On Dec. 2, 2011, with morale at an all-time low in the gang unit, Lt. Mike Hollier called a meeting with the officers. He told them to speak their minds, but the officers who spoke with me said that after officers Gus Klinkenberg and Brett Worman voiced their rage, Hollier, red-faced with anger, slammed his notebook shut and stormed out of the room. Later that night, word started coming in from confidential informants about a possible hit on Balson and that, according to them, Solis had reached out to both the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas and two local hitmen known only as Smiley and Quarterback.
In December 2010, an informant reported seeing a ledger with Balson’s name and “SOS” next to it –– and a dollar amount of $45,000. SOS, the officers who spoke with me said, is slang for Smash On Sight, a term employed by the Aryan Brotherhood to order someone killed or injured. Another informant, fearing he might become embroiled in the plot, approached two police officers on the street and gave them a diagram of Solis’ organization, including the price on Balson’s head. Because police administrators no longer trusted the gang unit’s judgment, Deputy Chief Jennifer White turned over the investigation to Detective Travis Gilliam.
“I was a robbery detective and also did gang investigation,” Gilliam said. “I guess because I wasn’t … a gang enforcement officer but close enough to them –– I knew them and was a traditional investigator –– [the administration] let me do it.”
Balson met with Assistant Chief Will Johnson, who, Balson said, told him he would be monitoring the case and making the decisions. Johnson would be made Acting Chief of Police for Arlington in April 2012 and had already begun taking on that role. Johnson assured Balson that he and the rest of the gang unit would not be pulled from the investigation, but then he re-assigned Balson to the auto theft division for his own safety on Dec. 19, 2011 –– just two days later. Members of the gang unit were excluded from interviews with suspects and not allowed to aid in the investigation, according to the officers who spoke with me.
“I was told by Deputy Chief White and Lt. Hollier that it was for my own protection,” Balson said. “However, this seemed odd to me given that at the same time APD Deputy Chief [Jaime Ayala] was going to patrol briefings and telling officers and staff that there is no threat to any officer and this story has been fabricated.”
Gilliam interviewed informants and started building a case. He got a search warrant for the house where the informant had spotted the ledger, a green spiral notebook with names and dollar amounts. He was shocked at what he found.
“The fact we found a hit list ledger with [Balson’s] name on it with a [$45,000] amount –– I’ll never forget that a day in my life,” Gilliam said. “And that was corroborated with statements we got from our confidential informants. That it was an active murder hit on [Balson]. It was in a green spiral notebook. I’ll never forget it.”
This was a difficult case to prove. Everything the gang unit had so far was intelligence given to them by shady underworld types –– junkies, gang members, and white supremacists. Members of the force’s executive staff were pressuring Gilliam to close the case, saying that there was no real threat.
“But when we got that ledger, ‘Oh, my gosh. We got something,’ ” Gilliam said. “ ‘They’re going to believe us now. They have to believe us.’ They didn’t. And it went nowhere. And I never saw the ledger again. I saw it for a day, and then I never got to see the ledger again. Yeah, that was crazy.”
In fact, Gilliam said, administrators took away his entire case file, and he was never able to get all of it back.
“That has never happened,” he said. “I was in the unit a little over two and a half years, and I did probably 300 to 350 cases. In my entire investigative experience, I’ve never had my case file removed from me. I’ve never had it happen, period, but I never thought I would have it happen in the middle of an investigation. I did get it back, but it was not the same. It had been altered. Documents that I had in there I couldn’t find.”
As the case progressed, Gilliam started to encounter resistance. Although he asked for assistance, the gang unit was not allowed to aid in the investigation despite knowing the people involved and the right questions to ask. The command staff wanted the case closed, Gilliam said, despite a growing mountain of evidence.
“You have to look at the timeline too,” said an officer who asked to remain anonymous, “right around the time that was happening, Chief Bowman kicked off his 50/3 plan, which was the reduction in crime in the city of Arlington by 50 percent over three years. How bad does it look when the city’s saying, ‘We’re going to reduce crime by 17 percent a year over the next three years,’ and we can’t even protect one of our own officers?”
