Normally I'm very pro-police -- They have a tough job and get little respect for the valuble work they do. ...But this is kind of interesting. This guy has taken a very creative approach to protesting the Kemah police department. I dislike the tatics they are accused of, and don't doubt that there is something behind it. (1 officer to 40 residents? Come on. HPD would love to have that kind of ratio.) Thoughts? Anyone experienced the Kemah police lately? http://www.kemahpolice.com/ http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/787153 Jan. 3, 2001, 11:01PM Man who voices displeasure over local police force on Web site finds enterprise success By STEVE OLAFSON -- Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle KEMAH -- While dot-com businesses are dying like flies, Kevin Bruce Brown has found a profitable Internet enterprise that owes its success to an unlikely source -- disgruntlement over the Kemah Police Department. At kemahpolice.com, visitors can buy T-shirts, coffee cups and can coolers bearing the visage of Loco the Clown, a maniacal- looking clown with flaming red hair who wears a police hat. All bear the words "Kemah Police." This is Brown's way of voicing displeasure over the traffic enforcement practices of the small Galveston County town's police force. The police, he says, pounce upon the slightest of traffic indiscretions along a two-mile stretch of Texas 146, the town's main thoroughfare. "The cops are always pulling someone over. It can really ruin your day," says Brown. "They love to impound your car. They're looking for anything that can run up the bill." The authorities, predictably, are not happy about the Web site. "Slander for profit" is the way Capt. Pete Munoz describes it. Kemah, which has become a tourist destination after the development of a number of waterfront restaurants, has a police force of 25 full-time officers and, lately, more controversy than usual. The town's last police chief resigned in November after being sued on allegations of sexual harassment. The police force, it's safe to say, doesn't relish the public relations implications of Brown's Web business. Munoz, who temporarily is in charge of the department, denies that police are hypervigilant in enforcing traffic laws. He says the force is obligated to protect Kemah's 1,000 or so full-time residents and the estimated 1 million people who annually visit its restaurants. Munoz says he has requested data on the number of traffic citations written by Kemah officers in recent months but had not yet received the information Wednesday. "I don't particularly like the avenue he's chosen to express himself, but that's his right," Munoz says of the police department's cyber critic. Munoz further charges that Brown has no firsthand knowledge of how the department works since he hasn't bothered to join the citizens' police academy. Brown, however, says he has heard a lot of complaints about the police. He adds that he has never had a run-in with a Kemah officer. He first began selling the Loco the Clown Kemah Police T-shirts in 1997 after listening to recurring complaints about the police in the bars and restaurants that he visits as part of his novelty T-shirt business. "Bars are like living rooms," he said. "You hear people talking." He launched the Web site three months ago, gave out free matchbooks that advertised the site and expanded the product line. Brown's mission statement on his Web site drips with sarcasm: "Here's to the men and women of the Kemah Police Department ... Like you we are in it for the money!!" it states. Brown says he has grossed about $2,000 thus far. His Web site selects a fake "Officer of the Month." Last month it depicted Barney Fife, the bumbling deputy on the Andy Griffith Show. "Burned out taillight? Call for backup," it had Barney saying. This month it's officer Francis Muldoon from the old Car 54 Where Are You? TV sitcom. "Kemah is a great place to work," Muldoon says on the Web site. "No strict ticket quotas. I can write lots more if I want." Feedback from his Web site is overwhelmingly positive, says Brown, handing over a file containing printed e-mail messages that praise his efforts. "My ultimate goal is for the Kemah police to straighten up, fly right and quit making people mad. That would be great," says Brown, 45, a thrice-divorced father of one who wears his graying hair in a ponytail. Brown, who lives just south of Kemah in the Bayview community, describes his politics as "exceedingly liberal" and suggests that anyone else who has a beef with a local police department should consider a Web site. "It is wonderfully American that you can post your politics," he says. And sell merchandise. Next items up for sale: Loco the Clown bumper stickers and caps. ------------------ Stay Cool...
