A Citizen’s Open Letter to Police Chief Bowden

 

AN URGENT LETTER to Chief Bowden of Lexington TX.
Dear Chief,
You promised that the citizens of Lexington would no longer be treated badly. Since you left Captain Clarence Yarbrough in charge he has turned into another Randy Davenport/Jimmy Sherer.This is exactly how Randy became Chief. He was promoted when the Chief prior to him left town in a hurry. Just as you did. Captain Yarbrough is thumping his badge all over around town at some of the same people who filed complaints before and making statements, that they are the ones with the problem He walks around like a puffed up cock and crows all the time.

It is not right that when a 70 year old woman, confined to a wheelchair, has to have an officer enter her home with one officers gun loose in the holster and his hand on his gun and the other officer had his gun drawn, because she wants to complain about a neighbor. When ever anyone reports an issue to the police the Captain runs right to the person who the complaint is about and tells them who the person is making the complaint. This causes direct confict between neighbors. We can no longer safely walk to our mail box without being harassed by our neighbors.

When asked why he doesn’t seem to be able to get his job done he says he is too busy cleaning up the mess the former police force left,(which not one thing has been done about) so he doesn’t have time to do his current job, and says there is so much crime that it takes him and all the other officers all day everyday to do paper work. The Captain seems to think he needs to follow and have his officers follow certain citizens around whenever they are out riding in their cars, those who have reported issues to him. This is the very same thing that Chief Davenport was doing and having his officers do. LOOK AT THE COMPLAINTS FROM THE PAST 2 YEARS!

We were also promised that the police officers would not be using, (our Taxpayers) police cars as personal cars to drive back and forth to and from homes outside the city, and that the officers would live in Lexington. Well this just isn’t happening. Since Captain Clarence Yarbrough has been left in charge things are going back to the way they were, and as for me I will not tolerate it without saying something. Now it seems that he will be made Chief and we do not need an inexperienced Wyatt Erap/Randy Davenport/Jimmy Sherer, as a Chief. He is gun happy, lies and talks behind your back. I guess he doesn’t know that everything he says in a small town gets right back to the one he talks about.

I would like to have you answer this and tell us why you have not returned to work. It took weeks before we found out you were sick, if we had not been lied to you may have gotten some get well cards and other things sick people get!

Open Letter From (Yet Another) Frustrated Citizen

Dear LexTexVoices,

Wednesday March 7, 2012

One year after Lexington, Texas City Council concluded its investigation into wrong doings of their police force and tabled or (Sweeped all matter under the table) it is still the same old song and dance with the new force. I can’t do that I can’t do this, You can’t do this, you can’t do that. I made an appointment to file a criminal complaint with the new Chief Jerry Bowden for 11am when I arrived at the police station no one was there! After numerous calls to local officals, i.e. the Mayor and city hall, Captain Yarbourgh and office Stuttgart arrived. I was told by Capt. Yarbough that the Chief would not be at the meeting due to other pressing business! The Chief had told me not an hour earlier that he had the flu but would be at the meeting. After a lot of B. S. the Capt. telling me just how it was going to be and threatening to have me removed from his office which he finally did. We got through a simple complaint of a city ordance violation.

On to the criminal complaint his first issue was it’s over a year old! “It happened before I came here, I can’t and won’t investigate or do anything about anything that took place before I arrived here. After a long heated conversation he began to tell me how much more power he had than me ” because he wore a badge! By now he was thumping his badge just as Jimmie Sherer had done numerous times with numerous citizens. As he eventually took my complaint he pissed and moaned about all of my supporting evidence. He had office Stuttgart stand at my side by my chair!!! I was not allowed to stand up or sit down with out his the Capt.’s permision “The Abuse of Office and Official Oppression had began.” “Capt Yarbrough told me he would make up a charge to arrest me on!” i.e. disorderly conduct His conduct was just as disorderly, but remember he wears the badge!

Before I was finished filing my complaint and giving him all of supporting evidence he had officer Stuttgard escort me out of the office. He had exerted all of his power and Officaily Oppressed me!

