Statutes – Texas Criminal Defense Attorney

Resources - Can You Trust the Police in Texas Today? Apparently Not.

Michael Lowe is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Over the past two years, DallasJustice has been monitoring the actions of law enforcement, the judiciary, and state prosecutors here in Texas.  This media watch has taught a serious and scary lesson: right now, Texas law enforcement simply cannot be trusted.

We’ve learned about police officers shooting people in the back; planting evidence; forcing women to provide them sex; numerous misuses of stun guns (sometimes, fatal); beating people viciously; as well as committing crimes themselves – like arson and bank robbery; and making major mistakes, such as placing a single mother of two into the Texas Sex Offenders Registry. 

1.  In December 2008, former cop Barry Cooper’s Kopbusters group caught Odessa cops on videotape, planting evidence.  You can watch it on video if you’d like on my blog.

2.  In February 2009, a Texas Sheriff went along on a drug bust and once he saw the suspect’s girlfriend, took her into another room and threatened to bust her, too, unless she had sex with him.  They left in his pick-up truck, she did as requested, and that wasn’t the end of it.  Sheriff Bill Keating went back to the girl for more sexual favors over a period of time, and then forced her to become an informant.  He got caught by the feds and copped a plea.  Mind you, Sheriff Bill was the head of the department, and a 40 year law enforcement veteran.

3.  In December 2008, two million dollar settlements were reached in separate cases where Austin police officers used excessive force to kill.  In sum, on two different occasions the Austin police shot and killed citizens.  Eighteen year old Daniel Rocha was shot in the back.  Kevin Brown, 25, was shot and killed as he was running away – he wasn’t shooting at the cops.  The US Department of Justice continued to have an open file on the Austin Police Department. 

4.  In February 2010, Texas cop John Gore got busted for arson.  After his arrest, he gave information on setting a number of other fires in the past. Apparently, this was all done for profit.

5.  In March 2010, a Conroe cop got busted for robbing a bank.  He’s been tried and convicted for robbing the very bank where he moonlighted as a part-time security guard for 18 years. 

6.  In September 2009, video from a dashboard camera was released, showing Beaumont cops beating an unarmed suspect after pulling over a couple of guys as they were driving along.  The video is graphic, the cops were charged with official oppression and the victim filed a civil suit for their use of excessive force.  You can watch the dash cam video here.

7. In June 2009, a police dashboard camera video gained national coverage showing Austin cops tasering a 72 year old grandmother TWICE after pulling her over as she was driving along a Texas roadway in her car.  You can watch the dash cam video here. 

8.  In July 2009, video captured Dallas cops using a Taser stun gun on a suspect in the patrol car backseat where the suspect sat, handcuffed.  The police officer can be heard yelling “take it!! take it!!!” while he zaps the victim.  You can watch the video here.

9.  Also in July 2009, Dallas cops entered a house without a warrant and burst into the bedroom of a 20 year old woman, without invitation.  There, they threatened her with arrest and calling Child Protective Services to come take her kids if she didn’t sign a “consent to search” form to cover their entry (the cops thought her boyfriend was dealing drugs).  On the stand, the Dallas judge believed her testimony over that of three police department veterans.

10.  In April 2009, a Dallas single mother of two discovered that she named as a registered sex offender.  Upon investigation, her name had been erroneously placed on the Texas Registered Sex Offenders list – without merit, rhyme or reason.  Collin County and DPS were pointing fingers at each other at last report. 

If you want to keep track of the latest escapades of Texas law enforcement, then please read my weekly blog posts; meanwhile, keep in mind that these are just a few of the actual, reported events within the State of Texas in the past two years that clearly warn us all: we cannot blindly trust law enforcement in Texas today.

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