Tag Archives: Houston PD

Houston Texas: A Municipality’s Moral Compromise with Marxism via LGBTQ and the PD that sustains it…

Liberal Ideology, LOUD motor vehicles, motorcycles, , , , , , ,

My personal experience serving 31-years with the Houston Police Department

Subsequent to having served as an infantryman in my beloved United States Marine Corps and attending undergraduate studies, I applied for and entered the Houston Police Department’s Training Academy in 1979. At that time, the Houston PD was a hard-charging, respected, law enforcement agency, the hiring process was stringent physiologically, psychologically, ethically and morally. According to an academy instructor, for every seat in my academy class there were 19-denied applications for employment. Personal ethics and morality were the primary focus of the hiring process; these personal attributes verified by incredibly stringent and intimidating preliminary interviews and a thorough polygraph examination; this, culminating with an extensive “background check” involving months of door-to-door investigative interviews of the applicant’s family members, former employers, coworkers and friends. The primary concern of those reviewing applications for employment with the Houston PD was, “Have you done anything that would embarrass and shame the integrity of the Houston Police Department?”

WOKENESS, Political Correctness, Liberalism, Progressivism/Marxism, Moral Compromise, creeps into the Houston Police Department…

In 1983, with the advent of the Kathy Whitmire Mayoral ship in Houston and the Affirmative Action hire of Police Chief Lee P. Brown, the Houston PD began a downward spiral in morality, ethics, reverse racial discrimination via Affirmation Action mandates. With the advent of “Neighborhood Policing” protocols and the implementation of an overzealous Internal Affairs Division, the Houston PD incrementally and methodically morphed into a pacifist, WOKE, police agency where “good” officers were those who avoided negative citizenry contacts/interactions; in other words, those officers who did NOTHING proactive thereby avoiding internal affairs complaints and subsequent investigations were appreciated and praised; this enforcement pacifism and impotency becoming necessary protocol as “due process protections” concerning citizenry or supervisory allegations of policy infractions were absent; this absence of due process protections to buffer unfounded, spurious, complaints/allegations, mandated, as a matter of occupational survival, that the officer “prove his innocence” beyond ANY doubt; therefore, an investigative conclusion/disposition of “unfounded” (no evidence of wrong doing, culpability) was essential if said officer was to avoid a permanent record of misconduct allegations, internal investigations having been conducted, placed in his/her personnel file. By department policy, subsequent a specific number of misconduct complaints (of any disposition than perhaps “unfounded”) in a specified time frame resulted in a “Personnel Concerns Committee Review;” this serious review of an officer’s complaint history could possibly result in termination of employment with the Houston Police Department; the Personnel Concerns Panel/review being an alternative way for the HPD to terminate an officer’s employment via bypassing employment protections that shielded officers from retaliatory motives of a biased and compromised police administration.

This overzealousness by HPD’s Administration and their “yes” boys in the Internal Affairs Division gave way to law enforcement impotence, apathy, laziness, a valid fear of engaging in any form of “proactive policing” essential to law enforcement effectiveness; therefore, the criminal thugs in Houston became and are now emboldened as police routinely “look the other way” and refuse to engage the criminal element due an absence of support from the upper echelon of the Houston Police Department; consequently, the citizenry suffers and the Houston PD is shamed due mismanagement and policies that stymie law enforcement effectiveness. As one “old timer” patrolman would tell his rookie trainees as he parked his patrol vehicle in a remote wooded area facing on old, ragged, tree away from public view: “You see that old tree over there, that’s MY tree…I come here everyday I’m on duty and I watch that tree grow and if you desire to complete twenty-years with this police department, you’ll find you a tree and watch it grow.” In other words, do nothing, say nothing, see nothing, take your calls-for-service, write your reports, turn your shop (patrol vehicle) in on time, go hope…keep your mouth shut, that’s how you complete twenty successful years with the Houston Police Department…sad, but true.

My experience having rejected the advice of the old training officer…

Subsequent 8-years of patrol duty involving assignments in uniformed street patrol and motorcycle patrol (Solo-Motorcycle Patrol Unit), I transferred to the Helicopter Patrol Division in 1989 where I served just under two-decades, 18-years as a commercial helicopter patrol pilot. During those two-decades in helicopter patrol, I had lost touch with the street officers I patrolled with in Houston’s Downtown Districts during the early 1980’s; therefore, I was unaware of the embarrassing, liberal, WOKE, Progressive, changes that were manifesting within the Police Department; WOKE policies and agendas that warred against true, effective, police patrol work.

