Houston officer indicted for hiring illegal immigrants as armed guards

[dla4122]

Houston officer indicted for hiring illegal immigrants as armed guards
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON- A Houston police officer and his father have been charged with hiring illegal immigrants and providing them with firearms while they worked as guards at their private security firm, U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced Friday.

David Rodriguez, a 14-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, along with his father Manuel Rodriguez were indicted on charges of conspiring to hire and arm illegal immigrants, falsifying forms during the purchase of firearms and engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license.

The two men, indicted Wednesday, are co-owners of Bayou City Patrol Division, a private security company that provides armed security guard services to Houston area nightclubs, apartment buildings and private businesses.

Prosecutors said the Rodriguezes routinely hired illegal immigrants as security guards from 2000 to 2005 and lied on federal and state forms to get them firearms and security guard commissions.

David Rodriguez, 38, was relieved of duty after his arrest on Thursday, said Houston police spokesman John Cannon, adding that while no decision has been made, officers who are indicted or arrested are usually fired.

In October 2003, he was temporarily relieved of duty and later given a desk job, which he held until his arrest. Cannon did not have any information about why Rodriguez was relieved of duty.

Manuel Rodriguez, 65, is a retired U.S. Postal Service employee.

A telephone message left at their business was not immediately returned on Friday.

The two men made their initial court appearance on Friday. A detention hearing in their case was set for June 21.

[aka Bull]

I saw this article on the net myself. What can you say, money talks.

What makes them any different from any other WBS outfit (other than the hiring of known illegal aliens). In their mind they were probably just maximizing profits - which all WBS want to do.

Hopefully the press will cover this so we find out the final outcome.

[1stWatch]

David Rodriguez, a 14-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, along with his father Manuel Rodriguez were indicted on charges of conspiring to hire and arm illegal immigrants, falsifying forms during the purchase of firearms and engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license...
...Prosecutors said the Rodriguezes routinely hired illegal immigrants as security guards from 2000 to 2005 and lied on federal and state forms to get them firearms and security guard commissions.

This here is another example of a group of people who are aware of the Private Security Act and what it says, but feel it doesn't apply to them. This is also an example of criminal activity that goes on at security companies that I have hinted at in previous postings. This is a blatant disrespect for the regulation and integrity of the whole business of security and the way it is intended to be in this state. This keeps the reputation of the business poor and contributes to the downward spiral of poor wages and competition via underbidding. If what these two did is true, I hope they get put away for a long time.

[Bill Warnock]

Greed is a funny beast. The southern sheriffs who made 10s of thousands of dollars for just being in a different part of the county when a cocaine ladened plane landed from South America.
Sometimes, green obstructs otherwise good vision.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[1stWatch]

If I remember properly, when I was watching some of the minutes from the last Texas legislative session for the law enforcement bureau there was an issue raised about "certain security companies" hiring several hundred illegal aliens who were subsequently taken into custody by the I.N.S. I believe this company may have been the focus of that discussion if the facts fit in properly. Funny thing they didn't mention the owner of the security company was a Houston officer.

[hrdickinson]

Houston Security

If I remember properly, when I was watching some of the minutes from the last Texas legislative session for the law enforcement bureau there was an issue raised about "certain security companies" hiring several hundred illegal aliens who were subsequently taken into custody by the I.N.S. I believe this company may have been the focus of that discussion if the facts fit in properly. Funny thing they didn't mention the owner of the security company was a Houston officer.

I agree with 1stWatch. There are over 200 security companies in the Houston area. Most of them are very small and many of those take on apartment complexes, and "Gentlemen's Clubs". There are certainly a number of them that have a total disregard for the regulations. 1stWatch, I just checked and these people were not members of A.S.S.I.S.T., thank God! As 1stWatch knows, that is an organization of security firms in Texas devoted to raising the standards and professionalism of the industry.

[1stWatch]

I agree with 1stWatch. There are over 200 security companies in the Houston area. Most of them are very small and many of those take on apartment complexes, and "Gentlemen's Clubs". There are certainly a number of them that have a total disregard for the regulations. 1stWatch, I just checked and these people were not members of A.S.S.I.S.T., thank God! As 1stWatch knows, that is an organization of security firms in Texas devoted to raising the standards and professionalism of the industry.