Informants reported that in response to Solis’ request, the Aryan Brotherhood had tasked some provisional members, called peckerwoods, to kill Balson. They were supposed to pose as federal law enforcement, and they managed to steal the jacket and badge from a random federal officer before they were arrested in an unrelated case with the stolen badge in their possession.
An FBI agent, the same one who dragged his feet while working with Balson, seemed to be sandbagging Gilliam’s investigation. Gilliam always had a hard time reaching the agent, and when he did meet with him, the agent was dismissive and uninterested, so much so that Gilliam warned other officers that he did not think the agent was competent enough to be a part of the investigation.
A federal trafficking warrant was issued for Solis and his associates. But the FBI agent insisted that Solis’ lieutenant be arrested first and Solis the next morning. Word spread quickly of the first arrest, and Solis had gone into hiding before they came for him. Many of the informants were reluctant to talk. Word was out that the Aryan Brotherhood had people on the inside.
“A lot of [informants] kept telling us, ‘We can’t trust the police,’ ” Gilliam said, “and, ‘I don’t want to help out because I’ll be the one dead. They’ve already killed this person, that person. They have people on the inside.’ People say that all the time, and we’re like, ‘Whatever.’ ”
In the spring of 2014, the FBI terminated the agent who was previously assigned to the Solis case after officials monitored jail phones in Houston and discovered he was connected to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
“I was notified that [the agent] was fired from the FBI for inappropriate relationships with Aryan Brotherhood of Texas personnel,” Balson said. “I was never given the full details, but I was interviewed at our office in Fort Worth by [FBI agent] Alan Beck about my relationship with [the fired agent who] was doing things with [the Aryan Brotherhood]. He was warning them about warrants, and he was sleeping with the females. [The Aryan Brotherhood] had him. They had him under their thumb, so our chiefs were only listening to him. I was wondering what he was actually telling our chiefs.”
However, the agent’s behavior was not limited to the case in Arlington.
“I also provided Agent Beck with information about [the agent] not providing information to Mesquite Police Department or DPS when he discovered that a former Mesquite PD employee with full access to criminal records was an active associate of [The Aryan Brotherhood] while working in Mesquite PD records section,” Balson said.
Gilliam said the informants knew more about the mole than the police did.
In December 2010, more out-of-town gang members were found circling Balson’s home, and one of Balson’s neighbors noticed a blue Chevy Avalanche parked out front. When the neighbor approached the truck, it sped away as he wrote down the plate number. The number was from San Antonio and was linked to a known Aryan Brotherhood associate in Arlington. Police Sgt. Brian Johnson, Gilliam’s supervisor, traveled with an ICE special agent to San Antonio to investigate, but nothing further was done.
“I was told later by an APD deputy chief that he informed APD [Assistant] Chief Will Johnson that this connection had been uncovered and further investigation was required,” Balson said. “Chief Johnson told the deputy chief to stop the investigation, and it did not matter what was corroborated. He wanted the investigation to go away.”
Balson and the other officers who spoke with me believe the chief simply did not want any bad publicity.
Chief Johnson declined to comment.
“The old adage, ‘Where there is smoke, there’s fire’?” Gilliam said. “There were plumes of smoke in several directions, and we even saw some fire. We just turned a blind eye to it, and it was one of our own.”
Eventually, Sgt. Johnson told Gilliam to shut down the investigation. It was clear to both Gilliam and Balson that the decision came from higher up the ladder.
“I think [Sgt. Johnson] had a good heart, but he caved in because I’m pretty sure they told him his career would be over if this investigation wasn’t shut down,” Balson said. “At the end of the day, he had to look at his career.”
With the investigation shut down, police Lt. Hollier and Sgt. Paul Long of SWAT showed up at Balson’s home to break the news to him. Worman, a six-year veteran of the gang unit, was at the house to borrow a furniture dolly. He was outraged.