I routinely heard the “rumors” from patrol officers who visited the helicopter hangar at Hobby, but I found their accusations and complaints difficult to believe; then, in 2009, due to a heated disagreement relevant to proper protocol over the recovery of a downed helicopter, I ran afoul of a new, arrogant, supervisory administration assigned to the Helicopter Patrol Division and ultimately requested a transfer back to patrol duties in 2009. Returning to uniformed patrol duties was indeed an eye-opening experience subsequent 19-years in the Air Support Division. What those patrolmen had been complaining about when visiting the helicopter hangar, the compromise with LGBTQ; the fear and concerns relevant to performing productive proactive police work and investigations; an overzealous Internal Affairs Division; an out-of-touch Police Administration, was indeed TRUE. The Houston PD of 2009 was NOT the Houston PD I had worked for over two-decades earlier as a patrol officer on the streets of Houston. Progressivism-liberalism had taken its toll. I am so very thankful to have experienced a few years of actually performing police work before Progressivism-Liberalism destroyed the job I love so very much.

My Houston PD had become a bastion of LGBTQIA++ immorality; DEI-Affirmative Action discrimination fostered racial tension; a lowering of hiring standards allowing the mentally, morally, ethically and spiritually ill to receive employment with the HPD as homosexuals, transsexuals, lesbians, were welcomed into the HPD and employee morale throughout the Department seriously faltered; it is my understanding that certain applicants with “misdemeanor criminal histories” were permitted to apply for employment with the Houston PD as well; one male supervisor wanting to transition into a “female” reportedly had a penis-tuck surgery performed in the orient and returned to the Houston PD as a supervisor in drag…I personally observed this tall, rather large “man” in a dress as a “supervisor” of officers! The Houston Police Department had become something I no longer recognized.

I voiced and demonstrated my disdain for LGBTQ sexual deviancy in the ranks of the HPD. I voiced my disappointment with my Department’s compromise with LGBTQ while forced to attend mandatory in-service training classes (sensitivity training), queer deviance stemming from mental and spiritual illness that was wearing the uniform, the badge, a weapon and allowed to police the streets of Houston, this queer deviancy was permitted in supervisory capacities as well. My disdain and objections to my Department’s compromise with LGBTQ in the ranks of the HPD resulted in subtle forms of backlash/a subtle uneasiness from the morally and ethically compromised police Administration. My “Assistant Chief” over the Helicopter Division was a lesbian; my Captain in patrol, subsequent my transfer from Helicopter Patrol, was a lesbian and rumored to be the lesbian lover of my former Assistant Chief. The subtle friction between the HPD and me was exacerbated by my concerted efforts to enforce City Ordinance 30-3 (Noisy Vehicles Generally) and Texas, 547-604 (Muffler Required), subsequent my transfer back to patrol duties in 2009.

Motor vehicle noise enforcement, the straw that broke the camel’s back,

My patrol beat assignment in West Houston had, within its jurisdictional boundaries, a very popular “biker bar” known as “The Dam Ice House” (a LOUD, thug inundated, vulgar, drunken, biker bar that I’m proud to have assisted in its closure) and just outside my jurisdictional boundaries was another biker bar in Harris County, located on FM 1093/Westheimer Road extension. The abusive biker thugs who frequented these unscrupulous biker bars were/are operating illegally LOUD, illegally equipped, motorcycles with noncompliant aftermarket exhaust mechanisms (not for road use exhausts-racing environments only as per the US EPA) emitting noise energy output that, in certain scenarios, was audible for one-statute mile under hard acceleration, dangerously intrusive, daily quality of life destroying, noise energy and illegal exhausts absent motorcycle muffler labeling mandates obviously in violation of the protective requirements of CFR 40 Part 205, City Ordinance 30-3, Texas 547-604; to my amazement, no one, absolutely NO ONE, was doing anything about the unacceptable vehicular NOISE situation in Houston. Why are vehicular NOISE thugs allowed to bully and abuse societies most innocent with impunity and “law enforcement” looks the other way? Yes, we’ve already discussed that…

Vehicular NOISE violations as lucrative probable cause,

During my enforcement of vehicular noise violations, I discovered that employing illegal vehicular noise as “probable cause” for a stop and investigate to be the most lucrative form of probable cause available to the average patrol officer; this, as I was able to clear untold numbers of active warrants (felony and misdemeanor), arrest for license suspensions, cite insurance and equipment violations. Why does law enforcement refuse to employ dangerous, intrusive, “vehicular noise” as probable cause for a stop and background investigation of the operator and passengers when applicable?