Oh, the charges were against James N. Sherer former Lexington city police office and current candidate for City Council for Abuse of Office and Official Oppression.

Before I returned home from this meeting Capt. Yarbrough called to let us know that charges for interfering with the duties of a police officer and resisting Arrest were being brought aganst me. WOW swift retaliation as I had feared for over a year now.

It’s no wonder no one else will come forward one more time as Capt. Yarbrough demanded must be done before an investigation can take place.

Same old Song and Dance my friend!!!

Please forward this to KXAN news for me.

Please post this on the front page of this sight before James Sherer has a chance to retaliate further and is elected to our city council.

Mayor, Council Positions Up for Grabs in May Election

The Lexington City Council election has a large number of people running for two positions, including those currently occupied by Lori Barnikow and William Langehennig.

Also running this year are Mary Atkins, Chris Billings, Charlotte Hooper and former police officer Jim Sherer. (Who was suspended from his job and forced to resign last spring following numerous allegations of misconduct and abuse of power.)

Running for Mayor in the Lexington City election are incumbent Mayor Robert Willrich, Sr. and Tim Brown, who currently serves as the Mayor ProTem. (Mayor Willrich has also come under a dark cloud of suspicion after recent media reports and citizen complaints painted him as knowingly engaging in cover-ups of criminal acts by his employees and family members.)

To learn more about the complaints against former officer James Sherer and Mayor Willrich, please visit our “Citizen Complaints” section to read what citizens have to say about these candidates. This is the stuff they don’t want you to see before the election. But we ARE sharing these documents with you, because every voter has the right to know.

Our Mission for 2012: Clean House and Demand Action!

Welcome to 2012, fellow citizens!

Although some elected officials hoped we would just go away this year, we’ve got news for them. We are not going anywhere.

In fact, we are intensifying our efforts in the new year to expose the institutional corruption in the City of Lexington and Lee County, Texas.

Why are we doing this? Because it has been more than a year since citizens started demanding answers from the government. Despite a flurry of media reports, including a six-month investigation by KXAN News in Austin, and a Police Misconduct Review Board that heard our grievances, so far we’ve gotten zip in terms of answers or help. Some of these citizen complaints have been sitting in the city’s file cabinets for more than two years. We think that’s long enough.

We are tired of being ignored. We will not let our elected officials continue to sweep this under the rug. We will hold their feet to the fire and hold them accountable.

The best way we can do that is to shame them publicly by posting their worst behavior on the internet for all to see (and for all the search engines to index, complete with the bad guys’ names). This should make their job search an interesting adventure once we boot them out of office. Which we will.

Throughout 2012, we will choose a different citizen complaint periodically and feature it on our front page. Since most people don’t have time to read through all 155 pages in our “Citizen Complaints” section of the website, we’ll select the juiciest stuff and spotlight it right here on top. Because we don’t want people to forget the outrages and abuses committed against these innocent citizens, and we want to remind you that these people still need help.

We also want to remind the victims that it is not too late to seek help if you need it. Here’s how:

* Our new police chief Jerry Bowden has stated publicly — and on this website  — that any victims of police misconduct, or those who still have unresolved cases should contact him personally. Chief Bowden has pledged to help the victims pursue justice. He cannot help you, however, if you do not file a criminal complaint.

Even if you have filed a complaint before, chances are very strong that your original complaint was “lost” by former police Chief Davenport, who kept confidential police files at his home and had plenty of time to destroy complaints and evidence before his departure last April. So you may need to start all over again.

Chief Bowden encourages you to come to police headquarters and fill out the paperwork. He had pledged to take these cases direct to the District Attorney’s office and push for the D.A. to prosecute. That includes criminal complaints against former Lexington police officers and other elected officials. Chief Bowden says he is not afraid of taking on the big boys in this crooked county. Let’s hold him to that pledge.

* If you need legal representation and cannot afford an attorney, we strongly encourage you to request assistance from the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project. Contact information for these nonprofit organizations is available on our “Take Action” page.