“They all came over to tell me that they were stopping the investigation and pulling SWAT from my house,” Balson said. “And [Worman] made the statement, ‘Are you kidding me? With all the leads that we gave you, and ya’ll just refused to do anything? I’ve never been so embarrassed to work for this department.’ ”
Deputy Chief White wanted Worman written up for speaking out at Balson’s house, according to the officers who spoke with me, but since Balson was on his own time, there were no grounds for discipline. The next day Worman was booted from the gang unit and put back on patrol. He was not the last to be forced out.
Asked to respond to these allegations, a spokesperson for Arlington police issued a statement: “The Arlington Police Department received unverified information from a third party about a possible threat to an officer in 2011 and immediately began the process of assessing the validity of this claim. An extensive investigation was conducted, and all credible leads were pursued, which included multiple interviews with associates of the person suspected of making the threat. Out of an abundance of caution during the investigation, the department provided security for the officer at his residence while the threat was investigated. Once the investigation proved no credible threat existed, the security detail was reassessed. The Arlington Police Department takes the safety of all of our employees very seriously and will continue to do so in the future.”
The first auto-theft case Balson was assigned to at his new position was a couple that had been caught in a stolen car with multiple fake IDs and credit cards. He looked over the arrest report and noticed that the couple had been arrested by SWAT in front of his own home when the protection detail was in place. Had the case not been assigned to him, he would never have known it had happened. Balson watched as Sgt. Johnson interviewed the driver at the police station, but the sergeant asked only about the identity theft of which the driver was accused. When Balson asked Sgt. Johnson why he didn’t ask what the suspect was doing outside his home, Johnson, who was surprised that Balson had been observing, shrugged it off.
“He said he forgot but not to worry about it, that it was too late now,” Balson said.
In late December of 2010, Sgt. Pilcher left town to visit family in Louisiana, leaving Klinkenberg in charge of the gang unit. Meanwhile, in auto theft, Balson interviewed the woman from the stolen car, whom he discovered was a Facebook friend of Baldemar Solis’ wife. The woman told him that she and the driver were going to make a drug buy from a man who had previously been identified by police as one of Solis’ dealers. Balson said she said that on the way to buy the drugs, the driver made a detour to Balson’s house, telling someone on the phone that he was going to “check out the neighborhood.” She said he explained that he “had come into Arlington to help his friend Baltimore take care of something because Baltimore could not trust any of his local connections.”
Just before SWAT moved in for the arrest, according to the woman, the driver called someone and said, “The neighborhood is too hot right now.”
With new evidence there was still a threat, the officers who spoke with me said that Klinkenberg contacted White for help, and White told him that the case was closed and no one would be assigned to protect Balson’s family. Klinkenberg started organizing volunteers from within the force to help watch Balson’s house on their own time. Lt Hollier told them they would not be assigned any marked units and that the officers would have to stay inside Balson’s house, out of sight of the public. Klinkenberg contacted the Southside deputy chief to inform him of the volunteer operation in his area. If violence erupted, they would need backup and the responding officers would need to know there were plainclothes officers onscene. The next day, Klinkenberg was called into White’s office. The officers who spoke with me said she took offense to Klinkenberg’s calling another chief, wrote Klinkenberg up, and re-assigned him to patrol. The volunteer protection program was shut down. The officers who spoke with me said the remaining officers were told that Baldemar Solis was off limits and that they were not to investigate him further.
“I had previously been told by Lt. Hollier that Chief Johnson was no longer going to let SWAT watch my house or investigate the threat anymore because there was no money available to pay for overtime,” Balson said. “During this time, SWAT had recently spent a lot of time protecting Chief Bowman, and, according to Hollier, the command staff did not want the city council aware of a threat to an officer. That is why Sgt. Klinkenberg was asking for volunteers to watch my house on their off duty time.”
