By Jeffrey L. Boney
Forward Times
https://www.forwardtimes.com/
In June 2021, former Minneapolis police officer and convicted murderer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 270 months in prison for killing Houston native George Floyd in May 2020. Prior to his trial, the family received a $27 million settlement—the largest pre-trial settlement in a Civil Rights wrongful death case in U.S. history.
It was an extremely sad day in American history and an incident that sparked protests worldwide. The death of George Floyd will forever remain a dark stain in America’s history.
Although Chauvin was rightfully convicted and sentenced, the death of George Floyd could possibly have been prevented if Chauvin’s law enforcement history had been monitored more closely and if he had been held more accountable for his past encounters with civilians who filed complaints against him.
As part of the Chauvin trial, the Minnesota attorney general’s office sought to introduce six cases involving arrests Chauvin had been involved in as far back as 2015.
Their reasoning?
To prove that Chauvin had a history and pattern of using excessive force on people, as he did with George Floyd, by restraining them by their necks or kneeling on top of them. Sadly, according to Minneapolis Police Department records, Chauvin was never disciplined or formally reprimanded for any of these occurrences.
Also, according to police records, Chauvin had at least 22 complaints and/or internal investigations against him during his nearly twenty years at the Minneapolis Police Department, with only one reportedly resulting in disciplinary action of some sort.
There was a pattern that was ignored or accepted.
As a result of George Floyd’s murder, there were increased demands for police reform to be addressed by law enforcement agencies across the country.
The City of Minneapolis, where George Floyd was murdered, quickly responded to the outcry by adopting sweeping police reforms, which included a mandatory requirement to always keep body-worn cameras active and on, ensuring they recruit officers based on a holistic evaluation, utilizing comprehensive use-of-force reporting, and other measures.
Here in the City of Houston, in response to the demand for police reform efforts to be implemented, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that a significant number of recommendations submitted by his Mayor’s Task Force on Policing Reform would go into effect, including sweeping changes identified by the task force.
Although there have been several changes implemented, one issue has yet to be addressed and has clearly been overlooked, and several community activists are calling attention to it.
Community activists are calling foul after discovering that a former Harris County detention officer, with an alleged history of physical violence and excessive force, was hired by the Houston Police Department (HPD).
A cross-sector of community activists, led by Tammie Lang Campbell, Founder and Executive Director of the Honey Brown Hope Foundation, recently held a press conference at Houston’s City Hall Reflection Pool to raise critical questions about HPD’s recruitment process and to call attention to what they believe is an alarming public safety crisis.
Joining Campbell at the press conference were Cynthia Cole, Executive Director of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1550; Hai Bui, Founder of We the People Organize; Jacilet Griffin, Founder of Justice for Evan: Custody to Casket; Jeff Resse, former Harris County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant and Greater Houston Coalition for Justice Member; Kathy Swilley, former HPD Officer and Founder of Cops Holding Cops Accountable; Nicholas Little, Chair of the NAACP Houston Branch Criminal Justice Committee; and Randall Kallinen, Civil Rights Lawyer and National Lawyers Guild Houston Chapter Member.
According to Campbell, she became aware of Officer Deven Ortiz’s troubling history after members of the media released a video of Officer Ortiz beating a handcuffed female detainee while serving as a Harris County detention officer. She said that concerned community members reached out to the Honey Brown Hope Foundation to bring attention to this troubling issue.
“When I looked into it, I was appalled to learn that Officer Ortiz had multiple internal affairs investigations and a recommendation for termination at the Harris County Jail for using excessive force, but he was still able to resign and get hired by the Houston Police Department,” Campbell tells Forward Times. “As someone who’s fought for justice for over 30 years, I couldn’t remain silent and not alert the public.”
The coalition of community activists is deeply concerned, stating that situations like this occur far too often. They believe the safety of Houston residents is being jeopardized by potentially dangerous gaps in HPD’s recruiting process. They argue that this raises serious concerns about oversight and accountability, and they are demanding an immediate and thorough investigation, especially as it involves an officer with an alleged history of violent behavior who was proactively recruited by HPD.
Furthermore, they state that the core issue is that if Officer Ortiz engaged in abusive behavior within a controlled jail environment, as alleged, the potential for escalation to lethal violence on the streets is a grave and unacceptable risk to our community. This situation highlights a critical failure in the vetting process and demands immediate action to prevent future occurrences.
“This is not just an internal HPD matter,” Campbell continued. “This directly impacts public safety and requires transparency and public scrutiny. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s involvement further underscores the need for inter-agency cooperation in this investigation. This situation raises serious questions about the connection between HPD and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s screening processes and their commitment to public safety. We need transparency and accountability from both agencies.”
This leads to many questions that need to be addressed by HPD and all law enforcement agencies in the Greater Houston area and across the country:
How did this individual successfully pass the HPD’s vetting process?
What systemic failures allowed this to happen?
What additional reforms are needed to protect Greater Houston area residents?
According to Campbell, they are demanding even more answers and immediate action, such as:
Failure of Due Diligence
- Why did the HPD officer/recruiter fail to conduct a proper background check that would have revealed this officer’s troubling and concerning history?
- This is a critical breakdown in the system that must be addressed.
Comprehensive Investigation of Recruits
- A full investigation into all recruits placed in the police academy by this specific HPD officer/recruiter is essential.
- We need to understand the extent of this potential problem and ensure no other individuals with similar backgrounds have been allowed to enter the force.
Root Cause Analysis
- How did this failure occur?
- We need a transparent explanation of the systemic issues that allowed this individual to slip through the cracks.
Policy Reform
- What concrete policy changes will HPD implement to guarantee this never happens again?
- We need assurances that robust safeguards are in place to protect the public from potentially dangerous officers.
Call to Action for Media and the Public
- We urge the media to investigate this critical public safety issue and hold HPD accountable.
- This is not simply a matter of internal procedure. This is about the safety and well-being of every Houstonian. We need the media’s help to bring these issues to light and demand meaningful change.
Campbell states that this is extremely important for the community to know because it is about more than just one bad officer. It is about public safety and a broken system that recycles problem officers between agencies, putting our community in danger.
“Officer Ortiz is still on probation at HPD, meaning he can be easily terminated because he doesn’t have civil service protection,” said Campbell. “The delays in the investigation are questionable. I mean, are they stalling to let him pass his probation and qualify for his $10,000 hiring bonus? By not acting, our leaders are gambling with public safety and trust, and taxpayers will end up footing the bill when it turns into another lawsuit. In addition to the victim on the video, this type of misconduct also makes the public the victim. We can’t allow this pattern of negligence to continue. Houston deserves better.”