* We also encourage you to contact the media, especially Erin Cargile at KXAN-TV in Austin, who has been following this story for the past year. Encourage her to do a follow-up report on what’s going on in Lexington and that the citizens still do not have satisfaction, nor do the victims have justice. Ask her to come back and question Mayor Willrich about his knowledge of the police misconduct and why he covered it up.

* Finally, use your vote to effect change. Sheriff Rodney Meyer is seeking re-election this year. If you think this good ol’ boy network needs to go, VOTE HIM OUT OF OFFICE! That’s a good place to start.

Things will not change unless we demand it. So in 2012, become an activist and clean up your own government. You would be surprised what a group of determined citizens can do when they put their minds to it. Let’s work together to restore Lexington to the great little town it once was, and make it a place we can be proud to call home again.

Texas Civil Rights Project “Lost” Lexington Complaints File

We have had recent reports from citizens who filed complaints with the Texas Civil Rights Project that they finally received a call back from a TCRP attorney after many long months of waiting for a response. In some cases, victims have waited up to a year for legal help.

Andres Martinez of TCRP explained the delay was because TCRP somehow “lost the file” on Lexington containing all the citizen complaints. Incredible.

Now that the file has been “found’ the citizens await a more meaningful response from TCRP to their complaints against the Lexington Police Department and the City of Lexington.

If you filed a complaint with TCRP previously, it is recommended that you call TCRP to ensure that they still have your complaint on file and that it wasn’t “lost.” If you haven’t yet filed a complaint with TCRP, what are you waiting for?

To check on the status of a previously-filed complaint, contact Andres Martinez with the Texas Civil Rights Project at 512-474-5073, ext. 107, or by fax at 512-474-0726.

To file a new complaint, please call the TCRP’s intake line (512-474-5073). Please note that TCRP only accepts intake calls on Thursdays between 1-4 p.m.

If your complaint also involves elected officials or law enforcement officers in Lee County, and not just the City of Lexington, be sure to specify that when you call TCRP.

We will keep you updated on what we hear back from TCRP after the holidays. At least there is finally a little hope on the horizon for the victims going into the new year.

An Open Letter from Former Mayor’s Daughter

 

Dear Editor:

I read the message “From the Mayor’s Desk” in the Leader. I didn’t realize that “the City is in much better condition than when I [Mayor Willrich] took office.”

My Daddy was mayor before him and he was proud of how he served the city and I personally think he did a great job and things were in very good condition when he left as mayor.

Yes, things change, some for the better and some for the worse. Changes can and do make a difference, but Daddy was very proud of his employees and the police unit. We were all proud of them.

Daddy and all former mayors worked regular jobs and took care of their City business every day. None of them got to or needed to sit in the office every day. They were not furnished a vehicle, fuel and other expenses. Changes do make a difference.

Daddy had worked for the City himself, so he knew the City’s needs from the top of the water tower, down to the deepest sewer line.

The only time I remember a TV crew coming to the City was to bring a rain guage and thermomenter and to thank Daddy and Mother for calling in the Lexington weather every day.

After reading the Leader headline, Lexington Citizens, do you agree that We Do have work to do? Are We going to do it? Is it too late?

Tana Renfroe

 

This letter was originally published in the Dec. 22nd, 2011 edition of The Lexington Leader newspaper.

Citizen Complaints Against Police Now Available Online

A Police Misconduct Review Board investigator's notes, indicating the mayor of Lexington knew his officers were violating the rights of local citizens and was engaging in a cover-up.

REQUESTED FOIA DOCUMENTS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

We have recently posted all available documents we received from the City of Lexington regarding the numerous allegations of police misconduct, violations of civil rights and official abuses of power.

This “rogues gallery” contains actual statements, affidavits, police reports, Police Misconduct Review Board investigators’ notes, and formal written complaints from victims of alleged police abuse in the City of Lexington.

Witnesses also describe herein the resistance and retaliation they faced in Lee County, Texas when they attempted to appeal to their elected officials for assistance.

We believe this issue is not about “just a few bad cops; it is about institutional corruption at the highest levels of our city and county government.

