Pubdate: Fri, 02 Feb 2001
Source: Texas Observer (TX)
Section: Political Intelligence
Copyright: 2001 The Texas Observer
Contact:  307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701
Website: http://www.texasobserver.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

WHY DRUG COPS MAKE US NERVOUS

To date, no one has been held accountable for the death of Pedro Oregon 
Navarro, who died after being shot 1 2 times by Houston police officers in 
1998. Harris County grand jurors indicted only one of the officers 
involved-for trespassing-and he was later acquitted. In a civil rights 
lawsuit filed by Oregon's family, a judge ruled that the city could not be 
held liable for his death. On the other hand,  as the Houston Chronicle 
reported January 21, the civil rights suit did reveal that the police 
tactic that led to Oregon's death-barging into his apartment at night 
without a warrant-is typical procedure for narcotics investigators with the 
department.

As it turns out, investigators elected to forego the use of a search 
warrant not just in the Oregon case, but in every single one of 432 
drug-related investigations conducted by the Southwest Gang Task Force 
between 1994 and 1999, according to court documents. In deposition, former 
Houston Police Chief Sam Nuchia said officers were instructed to "go to the 
line, into the gray area" when  it came  to  searches, seizures, and arrests.

Also deposed was Kim Ogg, former head of the mayor's anti-gang office, who 
said the department's "zero-tolerance" crime-fighting policy encouraged 
officers to rely on racial profiling rather than target past offenders. Ogg 
met with some City Council members and Police Chief C.O. Bradford in 1997 
to suggest changing the policy, but no action was ever taken.

Meanwhile, in Travis County, a December 2000 grand jury report expressed 
concern about infringements of civil liberties during drug investigations. 
"Although we were told that 'sting' buys and other undercover arrests are 
legal," the grand jurors wrote to Judge Jon Wisser, "there are concerns 
about entrapment issues as well as the use of questionable probable cause 
circumstances such as 'appearing nervous' (emphasis added) or having a 
tail-light not working."
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