Houston’s Leadership cowers in the presence of criminal bullies…

Illegally LOUD, illegally equipped, motorcycles, trucks, automobiles, inundated my beat assignment in west Houston, the citizenry, especially the most vulnerable to the illegal vehicular NOISE, were and continue to be audibly assaulted day and night, 24/7/365. My enforcement efforts to bring peace and lawful order, a quiet daily quality of life, to my beat was met with incredible rebuttal, hatred, vulgar and life-threatening comments, by thug LOUD bikers, while “biker rights organizations,” such as the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), interceded on behalf of their donors in Washington DC; later, the MRF published lies about my retirement status in their newsletter seeking to disparage my professional reputation; The “Texas Motorcycle Rights Association” did their part by writing a letter to Houston’s Mayor Parker requesting that I be removed from enforcement (Letter in attachment below); the local news media in Houston allied with the criminal LOUD biker thugs; the biased media waited outside my traffic court to interview bikers subsequent their adjudication relevant to illegal NOISE; business owners in Houston sympathized with the biker thugs fearing a loss of income/revenue if my enforcement initiative deterred biker access to retail establishments; biker thugs were and are glorified as some form of “patriot” when in reality, they’re bully thugs who abuse children with illegal NOISE. My 99.9% conviction-rate on all vehicle noise emissions violations adjudicated in the municipal court system mandated extra HPD security in my traffic court; this, out of concerns for my personal safety during testimony due to threats of biker retaliation; consequently, my immediate supervision ran scared and confused; my Department’s upper echelon cowed to the concerns over liability; the Mayor’s Office and the City Council ran scared of the biker thugs who rallied en masse at City Hall on two different occasions, threatening the City Council and Mayor with retaliation if my Constitutionally sound enforcement efforts were not stopped. I was prohibited by order to not attend the biker rallies, protests, at Houston’s City Hall to explain my reasoning for enforcing applicable vehicular noise laws. The upper echelon of the Houston PD refused to meet with me one-on-one to discuss my vehicular noise enforcement initiative and the Constitutionally sound reasoning for same. Cowards all.

I had never, in my 31-years of service to the citizens of Houston, TX, seen such cowards and pacifists and compromised law enforcement personnel as I did during my years of vehicular NOISE enforcement in Houston. To my amazement, some of my most avid haters and detractors were law enforcement personnel who compromise their oath of office and their personal integrity by riding and driving illegally LOUD vehicles off duty, some were members of local law enforcement biker gangs. Sworn, accredited, law enforcement officers who dress, walk, talk, like thug biker gang members off-duty while they wear a badge and gun and patrol the streets of Houston, Harris County as law enforcement officers on duty. These law enforcement biker thug organizations/gangs are present throughout the United States and nothing is done by their individual department leadership or the Federal Bureau of Investigations to stop the thug conduct of those who ride illegally LOUD, act and talk like biker trash, while employed as a public servant. This is unacceptable!

My patrol Sergeant, who drove an illegally LOUD racing Corvette to 6AM roll call, ordered me to STOP enforcing the vehicular noise laws to which I rebutted and challenged his unlawful order with legal precedent, Arron C. Aguilar v. State of Texas (2008); Aguilar provides legal precedent relevant to law enforcement’s right to stop and investigate loud motor vehicles based solely on an officer’s professional opinion as to the vehicle’s illegality due a defective or illegal exhaust mechanism. Houston’s “City Legal” Department overturned the Sergeant’s unlawful order; this legal victory over my immediate supervision drove an unforgivable wedge between my NOISE enforcement efforts, my immediate supervision, the police administration; both, the Mayor’s office and the City Council; after all, who was this old patrol officer possessing the audacity to challenge the omnipotence of Houston’s Police Administration and supervision? How dare he! My enforcement of applicable vehicular noise laws was lawful and Constitutionally sound; therefore, HPD opted to place me on desk duty to STOP my vehicular noise enforcement initiative seeing that I refused to stop citing and incarcerating, whenever possible, those who abuse the citizenry with unlawful vehicular NOISE energy.

The culmination of the shame I felt for serving a Department that compromised its integrity with the deviant immorality and mental illness of LGBTQIA++; the unfairness of DEI; having had my promotion to sergeant stolen through Affirmative Action mandates and having had the blatant reverse discrimination upheld by the 5th Circuit; having had lesbians placed over me in supervision in two separate divisions within the HPD; watching my immediate supervision, my Police Administration, the Mayor’s office, the City Council, run pathetically scared from biker rights organizations and cower to the threats from thug LOUD bikers in Houston; after having been repeatedly placed on desk duty pending LOUD biker’s spurious allegations/complaints and the Administration’s cowardliness and refusal to stand with me and support my lawful efforts to provide intercession for the vehicular NOISE beleaguered citizen’s in Houston; this, when audio and vehicle dash camera video evidence existed to nullify the allegations of untruthful bikers as “unfounded;” finally, my poor wife who had tolerated the stress, the harassment, the impotence of Houston’s leadership, we had enough of the pathetic, pacifist, nonsense; therefore, I honorably retired in 2011 with a broken heart remembering what my Houston Police Department was in 1980 and what it had become as of 2011 via Progressive WOKEISM. Cowards all. Houston, Texas has become the Sodom of the South, exemplified by its Montrose neighborhood; unfortunately, the Houston PD has become a morally compromised version of exactly what Progressive-WOKE Houston deserves as its Law Enforcement entity. 31-years of service culminating in sadness and regret.