Former police chief Randy Davenport and his officers may be gone now, but the problem isn’t going away so long as certain public officials remain in positions of power. (Including Lexington Mayor Robert Willrich, District Attorney and County Attorney Martin Placke, and Lee County Sheriff Rodney Meyer, who is running for re-election in 2012.)

After reading the multitude of citizen complaints presented below, a clear pattern emerges. These “rogue officers” were not always acting on their own; higher-ups knew of their illegal acts and may have ordered or at the very least encouraged them to break the law.

Rather than protecting the citizens, our elected officials attempted to cover up these crimes and protect the offenders from public exposure or prosecution. The reasons seem clear enough; the offenders in some cases described herein are political cronies, employees, business associates, personal friends, and/or family members of certain elected officials.

Once the police officers’ dirty deeds had been exposed by the media and an official investigation concluded, these officers were not fired. They were ALLOWED TO RESIGN and each walked out the door with a severance check. This after months of being on administrative leave with pay. In the eyes of their outraged victims, these officers were REWARDED for breaking the law.

It is also clear that the victims of this official abuse still do not have justice — many months, even years after they were victimized by the very system that is supposed to protect their civil rights.

These documents were originally collected as part of a 2011 city council investigation into police misconduct. LexTexVoices obtained them through an Open Records request.

Our first attempt to obtain the documents was denied by the city attorney. It was only after we obtained a ruling from the Attorney General of Texas that the city was forced to comply with state law and release the documents. So far we have approximately 155 pages of documents; however, we believe that the city is still withholding more files from the public. Not surprisingly, many of the missing documents are those most damning to former Chief Randy Davenport and his fellow former officers.

To read all of the documents we have gathered so far, go here. If you filed a complaint against the Lexington Police Department and do not find a copy of your complaint in the gallery, please contact us right away using the comment form below.  If you do not wish for your comment to be published, be sure to put “NOT FOR PUBLICATION” in the comment text box. All comments are moderated and requests for confidentiality will be honored.

 

National Day of Protest Against Criminal Cops Oct. 22

Fight Back on Oct. 22nd!

 

The Call for the 16th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation

October 22, 2011

 

Across the U.S., Black, Latino, and poor neighborhoods are treated like occupied territory by increasingly militarized armies of law enforcement. People are criminalized and brutalized for their perceived status – socioeconomic, immigration, mental health, and/or racial, gender, or sexual identity. People living in our communities, especially youth, are routinely stopped, harassed, beaten, and even killed.

