I don't know that I'd categorize him as an affirmative action token, but I think it's probably accurate that the Mayor would only have hired a black candidate for Police Chief.

In all honesty, I don't think race is much of a factor in this story. It's fair to ask whether or not it is, but I haven't seen any evidence of it.

12 posted on 08/26/2002 4:54:00 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: niki
Maybe in his mind the updated memo was not acceptable.

No, the article states that he signed the recent memo.

This really puts the heat on Aguirre. He had tried to blame his superiors with the earlier memo he had written, but this operational memo just before the raid shows that he went far beyond what he had agreed to do.

I'm curious how they intended to arrest all street racers (who they never found). How do you go about identifying a street racer in a parking lot, especially since that's not where they raced?

13 posted on 08/26/2002 5:28:38 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Dog Gone
I'm curious how they intended to arrest all street racers (who they never found). How do you go about identifying a street racer in a parking lot, especially since that's not where they raced?

Racing helmets and numbers painted on side doors?

14 posted on 08/26/2002 5:34:49 PM PDT by Thumper1960
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To: Dog Gone
::Maybe in his mind the updated memo was not acceptable.

No, the article states that he signed the recent memo.

Sure he signed it but in this mind he probably did not agree with it. That maybe where the problem came up with the other Captain.

But when Aguirre angered Mokwa during a command staff meeting by insisting he knew how the operation should be conducted, he and Mokwa got the permission of an assistant chief for Aguirre to take over, the supervisors said

15 posted on 08/26/2002 5:40:18 PM PDT by niki
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To: niki
Oh, I'll bet you are correct. I doubt Aguirre wrote the recent memo. It was probably the plan by the other captain, whom he muscled out at the last minute. He signed off on it, but then decided to run it his way.
16 posted on 08/26/2002 6:03:26 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Dog Gone; niki; Dark Wing
This is priceless. Aguirre signed that, and then had everyone in sight arrested anyway?

They're coming to take me away, ho ho, ha ha, he he, to the funny farm where life is wonderful all the time ...

"... but for everyone else -- the spectators -- the memo said they would be told to leave, then they would be checked for license and insurance -- a zero tolerance-type crackdown.

The plan approved by headquarters said citations would be issued for all violations discovered in the sweep.

Nowhere in the memo is there a single mention of arresting people for trespassing, which is the charge that sent 378 people to jail that night.

Fellow HPD supervisors told News2Houston that they were completely caught off guard when the raid detailed in the memo turned into an "arrest everyone on site" operation.

Aguirre signed the bottom of the memo, which is much more recent than the memo from May that he's now using to show that headquarters knew what he was up to."


17 posted on 08/26/2002 6:07:18 PM PDT by Thud
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To: Dog Gone
Oh, I'll bet you are correct. I doubt Aguirre wrote the recent memo. It was probably the plan by the other captain, whom he muscled out at the last minute. He signed off on it, but then decided to run it his way.

Interesting that we have not heard anything about the other captain. I wonder if he was 'relieved of duty' also.

18 posted on 08/26/2002 6:08:53 PM PDT by niki
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To: wku man; FreeTally
Article has information regarding the operational details of the Kmart raid.
19 posted on 08/26/2002 6:15:17 PM PDT by niki
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To: niki
Interesting that we have not heard anything about the other captain. I wonder if he was 'relieved of duty' also.

Oh, that's not a hard guess. If you go back and read the early story about the raid "going to hell in a handbasket", that other captain HAD to be one of those who violated department policy by talking to the Chronicle.

The brass wants to can him for that, if nothing else.

20 posted on 08/26/2002 6:19:25 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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