In Order to Protect Against the Government

Today I read this story. Apparently this proposal came as a result of an Indiana court case Barnes V. Indiana. Angered by a perceived "threat to the 4th amendment" Senator R. Michael Young came up with SB001 which reads:

" (h) A person is justified in using reasonable force against any law enforcement officer if the person reasonably believes the force is necessary to:

(1) protect the person or a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force;
(2) prevent or terminate the law enforcement officer's unlawful entry of or attack on the person's dwelling, curtilage, or occupied motor vehicle; or
(3) prevent or terminate the law enforcement officer's unlawful trespass on or criminal interference with property lawfully in the person's possession, lawfully in possession of a member of the person's immediate family, or belonging to a person whose property the person has authority to protect.
(i) Notwithstanding subsection (h), a person is not justified in using force against a law enforcement officer if:
(1) the person is committing or is escaping after the commission of a crime;
(2) the person provokes action by the law enforcement officer with intent to cause bodily injury to the law enforcement officer;
(3) the person has entered into combat with the law enforcement officer or is the initial aggressor, unless the person withdraws from the encounter and communicates to the law enforcement officer the intent to do so and the law enforcement officer nevertheless continues or threatens to

continue unlawful action: or
(4) the person reasonably believes the law enforcement officer is:
(A) acting lawfully, or
(B) engaged in the lawful execution of the law enforcement officer's official duties.
(j) A person is not justified in using deadly force against a law enforcement officer who the person knows or reasonably should know is a law enforcement officer unless:
(1) the person reasonably believes that the law enforcement officer is:
(A) acting unlawfully; or
(B) not engaged in the execution of the officer's official duties; and
(2) the force is reasonably necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person.

SOURCE: ; (12)ES0001.2.2. --> SECTION 2. An emergency is declared for this act."

I won't bore anyone with the obvious faults of this bill. Since the premise of this is to protect the people from the government I sent this respectful suggestion to help defend people from the government:

"Dear Senator Young,

I read with great interest SB0001 in Indiana. If I understand the premise correctly it's design is to protect citizens from unlawful government intrusions. I can certainly respect that ideal. However I do not think this bill goes far enough to protect the people from the government. The vast majority of intrusion isn't from law enforcement but from the legislators across the nation that make bad laws. Therefore I respectfully suggest that citizens be allowed to use reasonable force to defend themselves from the legislators that would unlawfully interfere with their lives, liberties, and pursuits of happiness. Now I'm not saying citizens be allowed to use force to defend themselves against legislators making laws they disagree with. I respectfully suggest that citizens use the same standard they would in determining a police officer's presence on their property is unlawful; simply leave it up to the perception of the citizen. If the citizen reasonably believes a law passed by a legislator would harm him/her then the citizen be allowed to use reasonable force against the legislator as they would the police officer. Thank you for your time in reading this email and good luck in protecting the citizenry from yourselves.

Warmest Regards,

George Parsons"

Wayne Dolcefino and the Contract Deputy Program

I watched with interest Wayne Dolcefino's stories on the contract deputy program. In this story he goes after the Harris County Sheriff's Department for not patrolling their contracted areas. He uses clips from the movie Fantastic Voyage which makes me wonder did he get permission to use those clips. It wouldn't be the first time Wayne has broken laws to get his story.

This is how the contract deputy program works. Neighborhoods and business districts collect money from their residents/tenants and spend it on their communities. Many of them go to the county and request patrols from either the sheriff's department or the constable of that particular precinct. I'm sure there are politics that come to play here. Some organizations prefer the sheriff's department and some prefer the constable's offices. I've heard stories of both organizations lobbying organizations for the patrol contract but regardless the point of the program is that a deputy spends a certain amount of their time (70%, 80%, or 100%) patrolling that particular area. Some say that taxes already pay for these services. However that is not the case. Most routine patrols do not consists of neighborhoods unless they are considered hot spots or called out there. There aren't enough patrol officers on the streets to cover all these areas. That's why the neighborhoods (business districts and MUDs are included in this term for purposes of this article) pay more for specific patrol. The idea is the same officer in the same neighborhood becomes familiar with the people and events and is better aware of suspicious activity. The program has its critics of course (as does law enforcement in general) claiming it's for affluent neighborhoods only.