• In Chicago, the home of the first Black president, police have shot 44 people so far this year, mostly youth of color, including 13-year-old Jimmell Cannon, who was shot eight times.
• NYPD continues to stop hundreds of thousands of youth of color every year for the most minimal suspicion, fewer than 10% of which result in arrest, and far fewer in charges or conviction. 
• Police nationwide continue to kill with very little consequence. Twelve Miami cops shot at 22-year-old Raymond Herisse 100 times, then threatened those who recorded the incident, destroying their cellphones. A Tucson SWAT team shot at 26-year-old Iraq War veteran Jose Guerena over 70 times, claiming that he fired at them and then leaving him to bleed to death in his home. Both their allegations of gunfire and drug-dealing were later revealed to be false. In New York and New Jersey, at least 28 people have been killed by police since October 22 of last year, while at least 35 people have been killed by law enforcement in Washington State in the last 12 months. The killing of 22-year old Oscar Grant in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009 resulted in a rare conviction for the officer who shot him; however, he was freed after mere months in prison, while people protesting the outrageous verdict were met with police violence and mass arrests. In the weeks following that cop’s release, SF cops killed Charles Hill, a 45-year-old homeless man, on a subway platform and 19-year old Kenneth Harding after he supposedly failed to pay a $2 train fare, then left him dying on the pavement in front of dozens of outraged witnesses. 
• Police routinely abuse the mentally ill and disabled. Fullerton, CA cops beat to death homeless and mentally ill 27-year-old Kelly Thomas, described by many in the community as “a gentle, childlike soul.” In Fresno, CA, 28-year-old Raul Rosas, Jr. died after being tasered by police. His girlfriend said “I didn’t call the Fresno County Sheriff to kill him. I called because he needed help with his mental illness.” Raul went into cardiac arrest and was denied access to three medical ambulances that showed up to assist.
• Recently enacted anti-immigrant laws have given police in the states of Arizona, Georgia, and Alabama sweeping powers to stop people “suspected” of being undocumented on no other basis than appearance. The hostility and racism stoked by these policies have already culminated in violence, as seen in the killing of 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereka by a border patrol agent and the beating death of 42-year-old Anastasio Hernández Rojas at the hands of La Migra. More than one million have been deported under the Obama administration.
• Racially targeted mass incarceration exacerbates the criminalization and marginalization of Black people, playing the same role as the Jim Crow laws that sprang from the Virginia slave codes of 1705. In 1954, 90,000 Black people were incarcerated. Now, over 900,000 Black people are imprisoned, a tenfold increase, while the total U.S. Black population has merely doubled in the same period. The U.S. also has the highest incarceration rate worldwide, with 2.4 million people in prison.
• Law enforcement continues to harass and sexually assault people, most especially women and the transgendered. According to the website InjusticeEverywhere.com, sexual misconduct was the second most common complaint (following excessive force) against police in 2010, involving 618 cops.
• Young schoolchildren are increasingly labeled and treated as criminals by school security and local police. Eight-year-old Aidan Elliot was peppersprayed and handcuffed by Colorado police, and ten-year-old Sofia Bautista was removed from her elementary school, then taken to a NYPD precinct, handcuffed, and interrogated for hours, while police nationwide continue to use tasers on students as young as six.

 

Meanwhile, repression against those who take action against injustices continues to escalate. Over a dozen activists with Food Not Bombs have been arrested in Orlando for feeding the homeless in public parks. The killings of Oscar Grant, Kenneth Harding, Kelly Thomas, Raymond Herisse, and John T. Williams (in Seattle) were all caught on video.  Now, as if in retaliation against the subsequent public outrage, police in cities and towns nationwide have attacked and arrested people merely for recording their activity, while in Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts, video-recording the police is now explicitly illegal. Cops haven’t stopped killing and brutalizing people—they’re just making it a crime to record them while they do. Repression against progressive and antiwar activism has intensified: simultaneous FBI raids on activists from numerous antiwar and international solidarity organizations in three U.S. cities took place on September 24, 2010. Twenty-three activists now face serious jail time for refusing to participate in the ensuing grand jury witch hunts that clearly intend to discourage and intimidate would-be dissenters.

 

These vicious attacks are not going down without opposition. Whether standing up to police violence when it happens, as we saw in the video of Kenneth Harding’s shooting, or organizing inspiring prison strikes in Georgia and California, people are uniting to fight back. Determined outcry from people nationwide against the shooting of unarmed men crossing the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina has finally brought convictions of the guilty cops and exposed the sort of extensive cover-ups that are routine with police shootings. More and more crimes against the people are being revealed, as we have seen with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Operation Fast and Furious, which intentionally provided weapons to Mexican drug cartels, and the overturning of over 4,000 convictions of youth in Pennsylvania after it was found that juvenile judge Mark Ciavarella received kickbacks from private for-profit detention centers. Once we have seen the man behind the curtain, how can we pretend he is not there? One thing we know from years of experience is that when this system has to answer to organized people, it can’t easily get away with all the things it’s used to doing. Resistance matters.

 

THE VIOLENCE OF THE COPS, THE COURTS, THE FBI, LA MIGRA, AND HOMELAND SECURITY IS INTENSIFYING. OUR RESISTANCE MUST INTENSIFY AS WELL! Every year, thousands of people nationwide express their outrage, creativity, and resistance in response to the crimes of this system. People speak out and perform, they march in the streets, and more. The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation embraces and encourages any and all such expressions of people’s righteous outrage.

