MAY 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 5

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK “How a Crime-Fighting Institution Took a Partisan Turn” Yes, they did you left wing, self-righteous asshats. I’m referring of course to the recent article published in the New York Times by two moron reporters David A. Fahrenthold and Keri Blakinger. They slammed Houston Crime Stoppers for calling out the liberal judges who could care less about the safety of Houstonians. And yes, the Times hates our magazines’ “vote their ass out” coverage of these judges and the blood they have on their hands for deaths of police officers as well as civilians in our city. My first thought when I read the story and witnessed the reaction from our good friend Dave Ward was, F the Times. What damn business is it of theirs to judge what we do in Houston. Unlike the jacked-up city they live in, people here care about our city and the people who live and work here. The crime rate in New York is through the roof because their revolving door criminal justice system doesn’t work. In Houston, we are hellbent on making sure thugs are locked up and stay locked up. The story reads like this: “Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.” That message, along with the promise of a reward, has appeared for decades at the end of news reports about shootings, stabbings or criminal mayhem in the nation’s fourth-largest city. But recently, Crime Stoppers of Houston has been blasting out a different, more political message: Activist judges are letting “dangerous criminals” out of jail to threaten the safety of law-abiding residents. On television, Twitter and videos, the traditionally nonpartisan nonprofit organization has been condemning more than a dozen elected judges — all Democrats, four of whom lost primaries last month — while praising the crime policies of Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican. “What we’re seeing is an assault against the community” by the judges, Rania Mankarious, the organization’s chief executive, said this year on a national Fox News broadcast. The group’s aggressive posture on the issue followed shifts in Houston’s approach to prosecuting low-level crimes and setting bail. The changes helped prompt a political backlash fed in part by the Crime Stoppers campaign and a rising murder rate. All True. Then the article goes on question Crime Stoppers funding, expenses, salaries and its new building. All in an attempt to support its theory that Crime Stoppers is somehow funded by MICHAEL BARRON Republicans in an effort to drive Democratic judges out of office. They also cite Kim Ogg’s 0,000 donation from money allocated from a pool of funds seized in asset forfeiture. They note “The district attorney, a conservative Democrat, used to run Crime Stoppers, is generally in sync with the group on bail issues and has not been publicly criticized by it.” The NYT has one thing right. These worthless Democratic judges do need to go. And we applaud Crime Stoppers for taking a stand against the judges’ policies that have resulted in criminals being released on low or no bonds over and over again. Only to commit even more crimes, rearrested and released again. “…Crime Stoppers leaders have said that the actions of the judges it is criticizing were dangerous enough that the organization had to speak out. “If we sit back in silence, we are just as guilty as those who are actually promoting this type of criminal justice reform,” Andy Kahan, Crime Stoppers’ director of victim services and advocacy, said in a video posted to the group’s Facebook page. The judges say that the Texas Constitution does not allow them to keep most people locked up without imposing bail, which is not a punishment but is meant to ensure that the accused show up for court dates. “It is infuriating when a once well-respected nonpartisan organization continually makes false statements regarding the facts and the law specifically to attack judges for political or financial gain,” said Chris Morton, a Democratic judge targeted by Crime Stoppers. He has argued that the judges are following the law and pointed to county data showing that they have been setting higher bonds for felonies over the past two years. Bull-shit Judge Morton. As a target of the BLUES “Vote Your Ass Out” campaign you are one of the worst judges in Harris County and you need to find another line of work. The BLUES supports Crime Stoppers, its board, its staff and its director Rania Mankarious 100%. Crimes Stoppers is committed to doing exactly what its name says – stopping crime in Houston by whatever means is necessary. And if that means Democratic judges who fail to do their job need to go, then so be it. As far as the NYT is concerned, worry about your own crime ridden city. We have everything under control here in the south and we don’t need New Yorkers telling us how to fight crime. As an added note and long before this story was published, The BLUES choose to feature Rania Mankarious in next month’s issue of The BLUES. Stay tuned for some exciting news regarding Ms. Mankarious. 8 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 9