In closing, 

My professional recommendation to any young, aspiring, man or woman seeking an honorable and fulfilling career in law enforcement; especially those who honor Jesus as LORD. DO NOT seek employment in a liberal, politically blue, WOKE, pacifist, compromised, municipality, county or state law enforcement community; truth is, if you compromise yourself with a liberal jurisdiction, you’ll simply become another “useful idiot” in servitude to Marxism; leadership will care NOTHING for you, you’re just a pawn for their “progressive” idiocy. Don’t waste your career serving the mentally and spiritually ill.

If you desire to enter into law enforcement, do your homework, read reviews, talk with the officers of the jurisdiction in which you seek employment. If you’re going to dedicate your most productive years to a police department, make sure it is a department that represents your values, your ethics, a department that is truly concerned for the safety, welfare, daily quality of life, of the citizens you seek to serve with your life, your family, your precious time on this Earth. Serve in a department that “has your back” during those years of policing unpredictable, challenging, scenarios. Do not compromise YOU, your ethics, your family, for a paycheck.

With sincerity,

Rickey D. Holtsclaw, Houston PD/Retired

Also see: The Truth about LOUD motorcycles, automobiles, trucks, the Police won’t or can’t tell you: https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2016/03/10/the-truth-about-loud-motorcycles-the-police-wont-or-cant-tell-you/

Motorcycle Noise Enforcement 101: https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2016/09/12/motorcycle-noise-enforcement-101/

Loud Biker Comments (vulgarity warning): https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2015/09/04/loud-biker-mentality-1949-v-21st-century/

ADR Grievance with Houston PD/Bikers and NOISE: https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2015/09/21/adr-grievance-with-houston-pd-bikers-and-noise/

Motorcycle Riders Foundation – half truths – obfuscation – rebutted: https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2025/04/21/motorcycle-riders-foundation-obfuscation-half-truths-rebutted/

Letter to Police Chief – Houston – Noise Enforcement Assistance: https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2015/09/21/letter-to-chief-mcclelland-inre-to-motorcycle-noise-enforcement/

TMRA Letter to Houston Mayor Parker: Harassment by Officer: https://rickeyholtsclaw.com/2015/09/21/loud-bikers-letter-to-mayor-parker/

Response to Channel 2 Houston’s Steven Dean and his spurious allegations

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Transcribed copy of traffic interview with Steven Dean: xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/19828707/1857849283/name/Steven

I recently located this article by Steven Dean, a Houston Investigative News Reporter that had received a citation from me for operating an illegally loud, illegally equipped Harley Davidson motorcycle within my beat assignment some years ago. Mr. Dean’s accusations and allegations are simply false and misleading, but as a Houston Police Officer, I had essentially surrendered my First Amendment right to free speech and freedom of expression; therefore, until now, I was not afforded the opportunity to adequately respond seeing that I had a family to support and worked for a governmental entity that respects Political Correctness more than the truth and doing the right thing. Though I am still receiving payments from the City of Houston for back-pay/overtime, my policy driven obligation to stifle my free speech and opinions no longer apply. Okay, Steven Dean…let me respond to your accusations and slanderous allegations and let’s see if your “Backpage” slanted media outlet will publish it.

First of all, Steven Dean is simply an arrogant, self-entitled, self-righteous, self-consumed, individual who has deceived himself into believing that he is the harborage of all truth and wisdom. His occupation as an “Investigative Reporter” has somehow, in his own mind, elevated him to a status above the common man; Steven considers himself to be the defender of all “he” considers to be important and relevant…primarily, his own selfish interests. I stopped Steven Dean for operating a motorcycle that emitted decibel levels obviously dangerous to the motoring and pedestrian public. I was simply fulfilling the duties I swore to uphold with diligence some 30 years prior to this traffic stop. Mr. Dean took great offense to having been stopped and cited by a lowly Houston Police Officer and subsequently embarked on a personal mission to damage my reputation and destroy my professional life as a Houston Police Officer. So then, let’s get into Dean’s article and let’s take it one line at a time, okay?

The title of Dean’s article reads: “Houston drivers getting tickets and online harassment campaign from HPD officer.”

Well, Mr. Dean, Houston drivers were getting tickets, large numbers of them from me, especially those who selfishly operated motor vehicles illegally equipped with exhaust mechanisms that not only violated the law, but assaulted the innocent public, a public I had sworn to protect and serve. Do you have a problem with an officer actually doing his job?

“Online Harrassment.” What you interpret as “online harassment” was nothing more than an open forum conversation with motorcyclists holding an opposing view on the subject of loud exhausts and their relevance in the sport of motorcycling…nothing more. Were heart-felt words exchanged? Yes sir! Was I truthful and to the point, yes sir! Was there an HPD policy in effect at the time that restricted the use of and participation in on-line forums, no sir!

Who are the citizens that have accused me of “attacking” them online? Where did you get this information and how did I “attack” them via the Internet? Again, I was involved in a open forum, discussing subjects related to motorcycles and the responsibilities of the motorcycle community to ride respectfully.

You said: “In both cases, his targets were motorcycle riders, which seems to be a one-man mission for this officer.”