The rest of the gang unit was disbanded, the officers who spoke with me said, and the Arlington Police Department created a new unit from scratch, sending the new officers to Fort Worth to be trained by Fort Worth police’s gang unit.
Arlington has a long history of backing growth and self-promotion at the expense of the future and residents’ quality of life. This is one more example of pretending everything is fine while making the city crumbles.
The question that is left unasked: Does the ABT have men inside police and city management? APD will never root it out. We need DPS or the FBI to take a look.
Fantastic article. We seldom see detailed investigative reporting like this any more.
Chief Will Johnson, Asst Chief Jennifer White, Lieutenant Jerry Hattaway, Sergeant Thedrick Andres…… There is the list of “Administrators” that has failed not only an officer and police department but an entire city.
The department is full of stories related to the betrayal of it’s own officers. This department has never been the same since the departure of David Kunkle. Jennifer White is a pathetic example of a leader as is Jaime Ayala. The problem with the leadership at APD is the tendency to promote people too early, at young ages. These ranks are filled with people whom have the selfish ideas of a younger generation and this is NEVER good for law enforcement. Mike Hollier is nothing more than milquetoast who tries to fit in with the younger generation.
Sgt. Pilcher actually has the balls to stand up for hardworking officers and keeps the public’s safety a priority. Anyone that knows Pilcher will confirm his credibility is top tier. Furthermore, if Chief Will Johnson actually left firefighters in danger, Fire Chief Crowson should have been standing on Will’s skinny white neck demanding answers. The public’s safety is paramount and the top priority. Instead, Chief Johnson is worried about his social media footprint and personal image.
Arlington PD needs to step up their game and take care of business. Who cares about Chief Johnson’s award for the use of social media. Social media awards don’t keep the citizens and TAXPAYERS safe. You will NEVER see Grand Prairie Police Chief Steve Dye run his department in this manner. Great article and reporting.
fantastic reporting. Good job, Steve Watkins!
I have to agree. Excellent reporting from Steve that left me completely stunned as I wondered how this would be allowed to happen under any police agency. This needs more eyes on this issue as there should never be “no respond” areas where criminals are given free reign over a community or street.
Will this information be turned over to the Texas Rangers for an investigation of the APD?? This is incompetence at best and very possibly criminal since evidence/documents are missing. Excellent reporting. Every single chief and deputy chief who participated in this cover up should be FIRED.
Abandon your own and leave a neighborhood to police protection that is dictated by political whims. Somebody in management needs to stand up for what is right. Protect the public and have your officers back. Then retire with your pride and the knowledge that you did the job right.
Congrats to Grand Prairie PD for standing in the gap!
As retread the article I became more incensed about the behavior of Arlington PD management.
The treatment of Officer Balson and the protection of his family was unforgivable and clearly an internal fail. While not against the law,some internal policies were probably violated. The alledged destruction of evidence and investigative files needs to be investigated by an outside agency.
Another disturbing factor is the directive to alter the police protection policy of a neighborhood, by stating that this area has a ” special policy ” and as stated in the article police were told to give up the authority of law. Law enforcement has many tools in their bag to deal with the community and many are negotiative in nature. Giving up the rule of arrest for criminal violation is the one that cannot be negotiated nor abdicated.The policy that was referenced in the article is the equivalant of giving up your authority as a law enforcement entity. This is a clear violation of the sworn duty. You might as well unload your officers weapons and make them wear a bullseye.
Do not count on any of the people that are responsible for this to answer for it or accept responsibility. Some have retired, either because they couldn’t stand working there another minute even though they were willing to sell their soul for their position, and others, James Hawthorne, retired under investigation because they were arrested for domestic violence but it got swept under the rug. Others are still there and are so corrupt they believe they are untouchable and others are probably praying this doesn’t go any further. So glad I left, when your command staff has been described as a cancer, it’s time to go! APD administration needs a complete overhaul, City Council should be listening, this is not the first issue that has been brought to their attention and if they choose to ignore it, then the blood is on their hands as well. A major drug runner who is a major player in the Aryan Brotherhood AND gang members who wreak havoc on the city are getting the green light from the administration and you want the citizens to believe they are first priority? Wake up people. Let’s hope there are enough good officers left when this is all over to protect you from the bad guys and the upper ranks. Good luck!