Why did the paper feel the need to mention how many times he had been divorced and the fact that he had long hair in a pony tail. Is that supposed to make him seem wierd or something? ------------------ EZLN
Good point, rimmy. ------------------ The way to use life is to do nothing through acting, The way to use life is to do everything through being. - Lao-Tzu
So, I'm reading that Police Abuse webpage, and I see that in one of their investigations in Houston, the undercover guy is arrested for walking on the wrong side of the street. I was unaware that there even was a "wrong side of the street" in Houston. How am I to know when I am walking on that wrong side of the street? I was under the impression that a person could walk on either side of the street in Houston or anywhere else. It seems to me that if you're going to make something up to arrest someone for, you at least ought to put osme effort into the phony charge. Something like Failure to ID (something that is not illegal but sounds enough like something that could be illegal). Walking on the wrong side of the street? Com'on. I remember when this group (or another group like it) went around Dallas and the DFW suburbs asking for complaint forms, etc. with the hidden cameras. I was amazed at the some of the responses he got. There was one officer who kept threatening to arrest the undercover guy, going so far as to pull out his handcuffs several times and reaching for his gun at least once. The more amazing thing to me was that the officer wasn't fired after that incident. It's frightening to me that so many officers are allowed to simply ignore the law and the Constitution. ------------------ Houston Sports Board
You cannot have a discussion about the the wrong doing of authorities without mentioning michealmoore.com and the awful truth at 8 and 11 pm fridays on bravo, great stuff. ------------------ Ceo of the Walt Williams fan club. Web site coming soon atheistalliance.org
on "failure to identify": from the Texas Penal Code: ยง 38.02. Failure to Identify (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally refuses to give his name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person and requested the information. (b) A person commits an offense if he intentionally gives a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has: (1) lawfully arrested the person; (2) lawfully detained the person; or (3) requested the information from a person that the peace officer has good cause to believe is a witness to a criminal offense. (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor. (d) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this section that the defendant was a fugitive from justice at the time of the offense, the offense is a Class B misdemeanor. --- So, the police have to have lawfully arrested you before you can be charged with failure to identify. Note that this is the penal code, not the Motor Vehicle Code (or whatever it's called). I'm pretty sure you always have to provide identification while driving, whether you've been arrested or not. [This message has been edited by jamcracker (edited January 04, 2001).]
Well sure, if you are driving a vehicle, you have to present your driver's license and proof of insurance if asked. But in Dallas, we have had several instances where people walking down the street or just standing around or what-have-you (not operating a motor vehicle, though) have been arrested simply for Failure to ID. Even though the Dallas City Attorneys have advised the police that their arrests are unconstitutional, the police continue to arrest people solely on that charge, and the DAs continue to prosecute. I'm just glad I live in a city that has so little crime that the police can go around harrassing people and arresting them for "crimes" that aren't even crimes. Good thing there aren't any murders or burglaries or rapes, etc. in Dallas that need to be investigated. Judging by all the Failure to ID arrests (along with the many arrests for Possession of a Sex Toy and arrests of comic book store clerks for selling comics books deemed "obscene", etc.), Dallas is apparently otherwise crime free. ------------------ Houston Sports Board
mrpaige, I went to school in Dallas and i really enjoyed the cops there. they were so good that i got many tickets for going 5 - 15 minutes over the "2 hour Parking." That means the cops would go by once, mark my license plate and the time, and then come back 2 hours later and wait 5 minutes, then write the ticket. This on a street with 10 - 20 other cars (meaning their days were busy!). Dallas really must not have any crime that they can spare cops for such important crime-stopping. had not heard about the other stuff... ------------------ EZLN
Normally, I'm NOT very pro-police. Check out www.policeabuse.com. They investigate local police departments with hidden video cameras, sometimes teaming up with local news program. They do stuff like have a big black guy drive late-model cars through a small town like Carthage, TX in the middle of the night. Of course, the Carthage cops harassed the drivers. Or walking into a police station and trying to file a complaint. One story from the Chronicle is about the Sante Fe (TX) PD. The best one, by far, is from Long Beach, CA. One of the policeabuse investigators went to a Long Beach PD office, and started asking about how to file a complaint against the force. The policeabuse investigator didn't want to present ID or talk to a police officer about his complaint. He just wanted to get a complaint form. After arguing with the police officer and refusing to ID himself, the cop eventually says "OK, I'll get you a form, then comes around the counter, kicks the policeabuse guy's legs out from underneath him and handcuffs him. You can watch a video or read the transcript of this incident. [This message has been edited by jamcracker (edited January 04, 2001).]
I am not too fond of police, either. I have had some negative run-ins (and I'm white) where things were done that didn't need to be. Then, of course, there are examples that do not even involve me. I think there is a serious power issue and little or no accountability. Any way that citizens can "get back" not out of meanness or revenge, but out of defending rights and increasing accountability is good. ------------------ EZLN
Experienced Abuse First Hand I agree with the abuse statements. I was coming out of the Boardwalk with my two teenagers after dinner and went through a light onto 146 - it turned yellow after only 3 cars (and we were the 3rd). I went through under the yellow and was pulled over. First the Kemah police office said I was speeding through the yellow (I never exceeded the speed limit). Then he said I went through it while it changed to red. So he ticketed me after following me for a mile to see if he could get me for speeding or drunk driving - I wasn't speeding nor had anything to drink. Definitely an abuse of police power and a sad thing to see the officer lie in front of my kids. They saw that Kemah police can be bad people - very sad. Will definitely fight it.
