Doug Griffith - President, Houston Police Officers Union Joins Houston's Morning News

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, I got murder on my mind too, because we
have nine hundred people charged with it free on bond
here in Houston. Nine not nine, not ninety nine hundred.
Doug Griffith joins as president of the Houston Police Officers Union.
To get that high of a number, Doug, how far,
I mean, that just blows the mind. How far behind

(00:21):
in cases do you have to be in order to
have a number that high.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
It's just unbelievable me, Jimmy this. You know, we've had
this going on.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
For a while.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
We've had a problem with our judges not doing their
job and locking people up, and this is the prime
example of that. You've got at least one hundred those
that have capital murder charges or are wanted for capital
murder just roaming our streets because the judges failed to
do their job. You've got people like Hiller Younger Deshaun
Jones who just go out there and repeatedly let these

(00:54):
people out and then they turn around and murder again.
I mean, just look at what happen. And recently with
the murder suicide, the guy pled guilty or was found
guilty and she lets him out on an ankle. Monster
Like that's gonna work and then tell those that's Judge Junger, right,
who did that? Correct?

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yes, sir, yeah, yeah, she seems to be evolved. She
also seems to still wear a mask in her courtroom,
which kind of makes me wonder about her her level
of sanity anyway, you.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Know, absolutely well if you look at her own personal
website where she talks about how she doesn't want people
in jail. She believes everybody has the opportunity to be rehabilitated. Well,
there's some people out there you cannot rehabilitate. It just
doesn't work. There's some people that have to be separated
from society to keep society safe, and they refuse to

(01:45):
do their jobs. Just a mere number of nine hundred
should just astound everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
It blows the mind. As I said, you know, I
think that what's the typical murder rate in the city
of Houston on a yearly basis?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Oh, that's hard to say because it fluctuates so much.
I can remember the nineties we had eight hundred, Yet
here it is today we probably runs around three three fifty.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Okay, if I had to guess, so fifty. If you've
got nine hundred people who are out on bond waiting
either sentencing or trial. Here they again it goes back
to how many how many people are just let loose
by the system who have not been dealt with yet
in any way, shape or form. How long is it
taking these days, do you think for a murder trial
to come to fruition from the time you arrest them
and charge them to the time that they actually go

(02:33):
to trial. How long a waiting period are we talking
about here?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I say min on three to four years, if if
not longer. So you know, you have to understand, we
still have problems with our forensic science center getting evidence tested.
They're still behind, they will continue to be behind because
doctor Stout can't do his job. We've got I mean,
the system has failed our community so bad. Our officers

(02:58):
go out there every day and put these people in
jail and they're turned right around and released either on
bond or they get a low bail, whatever it is.
Our ulcers continue to go out there and do this job,
and it makes look like we're incompetent when we can't
hold them in jail, and we've got to find a
way to do that.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Doug, let me ask you this. You know now I'm
not trying to make any kind of an excuse in
any way, shape or form for any of these liberal
judges doing what they do. But at the end of
the day, if if every one of these nine hundred
people were put back in jail, where would we put them?
Do we have room for them? Can we can we
accommodate them?

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Okay? No, we still have I think twenty thousand over
Louisiana that they're we're paying to house them pinning court.
We need to wramp up the court system, get these
people too faster work, get rid of these minor cases,
and open up the courts fully for bottom fenders. And
until we do that, we're going to continue to see

(03:56):
our sister's victim.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Is all right, sir, Thank s always appreciated. Doug Griffith,
president of the Houston Police Officers Union, at six twenty
seven