Please provide me with the names and information relevant to these two motorcycle riders. As far as a “one-man mission” is concerned; perhaps…I was very much ALONE in my enforcement efforts to bring peace and civility to the roadways and communities within my beat assignment; those areas regularly assaulted by loud biker thugs who care absolutely nothing for the peace and safety of the citizenry.

You said: “While some 30-year veteran HPD officers say they’ve never written a single ticket for loud motorcycles in their entire careers, Holtsclaw’s daily work records show he writes 5 to 8 loud motorcycle tickets per day.”

I will agree that many 30+ year veterans and those with as little as 3 years have done their very best to do as “little” as possible, especially where traffic enforcement is concerned. Why would they? Having to deal with self-righteous individuals such as yourself on a daily basis; deal with a zealous Internal Affairs Division; a weak, impotent, perverse, City Administration; a completely useless and embarrassing Municipal Court system…why would they? These officers say that they’ve never written a ticket for loud motorcycles, yes? Does that somehow nullify the validity of my noise enforcement initiative? Does the fact that I took the initiative to do what is right, to protect the citizenry in my assigned area from the bad behavior of self-righteous loud bikers, like yourself for example, does that make my enforcement initiative a bad thing/irrelevant/wrong? So I wrote an average of 5 to 8 motorcycle tickets per day…how many other citations did I write, Mr. Dean? How many higher misdemeanor and felony arrest did I make, Mr. Dean? How many times was I on the “top performers” list for misdemeanor arrests, felony arrests, citations issued, calls-for-service run, reports written? Your article is not only slanderous, but slanted, prejudiced by your compulsion for revenge and simply wrong!

You said, “In January, Holtsclaw received a written reprimand in his personnel file for lodging an attack on the World Wide Web aimed at one of the dozens of motorcycle riders he has ticketed in recent months.” Okay, Mr. Dean, who did I attack on the “World Wide Web?” Who is it????

You quoted me as writing: “Hey, you are the textbook example of the disrespectful biker I’ve been writing about. You see, the problem is that mom and dad did not spank you little bottom during those formative years and you have obviously never had any real form of discipline in your life…you are vulgar, arrogant, self-absorbed and a spot on society as a whole,” Officer Holdsclaw wrote on a biker’s message board called “Motohouston.com.”

Yes, Mr. Dean…I most likely wrote these very words. Where did you get the idea that this individual was someone I had actually come into contact with? Who was that exchange directed toward? Do you know, Mr. Dean…or are you simply making another assumption? I did exercise my freedom of speech while working for a police department that does not permit such things. In this, I was wrong…but the message is simply the truth and I stand by it today. It is also true that at this time, the Houston Police Department did NOT have a policy that specifically forbid the personal exchange of ideas on an online forum. The Houston P.D. did, soon after my online truths were revealed, develop such a policy. Once the policy was put into effect, my online exchange of ideas ceased.

You said, “He also signed many of the messages at the end with: “Rick HPD.””

This is true, and why wouldn’t I, it’s the truth and I am not ashamed of the truth. How about you, Mr. Dean? The additional quotes from the Internet used in your article are truthful, accurate, to the point. Again, at that time, there was not a policy in effect that prohibited an online exchange of ideas, work related or personal.

You said, “Officer Holtsclaw is known to ride his own motorcycle, and he previously was assigned to work in HPD’s motorcycle detail known as the “Solo Unit.”

Yes, Mr. Dean, I have owned, operated, maintained some 31 motorcycles since age 12. I have ridden professionally, long distance touring, commuting…I have accumulated hundreds-of-thousands of miles on motorcycles; therefore, I know motorcycles and I know motorcyclists. I know you, Mr. Dean and exactly what your selfish motives are and recognize your lack of respect for the citizenry assaulted by your illegal noise and the police that provide you protection!

To continue your personal attacks against me you said: “His Internal Affairs Division complaint history also shows he was sanctioned for misconduct while assigned to the HPD Helicopter Patrol unit. Officers who still work there say it’s a rare thing to be forced to leave the helicopter detail, since the department makes such a huge investment for the special training required to work in that unit. However, in 1993, his misconduct in which he went against a supervisor’s orders prompted him to be transferred, current HPD Helicopter officers say.”

Here you either blatantly lied or your sorely lacking investigative skills, especially relevant to someone who works as an “Investigative Reporter.” I was not forced to leave the Helicopter Division in 1993. I requested a transfer in 2009 as a result of misconduct on the part of the Lieutenant recently assigned there. This Lieutenant had attempted to cover-up a serious infraction of safety protocol and gave me an illegal order to remove documentation from my flight report substantiating this violation. As a result of the illegal order, I politely removed the flight wings from my flight suit, placed the wings on the lieutenant’s desk and requested a transfer to Westside Patrol. I went through Hades in the months to follow as the new Captain of the Helicopter Division took my request for transfer and the method used as a personal insult; this “Captain” proceeded to make my life a living Hades until such time I forced his hand and was transferred to the Special Operations Division prior to my Westside assignment.

