Tuesday, 28 May 2024

F.B.I. to Investigate Houston Police Officers After Deadly Drug Raid

The F.B.I. has opened a civil rights investigation into the actions of Houston police officers in connection with a drug raid that ended in a deadly shootout last month, the federal agency and the Houston Police Department announced on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation specified that it was investigating allegations that a search warrant that was executed at the beginning of the deadly Jan. 28 raid “was based on false, fabricated information.” Chief Art Acevedo has said that one of his narcotics officers, Gerald Goines, lied about using a confidential informant to justify searching the home. The chief has placed Officer Goines on administrative leave.

Chief Acevedo said in an afternoon news conference that the F.B.I.’s investigation would be “collaborative” but also “independent” of the one his department was already conducting.

“We welcome that in the spirit of transparency,” he said.

Also on Wednesday, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said it had begun a review of more than 1,400 criminal cases spanning Officer Goines’s career, 27 of which are active.

“Our duty is to see that justice is done in every case,” Kim Ogg, the Harris County district attorney, said in a statement.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday night, Nicole DeBorde, a lawyer for Officer Goines, called the move by the district attorney the “right and sensible thing to do.”

“We welcome closer scrutiny into his work,” Ms. DeBorde said. “He’s been a police officer for 35 years, and what I’m hearing is that he’s a man of integrity and his colleagues think highly of him.”

As for the F.B.I. investigation, she said: “We’ve been asking for an independent investigation. We’re happy that this is happening.”

The announcements about the investigations and reviews were just two of several developments that took place on Wednesday in connection with the raid, in which two suspects were killed and five officers wounded. The case has grown more complicated and come under increased scrutiny as additional information about it has trickled out.

Chief Acevedo also said Wednesday that a new policy he had alluded to earlier this week — one that will largely end the practice of police officers forcibly entering homes without warning — had been issued and would take effect immediately.

He also said the department would be “moving quickly” to ensure that officers conducting SWAT operations and executing search warrants would be wearing body cameras.

“We believe in our Police Department that when you do execute a search warrant, an arrest warrant, and force entry into a residence or a business, that there’s a high potential for a use of force,” Chief Acevedo said.

As for the use of body-worn cameras, he said it was important “to have a record” from which “people can form their own opinions when questions are raised.”

The drug operation in question took place in the early evening on Jan. 28 when a team of officers executed a search warrant at a home about seven miles southeast of downtown Houston. People inside the home began to shoot and the officers fired back, the police have said.

Two suspects, Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, died in the shootout, the police said. Four officers were shot and a fifth officer sustained a knee injury.

Last week Chief Acevedo disclosed that Officer Goines had lied about using a confidential informant to justify searching the home. He has said that Officer Goines, who was among the officers injured in the shootout, could face criminal charges — a point reiterated by the district attorney’s office on Wednesday.

Ms. DeBorde has called Chief Acevedo’s comments about criminal charges “very premature” and has suggested that “there is scapegoating going on.” On Wednesday she said Officer Goines had been released from the hospital but would eventually have additional surgery.

Chief Acevedo said Monday that the Police Department would largely end the practice of forcibly entering homes to search them without warning as officers did the evening of the deadly raid. Moving forward, he said that if officers want to use the tactic, known as no-knock warrants, they would need his permission.

He emphasized that point Wednesday while announcing that the policy had taken effect.

“We don’t want to wait until we have more death,” he said.

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