Law & Order - Texas Style

Sometimes law enforcement in Texas can be just a little different. Let me submit the following stories for your consideration:

1. Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission has suspended their recent practice of going inside bars and arresting patrons they believe to be drunk. One of the arrests made was on an out-of-town woman who was drinking in the bar of the hotel where she was staying. They certainly can't claim to be protecting the public on that one! Arrests such as this have angered many merchants and businessmen, who believe this would send many conventions and other business to other states. Seeing that they have stirred up a hornets nest, the TABC is now backpedaling as fast as it can. They have suspended the program so they might "study" it further. My guess is that the program will never come back. You don't step on business toes in Texas.

2. The Fort Worth Police Department says they are going to issue Tasers to the 54 officers patrolling the hallways of Fort Worth middle and high schools. A police spokesman said, "It is our department's intention to equip every one of our police officers with the most efficient and up-to-date equipment available. That would include school officers." This is a laudable goal, but I wonder about the use of Tasers in middle school or in high school. In the past couple of years, at least six people have died after being hit by a Taser. We don't know if drug or alcohol use can cause deadly consequences when combined with a Taser. We don't know how someone in poor health would react. Have tests been done on the Taser's effect on juveniles? We simply don't know enough about a Taser's effects to start using them on middle school or high school students. This is just a bad idea.

3. Arlington police are using empty police cars as decoys in an effort to slow traffic down. They are taking the cars that would normally be parked at the station and not in use, and they are parking them on major arteries in the city. A motorist approaching cannot tell if the car is manned or not and therefore slows down. This sounds like a good idea, at least until some delinquent steals one and takes it for a joyride.

4. A Dallas County Jail prisoner has escaped from custody. He had been jailed on 2 arson charges and 1 criminal mischief charge. He was in Parkland Hospital where he had recently had surgery on his abdomen. He was being watched by a private security guard. When the guard went to the bathroom, the prisoner simply left. I don't even know what to say about this, except that this is not the first time it has happened.

5. On wednesday night, a 31 year-old man who had been sentenced to death, was found dead in his cell. Prison officials said he had died of natural causes, but refused to give any further information. If he did die of natural causes, then he saved the state a lot of money. If he didn't, the prison has a real mess on it's hands.

6. Police officials in the city of Dallas said that the recent demonstrations [the largest in Dallas' history] had cost the city about $415,000.00 extra for the required police protection. This was also the most peaceful demonstration Dallas has seen. I wonder if these officials are whining or bragging. What was the purpose of this press release?

Sometimes I'm proud of my brothers in law enforcement and corrections, and sometimes I think, "What the fuck?"