[HIMC] Is HCSD’s Tommy Thomas untouchable?

[Ernesto Aguilar]

From African-American News & Issues
Jan. 8 -Jan. 14, 2003

Is HCSD’s Tommy Thomas untouchable?
 
While analyzing news reports of yet another revelation
of wrongdoing in the Harris County Sheriff Department
(HCSD), I couldn’t help but wonder why concerned
citizens of Harris County has never held the “High
Sheriff” as accountable for their misdeeds, as they
tend to hold the Houston Police Department chief? On
the other hand, when I really started thinking about
it, citizens have historically been less concerned
about their county government than how our city
operates. It puzzled me for a long time, because I
grew up in Acres Home long before it was annexed by
the City of Houston and saw how both governments work
up close and personal. 

Taxes certainly have nothing to do with it, because
our county taxes didn’t go down one cent after the
city took over. The county, in fact, also collects the
city’s taxes, so why aren’t we watching our money?
That’s a good question that we definitely will deal
with in future editorials. 
Meanwhile, the question is: why is there a
double-standard system of justice at the Harris County
District Attorney’s office for city and county law
enforcement agencies? That’s another good question,
but nobody seems to have a clue. If you recall,
African- American News&Issues identified racism in
HCSD in a series of articles that were instigated by
HCSD Det. Godfrey Eta, in 1999.

Eta’s documentation proved that institutionalized
racism was a real problem in HCSD, but it took
mainstream media exposure (almost two years after our
series that were mostly ignored), before the Harris
County Commissioner’s Court reacted. And when it comes
to us, County Commissioners translate to El Franco
Lee. To Lee’s credit, he hired a Black law firm to
investigate Eta’s allegation, that was later validated
by the Afro-American Sheriff’s Deputy League (AASDL),
but over a year later, nothing has changed, other than
the fact that Sheriff Tommy Thomas has become more
arrogant and autocratic than he was before the
investigation started. 

Ernesto Aguillar, who heads the Houston chapter of
Copwatch, will certainly agree with that assessment of
Thomas. Aguillar’s Dec. 13, 2002 Copwatch press
release revealed that HCSD did not respond. To wit:
“Called on Nov. 29 requesting form. Reply from SD
dispatcher: ‘Sir, we don’t do complaint forms.’” 

Apparently Thomas, who is considered a clone of the
late HCSD honcho Johnny Klevenhagen, doesn’t do
apologies either. If you remember, the AASDL won
discrimination lawsuits against Klevenhagen twice.
Robert Conner, who headed the organization when it
prevailed the first time, became a police chief of a
small town. 

Beleaguered Constable-elect Perry Wooten headed the
organization when it beat Klevenhagen the second time.
Klevenhagen later resigned, but nothing changed in
HCSD after Thomas took over. If anything, it got
worse. Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee, in fact asked
the Justice Department to look into “allegations of
race discrimination lodged against the Sheriff’s
Department by some Black and Hispanic employees,” in
October. 

Evidently such charges don’t faze “Teflon” Tommy. He
literally called all concerned a lie in an Outlook
article (“Headlines, hype mislead: Sheriff’s Office
not in turmoil.”), in the Chronicle’s Aug. 26, 2001,
edition. Thomas brazenly praised the diversity he has
engendered in his department. 

“For more than a year, the Harris County Sheriff’s
Office had been the subject of widespread news
coverage concerning allegations of racism and unfair
treatment of employees. Much of this coverage has
focused on allegations voiced by Sheriff’s Detective
Godfrey Eta and a terminated deputy, Robert Amboree,
in the capacities as officers of the Afro-American
Sheriff’s Deputy League,” Thomas rebutted. AASDL
president Robert Amboree, demanded equal space on the
Sept. 9, 2001 Outlook page to ask: “Who holds the
Harris County Sheriff accountable?”

Amboree gave a litany of reasons why Thomas should
resign; including that the EEOC investigated
“complaints of discrimination and retaliation brought
forth by Sheriff’s Detective Godfrey and me.” A lot
has happened to validate a reinstated Amboree’s
allegations, but what really got citizens of good
consequences’ attention were a rash of questionable
shooting involving HCSD deputies. The latest being the
Dec. 16, 2002 shooting of a 24-year-old Black man by
Deputy Luis Figueroa at Parkway Plaza Shopping Center,
that caused a public outcry. 

A group, including New Black Panther Party leader
Quanell X, alleged that Rodney Ali Baldwin was
unarmed. Five witnesses swear that Baldwin was
unarmed, although a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol
was found near his hand. More recently, the Harris
County grand jury exonerated HCSD deputies Eddie
Lopez, 37 and Tim Lauder, 32, in the June 21, 2002
shooting of two men after a high-speed chase. 

Isn’t it strange that HPD’s police chief was indicted
for a “lie” but HCSD deputies leave dead bodies
scattered on the ground and the D.A. fails to make a
case for the grand jury? Why? Well, I’m not pointing
any fingers, but you can blame a one-newspaper town
and a friendly mainstream media (that won’t report all
of the news without fear or favor), for keeping racism
and double standard justice alive and well in Harris
County/Houston. 

That’s why I smile when I think of the Chronicle’s
Feb. 16, 2002 editorial condemning Thomas after he
ignored their open record request. The editorial
(“SHERIFF’S RECORDS: Thomas’ continued legal fight
continued legal fight costing taxpayers money”),
opined: “The law is clear that such records are public
information. By withholding the complaints, Sheriff
Thomas is not only violating state law, he is giving
the impression he has something to hide. Maybe it’s a
pattern of police abuse in his department. Maybe it’s
just the mounting legal costs being borne by
taxpayers. Either way, Harris County citizens have a
right to know, and further delaying tactics will not
change that reality.” 

Apparently Thomas adheres to a far different reality,
because he says to all concerned, “I am proud of the
men and women who work under my command and who serve
you on a daily basis.” Forget that HCSD deputies have
killed at least five citizens, including one of their
own last year, because Thomas concludes, “They possess
good and honorable qualities of which I am proud and
of which you should likewise be proud.” Apparently
those who fail to hold Thomas accountable or believe
he’s doing a good job agree. 

Conceivably, that’s why Sheriff Tommy Thomas operates
the HCSD as if he’s an untouchable.

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