This story talks about contract patrols from the sheriff and constable departments. Most people don't know the difference between the two. Both are defined as peace officers by the Texas code of criminal procedure. Both have powers of arrest, both are charged with preserving the peace and both have given their lives in the line of duty. Both positions trace their roots to medieval times. Constables are considered to be the oldest law enforcement in the world. In effect there is no difference (aside from the uniform) between the powers and duties of a sheriff and constable however constables have limited themselves (at least here in Texas) to their precincts even though they have county wide jurisdiction. This has lead to a bit of a rivalry between the two. I've had dealings with both and there are good officers in both as well some pretty worthless ones as well. In this story the focus is the absence of the sheriff deputies in their assigned contracts whereas a lady says she always sees the constables. The comments section shows the general ignorance of people and there is link to a patrol analysis written by a major with the sheriff's office. In it he quotes sections of the CCP and replaces peace officer with 'SO' (sheriff's office) to make it read like the sheriff is the end all-be all in county law enforcement which is disingenuous. One commenter stated that all constables do are "vacation watches for wealthy homes" while sheriff deputies run around 20 to 25 priority calls at once. This is simply not true. I've seen call screens for the sheriff's department and see a lot of contract checks, business checks, parking lot checks, etc. I guess the author of that comment was a sheriff's deputy. The bottom line is that there is not enough law enforcement in all of Harris County to cover all areas. Sheriffs, constables, HPD, and the rest are spread too thin but doing essentially the same job. Most would be in favor of one, large, all encompassing metropolitan police force however that will never happen because too many upper echelons will not give up their power.

Wayne Dolcefino Taking on the Good Ole Boys

Since last fall the public has been treated to a series of undercover reports from Channel 13's Wayne Dolcefino. In all fairness I have to say he's a good reporter despite his criminal record, exaggerated showmanship, and tendency to miss certain details, and possible copy right violations.

First there were many stories on various Harris County constables. Early in 2011 the county budget office reported that all departments (except for the sheriff's department and probably the budget office itself) had to trim their budgets. All 8 constable offices saw money taken from them and given to the sheriff's department.

First Wayne exposed Pct. 6 Constable Victor Trevino. Apparently deputies had contacted Wayne about the practice of working on his campaign and for his charity on county time which is a big no no. When I first saw this I was surprised. Trevino had been a media favorite for a long time. He knows how to appear favorably to the media and is cozy with groups like LULAC who always have reporters' ears. It seemed like a dog that turns and bites its handler. Wayne showed emails where commanders solicited donations and handed out event tickets. Trevino took another hit when (according to insiders) he assigned a sergeant to investigate where the leaks were coming from. Her internet persona become prime time fodder. Her facebook posts were compared to her time sheets creating the image she was falsifying her time sheets. Now, I don't know if she was or wasn't however with facebook one can post a picture or a status update and create illusion. For example, a picture of her with a glass of wine was shown. The time and date of the picture coincided with her work week. With facebook I can post a picture and the date/time stamp is when the picture was posted, not taken. She could've taken that picture anytime and just posted it while she was at work. The same applies to her statuses. I'm sure the investigators will look at her activity logs aside from her time sheet to verify or refute the allegations. Next the practice of issuing "advisor badges" was exposed. Sadly some constables in their politicking issue "non police" badges to supporters, friends, etc. I personally disagree with the practice because it is political favoritism. This came to light when Wayne revealed that a "liaison" for Pct.6 was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Trevino did his best to distance himself from Richard Romero via his attorney Chip Lewis. However he was well aware of him and his generous contributions to his suspicious charity. This investigation is still pending.

