Out-of-Town Hurtt?
Is our new police chief going to manage to be out of town anytime anything something important happens in Houston?
The arrest of local civil rights leader Quanell X is a very controversial one. He was arrested Friday while he says he was trying to deliver a suspected felon to police. On Saturday, Police Chief Harold Hurtt, who was out of town Friday, responded to some of the criticism his department is getting.
Quanell X was delivering suspect Derrick Forney to Houston police on Friday. Forney is accused of shooting officer Matt Richard last Wednesday.
Qaunnel X’s attorney, Jolanda Jones, says the activist had arrangements with HPD brass to turn Forney in. But he was pulled over with the suspect still inside at least 30 minutes, she says, before a prearranged deadline. Investigators suggested that Quanell X had deviated from a preplanned route.
"There was no designated route," said Jones. "For the DA’s office to say he deviated from the route is absolutely untrue."
Police charged Quanell X with evading arrest, but the activist says he was on the phone with Assistant Police Chief Charles McClelland the whole time.
"The chief said that he would instruct them, I guess, via the radio or something to back off," said Jones.
Chief Hurtt said of the arrest, "I think there's a difference when you're talking on the phone to someone, and they're trying to explain what's going on, and being actually there observing behavior."
Can anyone translate what the police chief says into English?
Seriously, every time he talks, it just looks like gibberish. What the hell does that mean, there's a difference in talking to someone on the phone versus observing behavior?
Anyway, the last mayor certainly established a fine tradition of always being out of town.
But one would think the new police chief would be around for more than, say, implementing budget cuts planned by Mayor White's staff or installing cameras at every intersection to generate revenue.
It's not exactly as if HPD is functioning as a model for other police departments in the nation. Far from it. And it's not as if it isn't facing major problems (crime lab, no cadet classes in how long?).
So how could the chief not know this was going down? I'm not one you could call a Quanell X supporter, but wouldn't most impartial observers think the police chief might be in the loop on something like this? And might have something more enlightening to say afterwards?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/13/04 18:57 | Houston | Technorati
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Comments
I thought Denzel Washington was very convincing as Quanell X.
Posted by Bill Parcells @ 19:20 on 06/13/04
My prayers are with the police officer and his family for his speedy recovery. I read that he's out of the hospital already; thank goodness he was wearing his vest.
I wonder if Quanell X should have called the media to drive along side him too. Why couldn't HPD have just followed them in is beyond me.
And I still don't know why he was arrested for 'resisting'. Why did they try to arrest him in the first place, 'aiding and abetting'? He was bringing him in.
Posted by Sherri @ 21:36 on 06/13/04
Quanell X didn't want to stop because he wanted to collect the reward money. He's just another two-bit wannabe gangsta!
Posted by Shaniqua Montell @ 11:58 on 12/06/07
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