Mayor says he supports police chief
08/28/2002
HOUSTON (KHOU) -- Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford did little to quell critics Wednesday during his first public statements on the mass arrests at a Kmart parking lot.
"I have no evidence, at this point in time, that anybody was involved in street racing on the date and time in question," Bradford said, as he answered questions from council members.
Some citizens at city council listening today questioned whether Chief Bradford was really in control of Houston's police force. The city council had several questions for the chief, and 19-year-old Michael Guerra had one of his own.
"He's saying that it never reached him, the plan to arrest everyone never reached him. I would just want to ask him, how could that happen if he's supposed to be the chief?" Guerra said. "He's supposed to be in control of everything. You know, just, something this massive happened without him knowing about it?"
Hans Marticiuc, with the Houston Police Officers Union, said Bradford's answers only led to more questions. "I'm not sure whether he's lost control, but I think the confidence in the entire administration is jeopardized, " Marticiuc said.
Mayor Lee Brown supported the police chief. "I have the utmost confidence in Chief Bradford," Brown said. "He's a career police officer."
At city council, some lawyers took notes on the chief's statements. His answers to council members' questions could come up in lawsuits against the city.
"I heard a number of things that could help the case," said Randall Kallinen, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who was taking notes. "There was definitely something wrong."
It's not the last time Chief Bradford will face the spotlight on the controversial raid.
Hans Marticiuc (I'm glad I'm typing that instead of guessing how to pronounce it) is the head of the Police Union. His job is to blame Department management, and keep the approximately 55 cops involved in this raid from being disciplined. He's hired an attorney to represent them, but he also hired a separate attorney to represent Captain Aguirre. That's because it's obvious to him that the patrolmen are going to have to plead the "just following orders" defense.
Meanwhile, the Police Chief is pointing fingers downward at both the street cops and Aguirre and pleading complete ignorance. The City Attorney knows that his goose is cooked if he tries to prosecute any of these cases, and the District Attorney is in the awkward position of trying to determine whether to prosecute anyone in the Police Department at all.
The City Council is trying to keep their political jobs, and the Mayor is trying to line up another trip out of the city as soon as possible.
From a political standpoint, the person who is the most expendable is Captain Aguirre. It helps that he is a complete turd who belongs in jail. Nobody, except the citizens who feel like Houmatt are going to support him, and he's done, gone, outta here. He may very well be prosecuted, and I think he should be.
The Police Union is going to make a compelling case out of the coercion and intimidation that occurs in the Department as the reason for following Aguirre's illegal orders. However, some of those officers who arrested the most sympathetic people are going to either be disciplined or prosecuted. The Police Union needs to understand that, or it's likely to end up as prosecution.
The next move is up to the City Attorney. I'm sure he's in negotiations and consultation with the DA's office, the Chief of Police, Hans Marticiuc, and perhaps even the US Attorney and FBI. He's going to drop the charges. He has little choice. They weren't justified legally, and the political and financial exposure is enormous.
The dust hasn't even begun to settle on this yet, but I think we can begin to see how it might.