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Houston police union warns city is 'not safe' as murder suspects are left 'walking the streets'

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Leaders of the Houston Police Officers’ Union are sounding the alarm on the city’s safety as criminal suspects walk the streets on bond while the police department battles officer shortages.

“I have never in my lifetime – and I’m a lifelong Houstonian –  seen this many suspected murderers and capital murderers who are walking the streets of Houston out on multiple bonds,” the union’s executive director Ray Hunt told Fox News Digital. 

“I would not let my wife or my kids walk down the streets of Houston at midnight under any circumstances,” he continued. “It is not safe in major cities in 2024, and it’s not safe here.”

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Houston, Texas, is America’s fourth-largest city. (Houston Police Department)

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The warning comes as the Houston Police Department continues to struggle with recruiting and retaining officers, an issue plaguing departments across the nation.

“We’re in a perfect storm right now,” President Douglas Griffith said. “We had the George Floyd effect come down. We can’t hire. We can’t retain our officers. The people are leaving left and right.”

“Who in the heck wants to be a police officer in 2024?” Hunt asked, “when every single thing that they’re doing is going to be second-guessed by their body-worn camera that someone can watch three or four times to determine whether or not that officer made the right split-second decision. I don’t know who would want to do that. I could not encourage any of my family to come be a police officer in 2024 with the situation that’s going on.”

According to Griffith, the Houston City Council was made aware of department shortages a decade ago, after a 2014 Sam Houston State University report revealed a shortage of 1,500 officers in the city.

“In 2014, it said if Houston was staffed like Chicago, we would have 9,602 sworn officers. At that time we had about 5,600 – 4,000 short. Now we have just over 5,000. We’ve already lost officers since then,” Hunt said.

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As a result of this shortage, “we will never be able to be able to investigate” every case, Griffith added.

“A survey of investigative division commanders revealed excessively high numbers of cases with leads that were not investigated in 2013 due to lack of personnel,” Hunt continued. “This was 2014 they’re writing this. For burglary and theft, nearly 15,000 cases were suspended –  3,000 assault cases in the homicide division, 3,000 hit-and-run cases for that year. They knew that. Everyone knew that we were shorthanded, and now everyone wants to say, ‘Wow, these officers are lazy. They’re not doing your job.’ Completely untrue.”

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“This was presented to City Council at the time, this was presented to every person. And you can find the tapes on there where one of the council members says, ‘Wow, y’all just put us on notice that we’ve got a serious staffing problem.’”

Houston Police Department vehicles

“I could not encourage any of my family to come be a police officer in 2024 with the situation that’s going on,” Houston Police Officers’ Union Executive Director Ray Hunt told Fox News Digital. (Houston Police Department)

Griffith also called out the court system for “not doing their job.” 

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“Their contention is that we can’t hold somebody. We have to give everybody a bond, yes, the first time. Once they violate that bond, they can be held in jail until they go to court again. And we get people on six, seven, eight, nine bonds at one time. And that’s a problem that we have to fix in the courts. And with the DA’s office, you try to make sure that these public offenders can’t be continued to roam the streets and victimize our citizens.”

Hunt said suspects in Harris County, where Houston is located, may not go to court for five to six years. However, criminals in Montgomery County, just north of Houston, are held accountable.

“Crooks in this area know the boundary lines of Harris County and Montgomery County. They don’t want to commit crimes in Montgomery County because they know they’re going to be held responsible.”

Last month, police in Austin, Texas described staffing shortages and longer 911-call response times in the aftermath of the city council’s vote to defund the department in 2020. 

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Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock told Fox News Digital that a steady decline in public safety had put the city on the “brink of disaster.” In February, a section of the city was notably left without a single police officer for a few hours on a Saturday.

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Southwest

Fugitive shooting suspect arrested without incident in northern Arizona

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A man suspected of fatally shooting one person and wounding two others in a domestic violence incident on the Navajo Nation earlier this week was arrested Thursday, authorities said.

Navajo Police said 44-year-old Derick Myron was taken into federal custody without incident at a residence in the northern community of Tuba City, Arizona, around 1 a.m. Thursday.

At his initial federal court appearance later in Flagstaff, a criminal complaint said Myron was accused of several counts including second-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a firearm in a crime of violence.

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Matthew Poirier, a Coconino County public defender assigned to represent Myron, declined to comment on his client’s case. But he did say that the next scheduled court date is Monday.

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Myron is accused of killing a Cameron resident and injuring two other people last Monday morning, according to police.

A fugitive wanted in connection with a shooting perpetrated in northern Arizona earlier this week has been arrested. (Fox News)

The names and ages of the victims haven’t been released by police or the FBI yet.

