Author Topic: Breaking - Houston Police Department responding to report of several officers shot  (Read 14537 times)

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Online Elderberry

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As Houston police scandal widens, the stakes couldn’t be higher [Editorial]

Houston Chronicle March 9, 2019

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/As-Houston-police-scandal-widens-the-stakes-13675018.php

Quote
Who keeps Houston safe from crime, from violence and greed? When our cars are stolen or when drugs show up at our neighborhood schools - whom do we call, whom do we turn to for safety and justice?

A lot of people. But for those of us in the city, it starts with the more than 5,000 sworn officers at the Houston Police Department, the nation’s fifth largest, and expands from there: The Harris County prosecutors, the judges, jailers and sheriff’s deputies, too.

Here’s a more difficult question and, given the scandal that has rocked the HPD since January, a more urgent one: Who, or what, keeps law enforcement safe?

When it comes to the police, especially, the biggest factor keeping them safe in a dangerous job is not their training, not their gear, not even the laws that make it a serious crime to harm them - as critical as those are. It’s the belief held by the people they serve that they are the good guys and they’re on our side.

Most of us believe that law enforcement officers are there for us when we need them. We believe most are honest, brave and trustworthy. That trust is the reason we comply and cooperate with them, report crime to them, run to them instead of running away.

Without that trust, none of us is safe - not the citizens, not the police.

That’s why the fallout from the disastrous Pecan Park drug raid is such a crisis for our city.

Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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As Houston police scandal widens, the stakes couldn’t be higher [Editorial]

Houston Chronicle March 9, 2019

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/As-Houston-police-scandal-widens-the-stakes-13675018.php
What is hurting crime stoppers in Houston right now is all the attention the police leadership is placing on defending themselves with this episode - rather than using the energy to better stop crime.

Diversions kill.
No punishment, in my opinion, is too great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's ruin~  George Washington