The incident you quote in 1993, some 16 years prior to my transfer from the Helicopter Division, was in response to my intercession on behalf of my partner who was being unfairly treated by an over zealous Internal Affairs Sergeant. Long story short, the Internal Affairs Sergeant was preparing to file insubordination on my partner for no valid reason at all. In response, I met with the IAD Sergeant in an adjoining room and took 12 minutes, on two recorders, to tell the arrogant Sergeant exactly what I thought about him and his investigative techniques. The Sergeant then filed on us both…I received a written reprimand for “Respect for fellow employee.” Done. This had absolutely NOTHING to do with my request for a transfer some 16 years later. Again, you lied and obfuscated, Mr. Dean!

You said: “In 1986, he was sanctioned for misconduct while assigned to the Traffic & Accident Division.”

Yes, Mr. Dean. Noting that while I was assigned to the Solo Motorcycle Detail, I was a consistent top performer in arrests/citations issued, I was orally reprimanded for calling a female “darling” on a traffic stop. You see, Mr. Dean, I stopped a violator for not wearing his seat belt. The gentleman was upset for being detained and exited his vehicle to discuss the situation with me. The passenger in the car, the violator’s wife, opened the passenger’s door and asked her husband, “What does he want?” I glanced over at the elderly woman and stated, “Darling, you could also receive a citation for not wearing your seatbelt.” For this, I was advised to refrain from referring to females as “darling.” Being an old southern boy, the term just naturally flows from my mouth… Is this a problem for you, Mr. Dean? Of the hundreds, if not thousands, of contacts I made during my time in traffic enforcement, a few complaints can be expected…not everyone is going to be happy having been stopped by the police. Do you agree, Mr. Dean?

You said, “Within one month of getting the written reprimand for the online smear campaign above, Officer Holtsclaw was given another written reprimand for yet another online attack aimed at this investigative reporter, the author of this article.”

This may have some truth to it, but remember, Mr. Dean…My online contributions on the motorcycle forums were within a relatively short period of time. As a result of an organized effort on the part of motorcycle associations, advising their members to file complaints on me for anything possible to deter my lawful enforcement efforts, my online contributions ran successive, but their introduction to the Internal Affairs did not. Each allegation had to be investigated separately; therefore, “within one month” is irrelevant…and the organized effort of the loud bikers to destroy my credibility was relentless.

Something even more interesting is the fact that I provided my supervisors and the Internal Affairs Division with dash cam audio, personal hidden recorder and video proving that the loud motorcycle thugs had lied in their sworn IAD statements, yet, no charges were filed against them for perjury. Even when HPD’s “Major Offenders Unit” took the documentation for perjury, on the part of the loud bikers, to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to file charges, nothing was done. The lies, obfuscation, perjury continued. Much like your article.

You said, speaking of yourself, “Officer Holtsclaw, however, was apparently so indignant that a reporter would plead not guilty that he started an online battle in an effort to have the reporter punished or fired from his job at a local television station.”

Mr. Dean, I was not indignant that you had plead “not guilty” relevant to the citation I had written you. Truthfully, I could of cared less. I knew you were guilty, you know you’re guilty…what’s the point? So then, what was my motivation regarding this supposed “online battle” you speak of.

Mr. Dean, After citing you for your violation of common decency; knowing that you had been to Internal Affairs with retaliation as your primary motive; knowing that you’re an “Investigative Reporter” for Channel 2 News; I began noticing news cameras at my regular traffic court sessions. The camera personnel were filming my testimony from the foyer of the court building and subsequently interviewing loud bikers who had just completed adjudicating their citations, “guilty” I might add!

The old cop in me could not help but determine that you had begun a self-initiated investigation relevant to my vehicular noise initiative. Especially after learning that you had filed for an “Open Records” relevant to my personal files and employment history. Internal Affairs advised me that you were relentless in your phone calls to their office, demanding to know how your complaint against me was proceeding, desperately seeking retribution for having been stopped by a lowly Houston Cop and cited…how demeaning to a self-endowed Houston elite, such as yourself.

I figured the camera footage was your doing and in response, I contacted the Noisefree group online and asked them to write you and express their informed opinion regarding the operation of illegally loud motor vehicles on our roadways. My request, in noway, impugned your character or endangered your job status. I simply wanted you to know that there was a portion of the community that understood the illegality, intrusiveness, dangerousness, relevant to the operation of illegally loud motor vehicles on our roadways and within our communities. But you didn’t stop there, did you Mr. Dean?