Next, Wayne did a series of reports on Pct.7 Constable May Walker. She tried to deflect the incoming publicity storm with a press conference where she attempted to answer issues brought up by Wayne (her full conference is available on Channel 13's interactive site) however Walker not being good on her feet did herself more harm than good. Wayne showed Walker's employees campaigned for her on county time with help from one of her Lieutenants, Sylvia Trevino (who happens to be the wife of Constable Victor Trevino). We all found it amazing how on Walker's raffle that Constable Trevino won both top prizes. Makes you go hmmmm. We also all found it amazing how Walker was no-billed by the grand jury despite the fact her campaign reports clearly said "raffles" which are not allowed for political campaigns. Keep in mind two Dallas county constables were indicted for the same thing. I guess Dallas county grand jurors and/or prosecutors actually read the law unlike in Harris County. Wayne showed Walker also engaged in the practice of issuing "advisor" badges to political supporters. Her predecessor, Perry Wooten did the same thing. He wound up a convicted felon and when Walker took office she sent out a memo asking anyone who came across a Pct. 7 issued "advisor or liaison" to confiscate it. I didn't know she resumed the practice. Wayne also revealed that Walker ordered her employees only to use a gas station owned by a man who had donated to her campaign. The lack of grand jury action along with Walker's lawsuit against a former deputy she accuses of giving information to Wayne only serves to remind deputy constables, who have no civil service protection, to keep their mouths shut or lose their jobs.

Next Wayne reported on Pct.1 Constable Jack Abercia. Earlier that year the Texas Watchdogs swooned over this. I wonder their reaction when this story broke. Wayne had a field day with Abercia. He showed a story of a deputy hired by Abercia despite a poor oral board review. After that allegations of bribery surfaced and Abercia resigned. Shortly after that, he, along with two of his command staff were arrested by the FBI. They stand accused to accepting bribes to hire the aforementioned deputy and for running criminal histories for an area business. He also showed candid video of one of his Lieutenants working an extra job on county time and a private conversation between a former chief deputy (one of the arrested) and another employee about the issues plaguing the department.

After these reports aired there was speculation that the "good ole boy" system that runs Harris County was in trouble. However when Walker got no billed and this story aired people lost faith. After all, Walker was no billed, DA Pat Lykos was no billed, and the assistant county attorney sent a letter to a federal judge asking for probation for a former county commissioner, and the county judge defending his "chief legal counsel" (what does the county attorney do then?) for injuring a woman with his car and has a history of fighting police officers what low level county employee would want to do the right thing and upset the good ole status quo?

A man allegedly barged into his step daughter's room and raped her. He then grabbed a gun threatening to kill him and herself. He was found driving down the freeway and momentarily fled but was caught and arrested.

A frantic man calls 911 saying his young wife shot herself. Officers arriving found a woman deceased at the location. Detectives are busy.

Two teens lead officers on a chase. One is caught and pepper sprayed soon after the car stops. The other teen was caught soon after.

Two drug mules come into town to do "business.". They check into a motel and leave with 2 kilos of cocaine. Sadly for them they get caught and arrested. Two days later the rest of their load consisting of more cocaine and over $100,000 in cash is found in their room by motel staff. Police are called who seize the money and cocaine. I wonder if those guys are in jail panicking over the fate of the money and cocaine they left behind.

A drunk, illegal alien (with a prior DWI) drives past an officer with two flat tires. He thought it unfair he was being arrested.

A man and woman were found dead from gunshot wounds in a motel room.

A felony fugitive in a stolen car fled during rush hour traffic. He crashed into a car and ran on foot. He was finally apprehended.

Officers got lucky investigating a suspicious vehicle and the burglar walked out and right into the arms of an officer. Property was recovered.

Two stupid teenagers argued over a girl. The jilted male pulled a pistol and shot the rival suitor in the butt to regain his "honor."

A crazy guy kicked out of a mental health facility for being violent tried to come back. However he got the wrong house. He went to the psych hospital.

A drunk and crazy man drove a tractor into a strip center and raised the bucket. People thought he was going to drive it into the store. He took off his shirt and waved it around offering a beer. When officers arrived they had to taze him. He was then arrested.

A man called to report his buddy was stabbed and laying in a field on the side of the road. I wish I could have gotten that whole story.

I made two arrests for the same thing. Drive while license suspended, the easiest charge to file. The second was a woman from Austin. She was 39, and living the bohemian lifestyle. She'd been living here and Austin. I guess that's why she failed to take care of that warrant as well.