APD takes their marching orders from the City Council I believe. The City Council recently named our city a ‘Dream City’ and is keen on trying to keep Arlington’s image clean.
Mike, APD administration does not tell City Council half of what they are doing. And Bowman is still calling the shots at the PD since he is the Deputy City manager and is still over APD. Will is not strong enough to go against him so he is just a lackey. No one there has any hope that it will change. They are promoting incompetent people who have no business leading people, just so they can easily control them. So far it is working.
This makes me so sad. There are a lot of great people at APD and a lot of progressive and good things have been done. There are so many great, dedicated people who have been driven away by the dysfunctional environment that the department can’t hire enough people to stop the hemorrhage of people leaving. What I don’t expect to see, but wish for, is that administration could just stand up and say “we screwed up” and take responsibility for fixing what is so very wrong. But I don’t know that that can happen in the current climate. Instead they will try to spin the PR or punish the whistleblowers. It’s an unhealthy system that has to change, or a truly great department is ultimately doomed. This is only one of many examples of administrative failure, but it is a big one…people who put their lives on the line to serve their community deserve respect and support from their own department, and from the community. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. That’s gotten lost somewhere in the bureaucratic and corporate mentality of this organization, from city management on down. I hope something good can come out of the light shined on this travesty. I’m not holding my breath, though…
This type of behavior and attitude toward its ranks are the reasons I left. I spent several years at APD and realized nothing is going to change.
Good points made by all, so far…
Another post referred to APD leadership as “cancer”. What an accurate description of the people making the decisions regarding the progression of the department. One has to understand that almost every police officer has an innate desire to do the right thing and go the extra mile for what they believe is right and just. Management consultants consistently advise this desire is eroded by heavy handed leadership and/or punishment actions which are not consistent with the ideals of accepted law enforcement practices and citizen needs.
Translated, this results in rank and file officers who no longer trust their leadership and will no longer perform in a pro-active manner for fear of being punished or made an example of. This phenomenon is now magnified by the public scrutiny now faced in today’s law enforcement environment. Unfortunately, Chief Will Johnson is not willing to stand up for the officers under his direction. However, it is unfair to single out poor Will. Take a look at other senior leaders from APD. Whatever happened to Lisa Womack, James Hawthorne, and Ken Burton. A couple of them had dicey careers as chiefs with other departments, and one was investigated criminally for domestic violence while holding the position of assistant chief.
This incident is firmly based on the command staff’s belief that the buck stops with them and should anyone question their logic, they will be punished. Obviously, this mentality has been demonstrated as the article reports. True leaders will always recognize (and utilize) the great minds of their subordinates. Yet, how could anyone be as smart and intelligent as one with a master’s degree or PhD? We could all go and get a master’s degree or PhD if the department let us go to school during work hours which is what has been afforded to many of these so-called “leaders”. Those of you whom are familiar with APD now know I am speaking truthful words. I bring all of this up to point out that these leadership issues run deep within the department and it will take some time to turn things around. Many of these folks have been “groomed” for many years prior to taking these positions. For most, APD is the only place they have worked and they don’t know any different.
I am hopeful the officers involved in this travesty move on to wonderful careers elsewhere and they are recognized for their work ethic and dedication to their chosen line of work. Obviously, it isn’t going to happen in Arlington as many are finding out. Personally, I am enjoying my life after APD.
When “Baltimore” gets arrested and he starts talking I wonder how many APD higher ups will be revealed as having been on his payroll?
