[Houmatt]

A question FOR TEXAS FREEPERS ONLY:

Have you ever heard of police officers being fired before they have had their day in court?

Because I certainly don't, and considering the timing of this (that it would come shortly after Bradford's purjury case was thrown out), I hardly believe it is a coincidence.

[dtel]

Cant answer your question but, you and doggone posted the exact same article at the exact same time.
I smell a conspiracy. ;^)

[Ciexyz]

These officers are in big trouble, and they should be. Their actions demonstrated unjustifiable overkill. They should have simply cleared the lot and ran a chain across the entrances to keep the lot clear for the rest of the night.

If that lot is a constant problem, then they should run a chain after K-mart's closing time every Fri and Sat eves. That's what reasonable police departments do all over the country (and in my area specifically).

These officers sound like they ran off half-cocked and someone above them has to make an example. Shit always flows downhill in these cases. These two cost their department big bucks and brought ill will from the public. Their political superiors will undoubtedly kick their butts.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Dog Gone]

Have you ever heard of police officers being fired before they have had their day in court?

Sure. Since when is it required to have a court case before you fire someone?

It's not and it would be ridiculous to expect it. Even the unions haven't tried that crazy argument.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Good, now, where is the prosecution for the various federal and state laws these pigs must have violated?

[tallhappy]

There a small but obnoxiously vocal minority here that hate the police.

They have obsessed over this case, saying it was a Nazi takeover ad nauseum.

All the while others, such as myself calmly stated that if the officers had done wrong it would be investigated and addressed.

That is exactly what happened.

Nazis didn't take over. The sky was not falling.

[neutrino]

Have you ever heard of police officers being fired before they have had their day in court?

Yes, I most certainly have...he was a veteran with 15 years service with a large department.

[chaosagent]

Sure. Breaking the law and breaking police department rules are two different things.

They can be fired now, and then later, may or may not be fined or jailed after the trial.

[No Truce With Kings]

"Have you ever heard of police officers being fired before they have had their day in court?"

Happened in Palestine, Tx, when I lived there. One police officer got some nude photos of another officer, and began distributing them to co-workers. They fired the distributor, but not the photographee. The officer that was distributing the photos was mad at the other officer and her husband, got the photos improperly, and neither the city council or the police chief was happy.

The woman sued the city for invasion of privacy -- since a city official was distributing the photos -- and won some money. (Another reason the city was unhappy, but they fired the guy well before the civil suit was filed.) It was one of those things that only seems to happen in small East Texas towns, but seems to happen quite often there.

Palestine was also the place where an Anderson County Constable got fired *after* being accused of raping female prisoner he was transporting Dallas, but *before* he was tried for the crime. Of course, the trial he had pending for pedophilia (he was accused and later convicted of having sex with a pre-teen niece) might have influenced that decision. . .

[Houmatt]

Washington artwork defaced at Met

Former employee of museum is charged in tampering with painting

NEW YORK -- The famous oil painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River was vandalized at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, allegedly by a former museum employee who glued on a computer image depicting a fake view of the World Trade Center attack.

Emanuel Leutze's 1851 Washington Crossing the Delaware was quickly cleaned after last Saturday's incident.

"Conservators were brought to the scene within 15 minutes" after the painting was defaced, museum spokesman Harold Holzer said Friday. "It didn't leave any damage."

Holzer said the suspect, Robert Gray, 41, was a security guard who had worked briefly for the museum and for its upper-Manhattan branch, the Cloisters.

Gray managed to elude security guards but he was recognized when he returned there Thursday afternoon, Holzer said.

Police said Gray was charged with felony criminal mischief.

Holzer said the computer image glued onto the painting showed a phony photo of a man standing at the trade center with a jet flying toward it. The paper, about 8 by 11 inches, was affixed with a water-soluble glue to the bottom right corner of the huge 12-foot-by-20-foot painting.

The painting's famous Revolutionary War scene depicts Washington's attack on Hessian mercenaries at Trenton on Dec. 25, 1776. It shows Washington standing in a boat and James Madison holding an American flag as they're rowed across the Delaware.

The Met purchased the painting the same year it was painted, for the then-enormous sum of $10,000.

The painting is the second version the German-American artist painted of the historic event. The first version was damaged in his studio during a fire in 1850. It was restored, but was later damaged again.

-----

When I read this story, I finally realized what the likes of Dog Gone et al were trying to tell me.

In this particular case, for example, I can now clearly see and understand how Robert Gray was, in fact, not doing anything wrong. I certainly hope the city of New York does the right thing and prosecutes the arresting officers to the fullest extent of the law.

[TroutStalker]

Hans Marticiuc, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, said he expects Aguirre and Wenzel and possibly two more officers to be fired.

That will be a good start. I hope they lose their pensions, forfeit their assets in the lawsuits, and spend some time behind bars as well. Police who abuse their authority should be held to a high standard. Unfortunately, most who do abuse the trust the public places in them usually get away with it. The ones who get caught should pay a very high price, to send a strong message to the rest.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Officers brace to be fired in Kmart raid case

Good.

[steve-b]

Have you ever heard of police officers being fired before they have had their day in court?

They're probably guilty as hell, but this should be properly determined through due process. I suspect that they're being thrown to the wolves to save their bosses' skins.

[jjm2111]

I've been to Houston, and one of the problems w/ houtown is that apartment complexes abut commercial properties pretty frequently. I wouldn't want to live next to a K-Mart. The kids could have been just sitting there b-sing with one another and revving their car engines. That probably wouldn't have bothered the store patrons, but it would certainly bother the apartment tenants.

How much can one control noise? A 3:00 am on a Monday morning is a big differance between 8:00 pm on a Friday night. Sometimes people live near a main drag and piss and moan about noise, but didn't they know about it before they moved in?

I think the cops screwed up big time.

[jjm2111]

I've been to Houston, and one of the problems w/ houtown is that apartment complexes abut commercial properties pretty frequently. I wouldn't want to live next to a K-Mart. The kids could have been just sitting there b-sing with one another and revving their car engines. That probably wouldn't have bothered the store patrons, but it would certainly bother the apartment tenants.

How much can one control noise? A 3:00 am on a Monday morning is a big differance between 8:00 pm on a Friday night. Sometimes people live near a main drag and piss and moan about noise, but didn't they know about it before they moved in?

I think the cops screwed up big time.

[Mat_Helm]

Thank God justice prevails and bad cops are held accountable. The constitution wins and stupid ignorant cops and those that support law breaking cops in this post lose, the tax payers of Houstan lose, freedom and justice win.