Apparently, your desperate desire for retribution, led you to coalesce with Fox News and their Investigative Reporter. You knew that any affirmative action on your part to demean me and my enforcement efforts would be readily construed as retribution; therefore, you had your buddy from Fox News carry the ball for you. Not long after, two very slanted, slanderous, career destroying videos were published by Fox News accusing me of harassing the “innocent” bikers in West Houston. Shame on you, Mr. Dean! I might add, I was not allowed to respond to these videos and their spurious allegations, nor was I permitted to defend myself or my professional reputation. If I wanted to maintain employment, if I wanted to continue to support my wife and children, I had to keep my mouth shut and suck it up. It was painful, but I did it…again, shame on you Mr. Dean!

You said and quoted: “In his written reprimand over this online smear campaign, Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland wrote, “You admitted that you contacted the Noiseoff.org website, identified yourself as “Rick HPD/Westside Division” and asked the participants of Noiseoff.org to contact Channel 2 News in Houston and express their opinion regarding noisy vehicles, which resulted in Channel 2 News receiving numerous e-mails on the subject. You admitted you also provided a hyperlink to Channel 2 in the same e-mail in order to expedite the dissemination of information.”

Yes I did, just as I explained in the paragraphs above. HPD did not know what to do with this; had I really done anything wrong? If so, what action should be taken? I was advised by IAD investigators that my on-line discussions had spawned the creation of a new policy that would soon restrict HPD officers on-line conduct. The interoffice discussions began and finally a policy was written to curtail the online dissemination of information. So be it. I had adapted to forfeiting my First Amendment Free Speech rights many years ago; therefore, losing my ability to communicate on-line was just another rung in the PC ladder.

You said and quoted, “Chief McClelland wrote that his actions violated the department’s policy regarding “Conduct and Authority” or “Conduct and Behavior.” His letter states that, “You failed to use sound judgment when you posted information on the Internet regarding the issuance of a citation for loud exhaust to an investigative reporter that works for Channel 2 News.”

So I failed to use sound judgment? Mr. Dean, this is a “catch all” when the Department has nothing substantive to allege; therefore, it is what it is…but my online message was true and accurate. My online message, again, in no way impugned you or endangered your work status.

You said, “The reprimand also spells out that Holtsclaw posted another message on April 14, 2010 where he divulged internal departmental legal issues. The reprimand states he “inaccurately” described that a supervisor had stopped him from writing loud motorcycle tickets, but that City Hall had overturned that decision.”

Again, Mr. Dean, you obfuscate and demonstrate very poor investigative skills. Mr. Dean, I was called into the office by Sergeant Mark Miller of Westside Patrol. Sergeant Miller ordered me to stop issuing noise citations and to stop performing follow-up investigations. Sergeant Miller advised me that, in his opinion, the ordinance relevant to “Noisy Vehicles Generally,” 30-3, was too subjective, to vague and therefore not enforceable.

I interpreted Sergeant Miller’s order to be unlawful, the result of poor judgment and self-interests on his part. Why? Sergeant Miller operated an extremely loud, illegally equipped, racing Corvette and drove the vehicle to the Westside Station at 0545 hours in the morning. The Sergeant’s conduct was irresponsible and reflected poorly on the Houston Police Department. Sergeant Miller was part of the problem, just like you, Mr. Dean.

In response to the unlawful order, I performed research and presented Houston’s City Legal Department with legal precedent, Aguilar V. Texas (2008), which nullified Sergeant Miller’s “subjective” argument. Though it took City Legal five months to render a decision, I was summoned to the Westside Captain’s Office and provided with an apology from Chief McClellend. In addition to the apology, I was subsequently advised that Sergeant Miller’s order to stop issuing citations to loud motor vehicles had been overturned. I was free to resume issuing citations for noise infractions…and I did with a vengeance!

This is the point at which your loud biker thugs began their organized campaign to ruin my reputation and injure my 31 year career via lies and selfish behavior. Who do you think took the complaints of your loud biker thug buddies at the Westside Station? Right, Sergeant Miller. How do you think the worm turned for me after forcing a supervisors hand and embarrassing him by having his order overturned by the authorities Downtown? A supervisor with clout and influence in the Department? Your thug buddies organized two different protests at Houston’s City Hall. Your thug buddies threatened Mayor Parker and the City Council members, threatening to fire them if they did not stop my enforcement initiative.

You said, “In other words, the Traffic & Accident Squad at HPD has units that are specifically devoted to traffic enforcement, but Holtsclaw works patrol. That means calls from citizens may be taking the back seat while he carries out his mission to issue tickets to so many motorcycles.”

Mr. Dean, you’re simply wrong, once again. Yes, HPD does have a traffic enforcement squad. These officers patrol the freeways and their primary duty is “speed” enforcement. There is no one entity assigned to bring the out-of-control noise violators, such as yourself, under control; therefore, I took on that responsibility myself. Also, regarding the “citizens may be taking the back seat while he carries out his mission to issue tickets to so many motorcycles.” This also is simply not true. Look at my record for calls-for-service run, my arrests for thefts, domestic violence, my follow-up investigations resulting in warrants and arrests for fraud, assault, theft. Investigation that ended with an arrest for sexual abuse of a child, murder, in-state/out of state warrant arrests for a sundry of serious violations. Did you, as an “Investigative Reporter,” take the time to research these documented statistics? My shift Lieutenant at the time commented to me that he would have sanctioned me for spending too much time on traffic arrests, but my work record, calls-for-service record, showed that my traffic investigations posed no hindrance to my patrol obligations. No, Mr. Dean, you only obfuscated and reported what you could misconstrue as dirt and filth…shame on you Dean!!!

