President Hans Marticiuc responds to Houston Chronicle's disappointing series of articles this past weekend looking at incidents where Harris County and Houston suspects were shot by local police officers. (Note: This Ed/Op was submitted to the Houston Chronicle Editorial Department)

When we first heard that the Chronicle was running series of articles this past weekend looking at incidents where Harris County and Houston suspects were shot by local police officers, many of us dared to hope that our hometown newspaper would take a balanced look into perhaps the most troubling issue every HPD member confronts each morning they put on their uniform and try to maintain the public safety in an increasingly dangerous world.

After all, no law enforcement officer goes to work hoping today is the day he or she can draw their weapon. No officer looks forward to placing themselves, or others, in harm’s way. Moreover, everyone involved in an accidental shooting – the victim, the victim’s family, as well as the officers involved – all suffer permanent, terrible, lifelong scars.

Yet, like those who blame the United States for the war against terror, the Chronicle seems to think that local police officers are likewise solely responsible for the erratic and sometimes dangerous behavior of the individuals they confront on an all-too-frequent basis in the country’s fourth largest city.

Houston police officers handle several million calls for emergency service a year. Of all those calls, roughly 30 percent require two officers at the scene. That equates to thousands of calls a year that have the potential to turn very volatile – but usually do not thanks to the professionalism and skill of officers who are rigorously trained in compliance with a departmental policy manual so thick it could be mistaken for the Houston phone book. When you consider that the “thin blue line” must contend with some pretty thick red tape, our officers routinely do a fantastic job.

Of course, on rare occasions, the threatening actions of some suspects force officers to make split-second decisions concerning the use of deadly force – in about the same time Jeff Bagwell has to swing at a Randy Johnson fastball. And to be candid, during the 160-plus years of the department, there have been episodes where an officer's conduct was proved unwarranted, excessive or criminal. In such cases, the offending officers have been either tried and convicted, or at the very least terminated from the department. Police work remains an inherently dangerous undertaking; but despite the Chronicle’s “guilty until proven innocent” tone there are occasions when genuine, legitimate accidents do occur. When they do, we already have a system for enforcing rules and regulations.

Under provisions implemented under then-Chief of Police Lee Brown, in fact, every time an officer uses his or her weapon there is in-depth review by the Harris County District Attorney's office and the state district court grand jury system. Ultimately the Grand Jury – which is made up of citizens of Harris County who have subpoena power to conduct independent investigations – and the Department of Justice review all evidence related to shooting incidents involving officers. They then make legal determinations based on statements and other facts whether there was justification for the officer's actions.

This apparently isn’t enough for some critics, who feel we need yet another ill-advised layer of red tape that would subject criminal investigations and procedures to political pressures and emotions. What made this series not only disappointing, but outrageous, is the fact that the Chronicle’s editorial board recently got a pretty good taste of the real pressures faced and split-second judgments required by officers when confronted with a dangerous situation.

Earlier this year, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal invited members of the editorial board to the basement of the Harris County Court House to experience the Shoot/Don’t Shoot Course – a state-of-the-art virtual reality program used to train law enforcement officers how to deal with a variety of simulated, life-threatening scenarios. According to those who witnessed the exercise, a majority of the editorial board members “killed” both innocent citizens and unarmed suspects. One reportedly shot a child – and was, understandably, so upset by their decision they could not continue the course.

Unfortunately for those of us who have dedicated our lives to making our community a better place to live and work, we cannot stop the exercise. We have to live with the consequences, which is why we are working as hard as we can to reduce these instances.

As the elected, exclusive bargaining agent for all Houston police officers, the Houston Police Officers’ Union encourages HPD to develop additional officer training programs and to offer alternative non-lethal weapons such as tasars (along with our top priority of placing more officers on the street to continue our great tradition of providing first-class police services to the community we all serve). Unfortunately these needed strategies cost money, and with an already stretched city budget that may not be possible for some time. Nevertheless, we hope that once budget issues are addressed, these important items will be placed at the top of our elected officials’ priority lists.

While the Chronicle and other armchair quarterbacks can second-guess split-second decisions that officers make on the street, they will continue to discharge their duties as faithfully – and as safely – as they possibly can under very difficult circumstances. The sad truth is: on rare occasions, honest errors are made and these shooting incidents do occur in every city in America. Understanding how and why is an important subject not only to your readers, but even more so to the men and women of HPD who lay their lives on the line – and who need the support of the community, if not the Chronicle, to do their tough jobs effectively.

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