Posted on 08/25/2002 5:12:31 AM PDT by makoman
A Houston Police Department captain was suspended with pay Saturday as HPD's internal affairs division continued investigating the controversial raid he ordered at a westside Kmart that resulted in hundreds of arrests last weekend.
Capt. Mark Aguirre met with HPD internal affairs division officials at 12:40 p.m. and was relieved of duty pending the outcome of the investigation, his lawyer, Terry W. Yates, confirmed.
HPD spokesman Robert Hurst would not say why Aguirre is off the job, citing the ongoing investigation.
Aguirre was at a doctor's office Saturday morning being treated for injuries he suffered in a car wreck Tuesday. When he returned home he was confronted by five officers from HPD's internal affairs division, Yates said.
"They told him he had to report downtown, and when he did, they relieved him of duty, took his badge and his police identification. They refused to say why," Yates said.
Aguirre, a 23-year HPD veteran and the highest-ranking Hispanic officer on the force, ordered police officers during a drag racing bust Aug. 18 to arrest 278 people gathered peacefully at a 24-hour Kmart Super Center parking lot at 8400 Westheimer or eating at the Sonic Drive-In next door. Most of those arrested were charged with trespassing.
Aguirre has been ordered by HPD not to talk about the matter, but his lawyer said Saturday's disciplinary action was unexpected.
"We're very surprised about that," Yates said. "To our knowledge, he's the only person (connected to the raid) who's been relieved."
Yates said HPD made Aguirre sign a formal document Friday night amounting to a gag order imposed by the internal affairs division.
"Basically, everyone's talking to the press, and they're saying he can't, so that's not fair," Yates said.
Yates said the sting was above board.
"No one did anything unlawful or improper by police guidelines. They can arrest people for any class C violation except speeding, by law," Yates said.
"There were undercover officers in the operation on the ground before they went in to make sure they didn't make any arrests of innocent individuals, and I don't believe they did. They took extreme precautions to make sure that didn't occur. They released a lot of people out there who had children, pets, and Aguirre did that himself. They cut people a lot of slack out there," he said.
Angry teens and parents have accused police of arresting many innocent bystanders during the Kmart crackdown, which sparked what may be the largest internal affairs investigation ever at HPD.
"I have not seen one this large in my 23 years at the Police Department," said Houston Police Officers Union President Hans Marticiuc. "I didn't see anything coming anywhere close to this ... This is a monster on time, resources and expense."
Marticiuc declined to comment on Aguirre's suspension.
A preliminary investigation is expected to be on Police Chief C.O. Bradford's desk Monday, but the full-scale investigation will take months, Marticiuc said.
About 50 police officers were ordered by the internal affairs division to complete questionnaires about the raid. Four HPOU attorneys were at the union office Saturday, counseling officers and reviewing statements.
Officers were given 48 hours to complete those statements, which were due Saturday afternoon, Marticiuc said.
Aguirre turned his questionnaire in by 3 p.m. Saturday, Yates said.
The raid that sparked all the outrage was part of a series of recent police efforts to stop illegal drag racing. Police focused on the Kmart lot after area businesses and residents complained about noise and litter from hundreds of young people gathering there on weekend nights.
Officers involved in the sting have said that when no drag racers were found, they were ordered to arrest the people there.
Aguirre conducted a smaller raid the day before that netted 25 arrests for criminal trespassing at the James Coney Island at 5745 Westheimer.
Numerous people arrested have filed complaints with HPD's internal affairs division. An American Civil Liberties Union lawyer has said he expects to file a lawsuit for the mass arrests.
Yates said a memo Aguirre gave to Bradford shows HPD officials had ample warning of plans for the raid.
Aguirre submitted an internal memo three months ago outlining plans to take a "zero tolerance" approach toward drag racing and other problems associated with late-night crowds along Westheimer by arresting all violators and towing their cars.
"Simply issuing citations has had little or no impact as evidenced by this burgeoning problem," Aguirre wrote in the May 13 memo.
HPD officials refused to say whether Bradford had seen that memo or authorized anything.
Yates said Saturday that Bradford "never indicated to Aguirre that he didn't approve of any of these plans. ... The day before, Bradford ordered the traffic enforcement division not to go in and assist them on the raid, and that would indicate Bradford knew the raid was going to occur."
Marticiuc said the memo to the police chief three months ago was not an accurate portrayal of the plan actually executed during last weekend's operation.
"From my perspective, it sounds like there was one plan in place and somewhere along the line someone put another plan in place. The whole memo dealt with racing and dealing with the racing problems. If no one was racing, I'm not sure what authority anyone had to change the plan and go into the criminal trespass mode," Marticiuc said.
"At what point was that decision made? Was it made prior to going out there, or was it made the night they got out there and found no drag racing going on? Was it made independently, or was it made with approval from higher authority?" he said.
"It's a shame you got a bunch of good officers out there following what they believe to be lawful orders, and now there's this big question mark. Now their careers and maybe more are on the line while department administrators point fingers at one another. We would just like for there to be a full, complete investigation," Marticiuc said.
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said Saturday that his office is investigating allegations made by residents after the raids, but declined to say who might be a target of that inquiry. No evidence has been taken to a grand jury yet, he said.
Aguirre is a member of the HPOU, so the union has a duty to obtain representation for him. But the union chose to hire an attorney not on staff to represent him because a number of other union members were involved in his sting last weekend, Marticiuc said.
That decision also was made to avoid a conflict of interest: "There's a darn good possibility that other officers' perspectives may be different from his -- that's another reason he was farmed out," Marticiuc said.
"Officers involved in the sting have said that when no drag racers were found, they were ordered to arrest the people there."
They did not want to go back to the station empty handed!
What an odd choice of words...
I can see how suspending without pay amounts to pre-judging his guilt or innocence pending investigation, so how about suspending him with his pay depending upon the outcome of the investigation - that is, if he's found innocent, then it's a paid vacation, and if not, he's not paid for the time off.
It will go on his permanent record!
This guy already has a "permanent record" that would get him fired from any other type of business and most police departments. He has a permanent job because of his minority status.
Exactly!
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