Lawsuit Update

     It is with great sadness that I have to announce to you that I had to drop out of the lawsuit. It is very painful to me to talk about this and I will tell you why.

      I believed in my heart and my soul that the Houston Police Department was wrong that is why I joined the lawsuit when asked by the Chicano squad now called squad 1. I still believe that the department is wrong. I know that the things that happened to me as a Spanish speaking officer were wrong. I know that I was retaliated against in the Homicide division. I know that I applied for jobs within the division and did not receive them because I was looked at as a trouble maker because I voiced my opinion about how I and others who translate for the department were treated. I know my case load was larger than my non Spanish speaking co-workers, I know that the stats were hidden because I was not given credit for helping with translation in my co-workers cases even if I interviewed a suspect and received a confession.  I know that I was told by non Spanish speaking supervisors that I was talking too much on the phone with victims about things that did not matter when they didn’t even know what I was talking about. I know that when I tried to do the right thing and get more Spanish speakers for all of the family violence units in Homicide division that I was met with resistance by my supervisors. I know that my Lieutenant retaliated against me by personally visiting my unit and attempting to stare me down in front of all my co-workers at a unit meeting. I know that when I complained about my case load that I was told since I got paid the language stipend that I should have nothing to complain about.   I know while I was assigned to that unit that others who got the language stipend were not expected to help me even though I was only one Spanish speaking officer for one quarter of the city.

     I know that the ERC process in this department is a complete farce; it is a year long process that is stressful and requires a lot of work and fortitude. I know that when an employee receives a favorable resolution a supervisor is not mandated by policy within the department to even comply with it therefore forcing an employee to make a decision to file a complaint with IAD or grievance when things could have been settled with a collaboration of the people involved. I know that I was most definitely unjustly treated and as a result the Hispanic citizens of Houston have been as well. I know that I was never replaced by a Spanish speaking investigator on the west side and now there are no Spanish speaking investigators on the west side to offer services to our family violence victims. I know that I went to the union with my dilemma and it was determined that they could not help me legally. I know that I was expected to go to the media to receive help when another officer had just been fired for criticizing the chase policy. I know that the department does not care about its Spanish speaking citizens because if it did my suggestions would have been welcomed by our Chief not ignored. I know I spoke with the Chief several times about the issue and never received help. I was told that I did not have a leg to stand on at one time and now I know it was because no one truly cared enough to help with the issue. No one wanted to tackle it because it requires people to admit they are wrong and the department does not do that. Solving the problem requires changes in policy and supervisors being held accountable for issues such as ERC resolutions, and disparate case loads.

     I am upset because I got thrown out of the game and I am still an active player. If you have something negative to say about the issue keep it to yourself. The point of this letter is to let you all know that what happened to me was real and I will never let it die because if I do my brothers and sisters will continue to be treated the way I was. My supervisors now happily retired and I hope they can live with themselves after all I was just an officer who should have minded my own business or left the division if I was so unhappy. How about doing the right thing? Doing the right thing for your employees, for the citizens, for the department? I was treated unjustly because I spoke another language and complained when the load got to heavy.  I thought I would receive help but somehow everyone just looked at me as a problem. I lost money but mostly I am fighting not to lose my dignity in all of this, the moral factor is a struggle. I feel for the Chicano squad. I prayed that someone with a true and good heart would acknowledge what happened to them over all those years. You know who you are and we know who you are. God help you. I’ll still be here and I will help those who are unfortunately following in my footsteps. I will always try to implement change so that other officers in our positions will not suffer as we did. It would have been nice just to have someone acknowledge the injustices, maybe even an apology but acknowledgement with change would have been so healing. I just want you to know I wasn’t seeing things, I wasn’t having hallucinations, I don’t have to pinch myself. I know what was done to me and who did it. I know what was done to our Chicano squad and juvenile sex crimes squad and who did it. I hope and pray that one day it will be acknowledged and changed and I hope I’m a part of the change and am still at least here to see some of it. For now, I’m greatly disappointed.

Rosalinda R. Ybanez

O.S.S.O. President 2009

 OSSO News

Only One Word: Family

By: I. F. (iffy) Flores Jr.