You said, “In this reporter’s case, trial was set to begin at Houston Municipal Court in February but the case was dismissed. The prosecutor was told that all of the above information, including the written reprimands and daily work records would be introduced to the jury, but the judge then advised that the case was dismissed because Officer Holtsclaw did not show up for the trial.”

Well, Mr. Dean, had I been issued the proper subpoena for your trial and if I was not tied-up on more pressing matters in patrol, I would have loved to have testified against you. My court attendance records will substantiate the fact that I go to court, I testify and that 99% of my noise cases adjudicated via trial resulted in a pricey conviction. Your thug loud biker buds were leaving my court with hatred in their eyes and revenge in their heart. You see, Mr. Dean, the problem is, after your loud thug buddies began threatening and demanding that City Hall do something about my “lawful and Constituional” enforcement of the law, my Mayor and Police Chief cowed to the threats, concerned for the city coffer, the Department discretely began to rewrite City Ordinance 30-3 in such a way as to exclude modified exhaust mechanisms. Even though Mayor Parker admitted during an open forum, in response to the loud bikers demand that I be stopped, that I was acting in accordance with policy, your loud thug buddies continued to threaten and demand. The motorcycle community is comprised of individuals with political clout and an abundance of “expendable” income. In the political arena, right, lawfulness, correctness, takes a backseat to the all mighty dollar and political influence.

A Department Circular was subsequently issued stating that City Ordinance 30-3 could no longer be used for noisy vehicle violations and that any officer wanting to issue a citation for a noisy vehicle would have to default to using the State of Texas Motor Vehicle Code, section 547.604, “Muffler Required.” In response, Houston’s weak and impotent Municipal Court System began summarily dismissing my citations in fear of reprisal and void for vagueness Constitutional issues.

Problem was, Mr. Dean, the City of Houston did NOT have a proper “charging instrument” relevant to the State Code, 547.604; therefore, when I issued citations using the State law, the attached “charging instrument” was “defective” and my citations were subsequently dismissed. Houston does not want their officers using the State code because the monies generated from State code violations, for the most part, goes to the State. Houston desires that officers write the City Code; thereby, keeping the money at home…again, it’s all about the MONEY!

Anyway, in response to the fact that there was not a valid State charging instrument, I THREW A FIT! The Houston Police Department, in response, sent my patrol supervisor to the Municipal Court and demanded that an accurate and legal charging instrument be provided for violations of State Traffic Code, 547.604. But guess what, Mr. Dean. Because of you and your loud thug biker buddies, I never got the opportunity to use that “new”charging instrument. Why? The Houston Police Department decided to cow to the pressure of biker complaints and subsequently pulled me from street duty and assigned me to the front desk at Westside. Like one old tenured officer from the Downtown Travis HPD Headquarters called and told me, “Rick, be careful…HPD will not hesitate to throw an officer under the bus at the first hint of controversy.” He is so very correct.

Then, to top it off, I received a phone call from the Westside Captain telling me to report to Internal Affairs because I was temporarily being relieved of duty. The Captain advised that a loud biker in one of my municipal courts had complained that I threatened him. Truth is, I didn’t even know the biker was in court, nor did I ever speak to him. The IAD Lieutenant investigating the allegation brought me into his office and advised me that the complaint was simply foolishness, that the complaint should be exonerated soon and that he could not believe IAD had done this. I certainly could. It was at that point that I decided this old rednecked boy needed to seek a life of peace and tranquility elsewhere. Considering the fact that my police department had failed to support my lawful and Constitutional efforts to enforce the law, to bring civility and peace to the streets and communities in my assigned area; seeing that I could no longer perform actual police work, I made the affirmative decision to retire. I honorably retired from the Houston Police Department in August of 2011, 31.5 years of service…bet that made your day Mr. Dean, yes?

In summation, Mr. Dean. I did my job, just like I’ve done from the moment I first set foot on the premises of 61 Riesner in November of 1979. I truly loved being a cop, cut me and I’ll bleed blue. All that I have done, all that I gave the citizens of Houston, though not appreciated, I would do it again, because I have given my best. Though, through the course of my career, I was forced to deal with unscrupulous, self-righteous individuals, such as yourself, I WOULD DO IT AGAIN! Semper Fi.

Rick Holtsclaw
Houston P.D./Retired

Houston drivers getting tickets and online harassment campaign from HPD officer
(Houston) — If getting a ticket wasn’t frustrating enough, some Houston drivers are being targeted for intense online harassment campaigns by the HPD officer w
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