A.s.s.i.s.t. is pretty much the only Texan organization I've seen that security officers can join and have small opportunities to voice their opinions and concerns about the industry. The problem I see with it, however, is it is not nearly prolific enough with the people on the field. Most company managers are aware of it, but most guards are not.

One large company I used to work with that has two branch offices in Houston, one in Dallas, one in Fort Worth, one in San Antonio, and one in Austin actively participates in a.s.s.i.s.t. conventions, but the branch manager where I worked marketed the organization with the officers as an "insurance benefit", speaking of a very small ad&d insurance policy available to paid members, but told them absolutely nothing about the association or about their goals or political aims. She preferred to keep everybody in the dark about everything about the regulated security business or about what rights they had in favor of a pervasive sense of control that was held equally and separately by everybody in the management office, actual manager or not. Other companies I worked for didn't even mention it and they didn't seem interested when it was mentioned.

I think it's great they do have a close political alliance with State Representative Pat Haggerty, who authored the Concealed Handgun Act that was passed in 1996. Together with this representative, they have successfully lobbied for changes in law that provide greater protection for those working in the field, such as an enhanced penalty for assault on security and the elimination of jurisdictional boundaries for security company operations (it was previously limited to the county and each adjoining county where the branch office of the company was).

Some measures were not successful though, including an attempt to make the murder of a commissioned security officer a capital felony, making insurance reforms to make health insurance affordable for security officers, creating an enhanced authority for specifically certified security officers to direct traffic on public roads designed to protect services like funeral motorcycle escorts who were arrested in Allen in 2004 just for doing their normal job, and a broader authority for armed officers to carry their weapons while on duty and not have to put them away in the trunk when walking into potentially dangerous places out of necessity like gas stations with an empty holster where c.h.l. certified citizens with less training may still carry and gang members and armed robbers still carry illegally. There are groups who adamantly oppose these improvements and discussions surrounding those topics have been really heated.

There are some goals they have that I support, but I do not think are enough. They are trying to lobby together to create a private memorial fund for security officers killed in the line of duty. That one doesn't look very successful though, if you look at the total amount of funds collected in the past three years. They are also pressing for a few improvements in training such as 10 additional hours of training in non-violent dispute resolution for commissioned officers. In my opinion we could improve a lot more if D.P.S. were to take over the mainstay of training and if more training than a small video and fingerprinting were required for non-commissioned (unarmed) security.

Indeed, it seems their goals are pretty noble, but they don't have nearly enough members or a loud enough voice. I have seen absolutely no interaction with media and I have never heard about any results of D.P.S. attending law enforcement conferences in regard to their role in private security. The public perception of what we do still remains that of a joke and most people still have an incorrect viewpoint of what it is we do for a living.

[aka Bull]

1stWatch - it seems there is something in your state at least. This is much more than many may have. I don't know any more than what has been written in the posts about A.S.S.I.S.T., but it seems like there needs to be more work by the organization to promote itself beyond the companies down to the officers level without counting on the branch managers to spread the word. Plus getting an image with the public that works to change those public impressions of security work and security officers.

I only wish there was some state group like this I could get involved with here in Colorado, especially one that already has an affiliation with a state legislature member who is willing to promote change and improvement in the profession.

[1stWatch]

Oh btw, here's their website:

http://www.assisttexas.org/

[N. A. Corbier]

1stWatch - it seems there is something in your state at least. This is much more than many may have. I don't know any more than what has been written in the posts about A.S.S.I.S.T., but it seems like there needs to be more work by the organization to promote itself beyond the companies down to the officers level without counting on the branch managers to spread the word. Plus getting an image with the public that works to change those public impressions of security work and security officers.

I only wish there was some state group like this I could get involved with here in Colorado, especially one that already has an affiliation with a state legislature member who is willing to promote change and improvement in the profession.

I know it sounds cliche, Bull, but why not start one?

[aka Bull]

I know it sounds cliche, Bull, but why not start one?

lol.....Nathan, those were thoughts I was having before ever finding this forum. One of the biggest reasons I got involved in this forum was to get a sense of the industry in other parts of the country and world.

Trust me the thought is still rattling around inside my head.