This is my story and it’s a very interesting one. I retired from the Houston Police Department back in January 2007. I started working on a hobby. You can only play so much golf before you realize you need to do something else. I decided to go back to work and was hired back with the Houston Police Department as a retiree and was assigned to work the Crime Lab. I worked there for awhile and unfortunately I fractured and dislocated my right ankle severely.

I had to have surgery to repair the damage. I was told by the orthopedic doctor that he noticed that my bones were so weak that they appeared to be the bones of a ninety year old. I had to have a battery of tests performed on me. The results indicated that I had a rare bone disease called Pagets. It’s a genetic disease I had been born with. It affects 1 in 400,000 people. It’s a disease that can be treated in time. The problem at the time was that it made it very difficult for my bones to get better.

Well, I had to have numerous surgeries and fixators, plates and screws placed on my leg, but the leg refused to heal. The infection got into the ankle and bloodstream. I almost died from the infection.  The disease only activated when I broke the ankle. It lays dormant until there is an injury. In the ten months that I endured the pain, I had a total of seven surgeries on the ankle and I was predominately bedridden. I thank god I have a wonder wife who took care of me. She suffered along with me.

Throughout my hospital stays and the surgeries I had to endure, there were four special friends constantly by my side who helped me and my wife in whatever we needed. These friends are Dolores ‘ Dee ‘ Leal, Ernest Leal, Toni Verastegui and Roy Verastegui. They went out of their way getting me to doctor’s appointments. They even paid money out of their pockets getting me equipment not provided by insurance. These people are like my extended family. While I was in the hospital and at home, I needed strong antibiotic medication to kill the infection, but with no success. The last hospital stay resulted in my right leg below the right knee being amputated. I had numerous blood transfusions and thank God, there were family members, friends and police officers who donated blood at St. Lukes Hospital and other area hospitals on my behalf.

I had to learn how to do everything on one leg. It was difficult but I seemed to manage it, as best I could. They say that you can measure a person’s caricature by the friends he keeps. Well I must be blessed because I had so many people call and come by to visit me at the hospital. One of the difficult obstacles I faced was trying to get into my home through the front door. I have steps to climb and it’s hard to do that on one leg. I needed to get a wheelchair ramp put in as soon as possible.

 I had been told that a friend by the name of Leo Flores who I had worked with at the Magnolia Substation had a side business putting in wheelchair ramps. I called him and explained to him my situation, and without hesitation he offered to put in the wheelchair ramp. He told me that he would be honored to do that for me. I felt so good when he told me that. I felt that I made a difference in someone’s life while working with the department. The word got out about me needing a wheelchair ramp. Sgt. Paul Ogden, Joe Barrera of the Magnolia Substation got together and started the ball rolling. They along with Dee Leal started making calls. They got together with the HPOU. President Gary Blankenship decided to pitch in money for the cost of the wheelchair ramp. The Organization of Spanish Speaking Officer’s President Rosalinda Ybanez offered money as well to help in the cost of the building of the ramp. Many friends came to my help as well. They offered money to help offset the cost of the ramp. God-Bless you all and thank you.

I want to personally thank Retired Officer Dee Leal, Officer Ernest Leal, Officer Leo Flores, Lt. Joe Barrera, and Sgt. Paul Ogden. But most of all I want to thank my wife Rebecca Flores , with her help and encouragement helped me get through these difficult times. It’s a trying time in someone’s life to lose a body part and realize that you miss something when it’s no longer there. Most people get depressed upon losing a body pat. But with friend’s who give you the encouragement you need, helps you get through these adversities. My goal in life is to walk again, and with prosthesis I will be able to take my grandchildren to Disney World.  

I want to say God-Bless to all my friends, I love you all. There is only one word that describes this article ‘ Family.’