 

As said by the mother of Gil Barber, gunned down by a deputy in High Point, NC in 2001, “October 22nd is our day.” ORGANIZE against these injustices! BREAK DOWN the barriers between communities that these crimes seek to strengthen! MOBILIZE people of all communities in the most visible way…and on October 22, 2011, WEAR BLACK! FIGHT BACK!

 

 

JOIN US if there is already an October 22nd event in your area. CREATE one if you are in an area where there is currently no group organizing. For listings of activities in your area, check the website http://www.october22.org.To start building for an event in your area, email info@october22.org

 

A Message From Anonymous: Expect Us

Dear bad cops and corrupt government officials everywhere,

We are watching you.

You know what you did to us.

We have not forgotten. We have not forgiven.

You have stolen from us many things.
And your penance shall be 7 fold.

You’ve earned no respect, and squandered our trust.
From this day forward, you must expect us!

We’re the 99%, and we’ll never forgive.
We’ll never forget how you’ve made us live.
Expect us at your door, prepare to defend!
The reign of the moneyed and privileged now ends.

We are Anonymous. We are Legion.

We do not forgive. We do not forget.

Expect us!

Expect us in New York City

Expect us in Orlando

Expect us in Fullerton

Expect us in Spain

Expect us in London

Expect us in Dayton

Expect us in San Antonio

Expect us all across Texas

Expect us EVERYWHERE…

Expect us in Lexington

Update from Chief Jerry Bowden

New police chief Jerry Bowden has some new updates for the public on the addition of officers to the force, training, and steps being taken to improve police response and accountability in Lexington. Here are some excerpts from his latest report, published in this week’s Lexington Leader:

 

Hello again from your Chief. Our new Officers are now patrolling our streets and meeting our citizens. They have adapted well to your Chief’s policy of Community Oriented Policing. Some of their activities are listed here, as well as a few progress notes regarding the continued restructuring of your Police Department.
September 27, 2011

Progress Note: With the approval of the Mayor and the City Council, I have appointed Officer Johnny Wooldridge as a Reserve Police Officer/Corporal for our City. Corporal Wooldridge is a Certified TCLEOSE Instructor and a Certified TCLEOSE Firearms Trainer and Instructor. He is a very positive addition to our City and will save the Police Department money because he can administer all the TCLEOSE Training we need free of charge. He can also qualify our entire Police Department in State mandated firearms training each year, thereby enabling us to meet those training standards without having to pay an instructor from another agency.

Progress Note: With the approval of the Mayor and the City Council, I have reinstated to duty Police Reserve Officer James Raney so that he may resume serving the citizens of Lexington, Texas. He has been a Reserve Police Officer for the City of Lexington since 1995. Prior to 1995 he served as a Deputy Constable and has over 17 years of service as a Peace Officer. His parents live in Lexington.

October 3, 2011Progress Note: With the approval of the Mayor and the City Council, I have appointed Officer Ben Bishop as a Reserve Police Officer for our City. Officer Bishop served in the United States Air Force as an Air Security Policeman and earned the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the Operation Iraqi Freedom Medal. He returned to the United States at the end of his tour of duty and has paid his own way through the Police Academy in order to become a Police Officer. He is also a member of the U. S. Army Reserve.

As you can see, we have been blessed in our efforts to recruit and employ some highly capable, experienced, and well educated Police Officers to serve our City. Their qualifications, credentials, and their background investigations indicate that they will serve us with integrity and honor.

As of this date, Capt. Yarbrough and both full time Officers under my command have completed a total of 97 hours of TCLEOSE training in state approved courses. Officers Gaskamp and Nurse completed coursework in Cultural Diversity and in Sex Offender Characteristics. Capt. Yarbrough completed coursework in upper level management courses to include: Basic Instructor Skills, Exercise, Evaluation and Improvement Planning, Exercise Design, National Incident Management Systems (NIMS), ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents, Emergency Program Manager and Orientation to the Position, and Introduction to Incident Command Systems.

We are your police department and we are here for you. We solicit your support, your prayers, and your friendship as we serve and protect you in the City of Lexington.