That’s the real question
Don’t be quick to let Chief Johnson off as the “new” chief and not be responsible. He has been in charge for a few years now, and in that time he made decisions that provided insight into his allegiance. Regarding Hawthorne, arrested for domestic violence, and later charged with a protective order violation, Johnson merely allowed him to retire and take a $75,000 severance package, and cover up the protective order charge. Also, he received an honorable discharge as any good buddy would do for another. But officers who speak up, well they get sent to patrol, part time jobs suspended and forced to live in limbo with far less violations than anything criminal, much less domestic violence charges. The part time suspensions have become a favorite retaliation tactic all the way back to Deputy Chief Jennifer White days. This is considered “unappealable” and not “disciplinary.” This is the tactics used to intimidate within the Department and until now, none ever knew the DIRTY TRUTH! But hey, thanks for holding officers accountable like Chief Hawthorne.
WHY hasn’t local TV media or major newspapers picked up this story? Arlington citizens deserve to know what the heck is going on in their police department. Maybe it will be THEIR neighborhood next time they call 911 and are told that the police are “not allowed” to respond to that area. They should be afraid . . . VERY afraid.
Not surprising. When your culture places doing what is right for the organization over doing what is right, period, this is what happens. That has been the culture of APD for a long time, but reached new heights when the administration openly lied about training practices after a tragic death of an officer in a training exercise. That demonstrated to many that there was nothing sacred when it came to self protection under the Bowman administration.
Sadly, many officers are hired directly out of college and think that all police departments work this way.
Another antidotal yet true story: APD Officer stops a black female for a traffic violation. Officer is very courteous even when faced with an angry and verbally abusive violator. Officer writes her a ticket and lets her go.
She files a complaint saying the officer used racist language toward her. Easy enough to determine, since the entire encounter was recorded on in car camera.
The video showed a very patient officer professionally dealing with a verbally abusive violator. BUT, on the way back to his car, the officer made the mistake of spitting out a sunflower seed, which was technically against an obscure APD General Order.
The officer was written up for that violation even though the complainant had lied about the original complaint. This is frequently done to appease the complainer at the expense of the officer.
Where is that officer today? He was awarded officer of the year at Fort Worth PD last year.
Like so many others, he saw the writing on the wall and GTFO.
To the city of Arlington’s defense, that they allow the Entertainment District to be be downwind from GM and their two on-site Chesapeake padsites mining for natural gas having multiple, cumulative, and probably synergistic pollution shows that they really don’t care about bad PR to visitors. That the city has a PR program currently billing themselves as a DREAM city reflects their inattention to reality (“dreaming that this is a dream city”) even when it smells of ignored gang activity and rogue gas well odors (where no nuisance violation was charged against Chesapeake back in 1/30 & 1/31/2013 when those odors permeated the Entertainment District and people claimed health effects). Of course where was the media on that Chesapeake FAIL?
I am not sure what you are trying to demonstrate with your post, and I will not try to answer your question because I am not a person with the media. However, you are suggesting people should respond to other issues with the city which may be just as important and impacting as this article points out. Find people who know something about the issues you are concerned about and ask them. The people commenting on this article are either concerned about this situation regarding law enforcement services, or they wish to share specific information regarding this article. While some of us may be just as concerned with the issues you bring up, most likely we won’t comment directly because we don’t have credible information on those same issues. Certainly, you wouldn’t want people to comment on issues they know nothing about.
Sure she would like to comment, that’s why she commented. Are you the Boss?
The Weeklys Blog is sort of liberal, decent, and open to all. Can you imagine that? We’re not real big on cops telling what to write? Your Mama have any brats that lived?
Benny…you should re-read her post and then re-read my response. She is asking for a comment on something not related to his article. We (people who know what we speak of) aren’t likely to produce needless rhetoric about issues which we don’t have sufficient knowledge of. Unlike you, we are trying to affect change and encourage public knowledge of an issue in which is of significant public interest.
Have a good day, sir.