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287g

     The 287g Immigration status program has been a very sore subject for Latinos in Houston. As I asked people their opinions about the program it seems that there is a fear in the Latino community in which they believe that they could be detained for something as simple as a class C misdemeanor Public intoxication arrest in order for an overzealous police officer to be able to have their fingerprints run through a system in order to satisfy his curiosity. Wow, could that happen? Yes it could. As I ponder my position on this subject I remember commenting to my non-Hispanic police partners that I would be offended if I got stopped on a traffic stop and was immediately asked if I was legal here. It started an argument in which I had to hold my emotions back because I really couldn’t articulate why.

     Now I know, it’s because I am an American and a fourth generation Hispanic here in my United States. I am proud of being an American and usually that comes with working in this industry. I pictured myself riding with my partner who is a white male and being stopped by an officer for traffic infractions and being the only one in the car questioned as to citizenship status. I would feel insulted, it would hurt my trust in the police system that I now rely on as a part of life, it would undermine my thoughts about the officer stopping me as to why he really was stopping me,  it would make me feel that I was being somewhat profiled by this officer.

    That aside, how would we  prevent our officers from being put in circumstances such as Rodney Johnson found himself in, and Rick Salter found himself in and recently Officer Canales. These were all wonderful officers who cared about the community that they lived and worked in, why did this happen? Because our systems do not communicate with each other. Recent investigation shows that all three of these suspects had been handled before the murders they went on to commit but even though they had been incarcerated for minor crimes after illegal re-entry into this country there was no warrant issued for the illegal re-entry, nor was there anyone from ICE looking to detain them while they sat in our jail. Ask yourself why? There is a communication problem and because of that communication problem our systems failed Houston Police Officers with families who depend on them and loved ones who will never forget  them.                      

    So, am I for the 287g? Yes, I am for the criminal aspect of it, I want to be able to know every fact possible about a person that I stop on traffic or make contact with in a minor or major criminal investigation. I want to come home to my family because I was able to make a fact supported decision about a situation involving a possible felon.

    Do I believe there are over zealous officers out there who will use racial profiling as a result of 287g, yes I believe there some bad apples in the police department, just as there are some bad apples in our immigrant population and every other aspect of life. There is an Internal Affairs Division with the Houston Police Department set in place for officers such as these. Is there a system in place to catch the people that are committing numerous crimes under their illegal alien status?  No.  That’s why my brothers and sisters suffer and that’s why their families will suffer for the rest of their lives. Do I still feel offended at the question, Are you legal here? Yes. But, as I sit here and think things through, I know I have a valid social security number that can be checked and a valid Texas driver’s license as well. If a well thinking officer stops me and I forgot my driver’s license or misplaced it, I can verbally give him my valid identifying numbers because I am an American. I shouldn’t have to be asked about my status unless I just can’t produce any form of identifiers for the officer who is questioning me.

    I write this article as I sit by the door side of my good friend, Rick Salter. He did not deserve in any way the harm that befell him; he will remain handicapped for the rest of his life as a result of no 287g program. I do not believe that Houston Police should in any way become immigration officers because there are many, many immigrants in the city of Houston. The mix of people in our city is what makes our city so great but I do believe that every officer should have all information possible at their fingertips in order to make them safe and get them home. I believe our citizens should be kept safe from all felons legal or illegal. I have issues with the so called 22 officers who will be assigned to the jail. I believe ICE should send their own liaisons to work in conjunction with officers because of the manpower shortage in our police force. I also wonder why the Police Chief disbanded valuable specialized squads such as the world famous Chicano Squad who has been recognized by President Bush, and our Juvenile sex crimes Latino squad then putting out a silent message that Spanish speaking citizens are few in this city and therefore don’t need services provided by these specialized squads. Our city carries a 38% population of Latinos and after the census in 2010 will prove to be much larger. The Latino population in Houston is not a fad, either we are important to the department or we aren’t, and either the police department needs services for our fast growing population or we don’t. So, which is it Chief? Do we need specialized squads or not? I call for the Police Chief to re-instate these disbanded squads which were much needed here in our diverse city. I urge him not to punish 22 Hispanic police officers by sending them to a jail assignment that won’t be easy to transfer out of but to work towards an agreeable solution. I also ask for the 287g.

Godspeed,

Rosalinda R. Ybanez,

O.S.S.O. President