Myron fled the shooting scene in a pickup truck and police briefly issued a shelter-in-place order for residents near the Cameron Chapter House and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Police and the FBI had been searching for Myron in the Cameron and Tuba City areas and authorities considered him armed and dangerous.

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A federal arrest warrant for Myron was issued Wednesday, authorities said.

The small community of Cameron is about 50 miles north of Flagstaff and Tuba City is some 27 miles northeast of Cameron.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Guns, firearm manufacturing machinery and large magazines seized in Riverside County

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Guns, firearm manufacturing machinery and large magazines seized in Riverside County

Gang Task Force Officers with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office seized guns, firearm manufacturing equipment and other illegal gun-related items in a Beaumont search on Thursday, according to authorities.

Authorities served a search warrant on the 300 block of 12th Street at 9 a.m. Thursday.

According to the sheriff’s department, the following were seized during the search:

  • 17 firearms
  • Various firearm components in varying stages of assembly
  • Firearm manufacturing machinery
  • Several firearm suppressors
  • 4 Ballistic plate carrier vests with steel ballistic plates
  • Ballistic helmets
  • Numerous large-capacity magazines
  • Tens of thousands of rounds of varying caliber ammunition

Two Beaumont residents, Ronald Partain Jr, 54, and Michael Ortega, 46 were arrested on suspicion of various weapons-related charges and booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility. Both men are convicted felons and are legally barred from owning any firearms.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Deputy Cooley with the Riverside County Gang Task Force, Region 2, at 951-766-2553.

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Southwest

The first wrongful-death trial in Travis Scott concert deaths has been delayed

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The start of the first civil trial stemming from the 2021 Astroworld festival, at which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge, has been delayed.

Jury selection had been set to begin next Tuesday in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed the family of Madison Dubiski, a 23-year-old Houston resident who was killed during the crowd crush at the Nov. 5, 2021, concert by rap superstar Travis Scott.

TEXAS RAPPER TRAVIS SCOTT NARROWLY ESCAPES CHARGES RELATED TO 2021 ASTROWORLD CROWD CRUSH DISASTER

But Apple Inc., one of the more than 20 defendants going to trial next week, filed an appeal this week, automatically delaying the start of jury selection.

“Unless I hear differently, the trial is stayed,” state District Judge Kristen Hawkins said during a court hearing Thursday.

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Travis Scott performs at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston, Nov. 5, 2021. The start of the first civil trial stemming from the 2021 Astroworld festival, at which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge, has been delayed. Jury selection had been set to begin Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Madison Dubiski, a 23-year-old Houston resident who was killed during the crowd crush at Scott’s November 2021 concert.  (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

Apple, which livestreamed Scott’s concert, is appealing a ruling by Hawkins that denied the company’s motion to be dismissed from the case. Apple has argued that under Texas law, it can appeal Hawkins’ ruling because its defense claims are being made in part as a member of the electronic media.

Apple is arguing that in livestreaming Scott’s concert, it was acting as a member of the electronic media and its actions merit free speech protection.

“It remains our position that our conduct is protected by the First Amendment,” Kent Rutter, one of Apple’s attorneys, told Hawkins during a court hearing Thursday.

Just before the hearing ended, Hawkins said she had been notified that the appeals court earlier Thursday had denied a request by the lawyers for Dubiski’s family to lift the stay.

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Jason Itkin, one of the attorneys for Dubiski’s family, said he planned to appeal that denial, likely up to the Texas Supreme Court.

Lawyers for Dubiski’s family have alleged that her death was caused by negligent planning and a lack of concern over capacity at the event. Her lawyers allege that how Apple placed its cameras around the concert site affected the placement of barriers and reduced available crowd space by the main stage.

Rutter argued that it was broadcasting an event “with significant public interest” and that by doing so, it was acting as a member of the media and gathering news.

Itkin said Apple has described itself in business records as a company that makes smartphones and computers but doesn’t mention news or news reporting. He added that the company’s Apple News app is a subscription service that aggregates the stories of other news organizations.

“This is not a free speech case. They know that,” Itkin said.

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During the hearing, Hawkins appeared skeptical about Apple’s claims about being a member of the electronic media, asking Rutter that if a livestream were set up in a zoo to watch animals, would that be news.

“Yes, it would be,” Rutter said.

Over 4,000 plaintiffs filed hundreds of lawsuits following the concert. Dubiski’s case had been chosen by attorneys in the litigation to be the first to go to trial. More than 20 defendants, including Scott, Apple and Live Nation, the festival’s promoter, had been set to go on trial Tuesday.

Following a police investigation, a grand jury last year declined to indict Scott, along with five others connected to the festival.

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