Prior….you should kiss my foot. Showing up here making demands of other commenters reflects an attitude of a Tea-Bagging, self-entitled half-wit. People here can estimate your credibility and beliefs without your self promotion and, trust me, advising us of your stupid association with APD doesn’t speak well of your inteligence or ethics. What do you eat? Get over yourself. One of the most stupid things imaginable is to make someone aware you were an Arlington Pig. My bird-dog is smarter than that.
He’s not the boss, but he obviously has insight (since he worked there) and something to contribute to the story that relates to it. Gas wells? This is very serious stuff. Hits on officers. Drug rings. Organized crime. Administrations that leave their officers and their families out in the cold with credible threats like that. Corrupt FBI agents! Why in the hell is this not being investigated by an outside agency? Abandoning a neighborhood! What planet is this? Bowman was more concerned with the fallout from shutting down a topless bar. Keep digging. Tip of the iceberg I’m betting. APD is not being held accountable. They seem more concerned about appearances than doing their job and protecting their own. I am sharing this story everywhere I can. Fantastic investigative reporting.
Up until this point, you’re the first dummy I have observed demanding to call the shots and inform folks what they have to do and say on this Blog? What do you eat? My bird-dog Roxy has more humility than you, you a Tea-Bagger or foot-washing Holy-Roller? Who picked you to call the shots on this Blog. You some kind of Guru or did we take a vote to make you the Boss? You smell like a Tea-Bagging jerk all the way through my screen here. I suggest you hang around a while prior to issueing orders and throwing your 5th grade demands and dim-witted beliefs around. See? Get over yourself dude. Hope this helps.
The recognition that the Arlington Police Department is rotten and stinking is not news to anyone who has had close association with it. This is certainly not news to any civilian who has been accused of or suspected of criminal behavior in that city. Any cop that has worked there for a few years is aware of this fact, don’t let them tell you different. If doing wrong… if lying, stealing, mistreating citizens, and having an attitude of HOORAY for me…screw you was causation to be removed from police duty in Arlington, well then, the stinking police force in Arlington could be counted on one hand. I’m certain many decent people have left the department. If you know one of them personally, ask them if I’m right. This is not something new, no way Jo’se. I expect than any officer who works with that rotten organization is absolutely aware of what I submit to this discustion. The thing about it is that the cops love their work. The other side of that coin is that more often than you would ever imagine, you can’t tell the cops from the robbers….true, really, true. If you know one of the bums really good, just ask him. They’re like Heckle & Jeckel, the crows in cartoons. I suspect it’s a personality deal, both cops and robbers love the action. Cops have the job because they like the action, they love their work. Most cops would work for free if they didn’t need the money.
Last time I checked, no one was holdind a gun on any Arlington cop causing her or him to remain associated with a rotten, stinking, government outfit that seriously did not give a damn for doing the honorable, decent job that each of the losers swore to do. Whose on first? Why in pluperfect hell does any decent, honorable person stick with this gang of Peckerwoods? An alcoholic, a true, strung-out, falling down drunkard believes and feels that he or she is going to DIE if they consider or begin an attempt to dry up and amount to something, yet many face this tragedy and prevail…truly a killer deal to experience. What is preventing these self-importent Peckerwoods from coming clean, cleaning up, and amounting to something? Each and every cop associated with the Arlington P.D. more than a couple of years is aware of the indecent, revolting, stench of the rotten outfit. We are caused to presume they simply don’t care, it’s to tough to behave with decency. I suggest we all pray for the cowardly rats.
Ignorance at it’s finest!
Peckerwood Tea-Bagger doing business as usual. We’re praying for you slick.
I really hoped this story would have gotten more traction with other local mainstream media outlets. I guess the APD media machine has won again. Sad, because it would be really easy to settle at least one thing. Produce the green notebook and let the public see what is inside. And if they can’t produce it, an independent investigation is in order.
Regardless, I continue to pray for the rank and file officers that city administrators (not Bowman, who I promise you still works half days) and city council finally open their eyes and hire a chief that is willing to make sweeping changes to the culture of that agency.
