TX - Houston Police say No to Bill White – You Should Too!

Thursday the Houston Police Officers Union said NO to Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate and former Houston Mayor, Bill White with their endorsement of Governor Rick Perry. Recently the Houston Professional Firefighters Association did the same thing. These brave men and women served directly under the leadership of former Mayor Bill White for 6 long years. They perhaps know this man better than any other group of people in Texas and they have resoundingly said he is unfit to be governor of Texas.

Governor Perry announced he will make the abolition of sanctuary cities an emergency item in the upcoming legislative session. Perry said with an abolition of sanctuary cities, Texas law enforcement professionals will have the discretion to use their judgment as they work to keep Texas communities safe.

Under then Mayor White's terms as mayor the following officers were killed or critically injured by repeat criminal illegal aliens. If Mayor White had allowed officers to do their jobs perhaps some of these deaths could have been avoided.

Officer Rodney Johnson:

On September 21, 2006, Officer Rodney Johnson made a routine traffic stop on the south side of Houston. During the traffic stop, Officer Johnson placed the driver of the car, Juan Leonardo Quintero, in the back seat of his patrol car in handcuffs while he ran some checks on the suspect. While in the back seat of the locked patrol car, Quintero, managed to get his hands back in front of him, pulled a gun and shot Officer Johnson in the back of the head four times. Quintero had been placed in the back of the patrol car because he did not have a driver's license. The reason – He was a repeat criminal illegal alien. An illegal alien who had been arrested and deported twice and had again recently been arrested for indecency with a child and allowed back on the streets to kill Officer Johnson. What did Sanctuary Bill White do about HPD policy after this killing? NOTHING

Officer Gary Gryder:

On June 29, 2008, Officer Gary Gryder responded to a traffic incident on the Katy Freeway feeder road with his partner Officer Joe Pyland. While working the accident the officers were struck by an out of control car driven by yet another illegal alien, Hung Truong. Gryder was killed and Pyland came within inches of losing his life but sustained major injuries. Truong was charged with manslaughter and is awaiting trial pending mental treatment. Once again, What did Sanctuary Bill White do about HPD policy? NOTHING

Officer Richard Salter:

On March 5, 2009 Officer Richard Salter executed a narcotics search warrant in the dark of night when he was ambushed by career criminal – illegal alien Wilfido Joel Alfaro. Alfaro was waiting inside the door as Salter was the first officer to enter. He shot Salter in the face at point blank range. Alfaro had a long criminal record that included being arrested five times for possession or delivery of drugs. Three of these offenses occurred after Alfaro was issued a "voluntary departure" order from an immigration judge. WHAT!? A voluntary departure after twice being convicted of selling drugs!? Yes that's right… We just asked him nicely to leave the country. He didn't. He came to Houston and and Rick Salter's life will never be the same. Months and months of surgeries passed. Years of rehab await his future.

After Officer Salter was shot, I attended a rally at Houston City Hall sponsored by US Border Watch. The rally was in support of our officers and against the HPD Sanctuary Policy that continued under Mayor Bill White's terms as mayor. Oddly our rally was met by a group of anarchists and self-proclaimed socialists who were protesting against our support of the officers.

Later that day I and several others spoke with Mayor White before Houston City Council. We pleaded for Mayor White to adopt the ICE 287g program that would allow repeat criminal illegal aliens to be identified in the Houston City Jail. The criminals would the be turned over to ICE and deported once our justice system was finished with them.

The Houston Chronicle reported;

"Mayor Bill White said the disclosure about the immigration status of Wilfido Joel Alfaro ... highlights the federal government’s failure to identify and deport illegal immigrants convicted of crimes."

That may be true, but it was his responsibility to develop programs to keep his police oifficers safe. He later promised he would adopt the 287g program for Houston as had been done by the Harris County Sheriff's Department. What did he actually do? NOTHING

Officer Henry Canales:

A mere three months later, June 23, 2009, Officer Henry Canales was working an undercover sting operation. Their assignment was to bust people merchandising stolen property. While working this case, Officer Canales was fatally shot by, once again, a repeat criminal illegal alien Roberto Carrillo from Mexico. He had previously been picked up and deported in El Paso in 1999. Since his return to the United States (a felony after being deported) he had four additional encounters with the Houston Police Department where he had been stopped and ticketed FOUR TIMES in 2002. A warrant had even been issued for him for failure to appear, but he was allowed to pay the fine and remain in this country. Carrillo was shot and killed by police officers while he was pointing a gun at them after killing Officer Canales.

I attended the funeral of Officer Canales. It was a beautiful service. His fellow officers spoke highly of him. His beautiful wife and daughter found the courage to stand and offer their stories about their beloved family member. The funeral was in a packed church and was attended by many dignitaries including Bill White and Sheila Jackson Lee. The funeral was made all the more tragic by the knowledge that his death could have been prevented if law enforcement and elected officials took their oaths seriously and actually protected the citizens of this country from repeat criminal illegal aliens.

After the funeral for Officer Canales, I once again spoke with many others to Mayor White and the Houston City Council. Many accused the Council and Mayor of not caring about officer safety. I said, I am sure you care, but what are you willing to do? Mayor White again promised he would implement the ICE 287G program. What did he actually do? NOTHING

Mayor White left Houston much like he found it. A sanctuary city where repeat criminal illegal aliens are allowed to run the streets and kill or seriously injure Houston Police Officers. Oh, but only it would stop there. It was not just HPD officers who were killed during White's tenure as Mayor of Houston. Many civilians were killed in carjackings, drunk driving accidents, and other murderous assaults. White did finally sign on to a much watered down program called "Secure Communities". Do you feel safer?

It is no surprise that our Houston Police Officers and Fire Fighters would refuse to back Bill White and come out in favor of Republican Governor Rick Perry. Bill White has their blood and our blood on his hands and stood quietly on the sidelines while whining like a baby that this was all the federal government's fault.

“As a local law enforcement agency, under law, we can’t deport people,” White said. “That is the job of the federal government, and we’re calling on the federal government to do their job.”

Mayor White, you had six years as Houston's Mayor. There were things YOU could have done as mayor that would have allowed repeat criminal illegal aliens to be identified and sent to ICE for deportation. What did you do to make us safer? NOTHING!

You handed off the ball to the current Mayor, Anise Parker who also promised to implement 287g in her campaign and at one of her first city council meetings where I asked her to live up to her campaign promise. She learned from you well, Mayor White. Promise much - Deliver NOTHING!

http://texasgopvote.com/2010-elections/texas-elections/houston-police-say-no-bill-white-you-should-too-001909