And Benny, many people have families to support. Not only that, there is seniority (read: new schedule that won’t jive with family schedule), retirement loss, and pay cut (you start at the bottom of the pay scale at a new agency) to consider. Those that don’t buy into the corrupt culture simple get in their patrol car, answer their calls for service, do little else and hope that a situation doesn’t happen where it is inconvenient for APD administration to stand behind them, because they know they are screwed. The ones that can leave usually do, either to the Feds or to other agencies (5 to Grand Prairie alone last year, I hear). So slow your roll and go outside and play. It’s summer, you know…
I really hoped this story would have gotten more traction with other local mainstream media outlets. I guess the APD media machine has won again. Sad, because it would be really easy to settle at least one thing. Produce the green notebook and let the public see what is inside. And if they can’t produce it, an independent investigation is in order.
Regardless, I continue to pray for the rank and file officers that city administrators (not Bowman, who I promise you still works half days) and city council finally open their eyes and hire a chief that is willing to make sweeping changes to the culture of that agency.
And Benny, many people have families to support. Not only that, there is seniority (read: new schedule that won’t jive with family schedule), retirement loss, and pay cut (you start at the bottom of the pay scale at a new agency) to consider. Those that don’t buy into the corrupt culture simple get in their patrol car, answer their calls for service, do little else and hope that a situation doesn’t happen where it is inconvenient for APD administration to stand behind them, because they know they are screwed. The ones that can leave usually do, either to the Feds or to other agencies (5 to Grand Prairie alone last year, I hear). So slow your roll and go outside and play. It’s summer, you know…
We agree on one thing, the APD has clearly been needing looked into since waaay back to the sixties. I am aquainted with officers from back then up until the turn of the century. Arlington P.D. has never been much to brag about, the bosses never amounted to much. There’s nothing new to see there. I will add that the probability that we can expect some oversight and determination to bring the bastards to Jesus is not good. Seems to me, someone close to the top is going to have to come clean …not the way to bet. I disagree that citizens are not entitled to demand that officers behave like square citizens and put the aces in the places concerning the cheap, devious, dishonorable, and through the years, illegal behavior behind them. They signed on to do that, and they should By God do it. It’s either that or they are not worth a tinkers dam. What in pluperfect hell is wrong with you? They sighed on to do the job, stand up straight and get it right, no whining. Whose on first? What the hell? Has it come to this, do they fail to have a single hair on their ass??? I got your summer right cheer, Bubba. What’s the matter with you???
What a shame. I believe it.
how is this guy Mexican but liked to aryan brotherhood
How old are you? If you’re so dense and unimformed please shut up and allow adults to comment. You a baby Tea-Bagger?
Most of what you hear from an informant is false. Informants are only saying what cops want to hear and most of what they hear is from people who only wished they knew Mr. Solis. These so called peckerwoods are all dope fiends and will and did take it upon themselves to do something stupid like talk about knocking off a APD detective/ gang unit officer or whatever… Truth be told all these so called hit men “Smiley and QB” are not what they have been made to be. If you really knew the game or the facts to this story ypu would all think twice before making a judgement on Mr. Solis. Now APD is corrupt without a doubt. Narcotics Detective Pamela Gold, is a joke and does not know how to do her job, she did some shady stuff in 2015.
I am sorry that this officer was caught up in this so called hit and the finger should be pointed at the APD as they are the ones who more than likely was calling the shots on the hit.
This story is and was more about the corruption of the APD than that of Mr. Solis. Solis has been made the scapegoat to cover up what APD has allowed to happen in the city of Arlington “Dream City”. My big toe. APD has created a smoke screen and the masses follow. The masses are going to follow whatever APD states as the truth and never question. That goes for all that believe that Solis is this person that the APD and their informants have made him to be. This is stuff your see in a B movie. Step outside the box and maybe you will see that half of what you see or hear is not at all what it has been made out to be.