RISE Houston Member, CRC Attorney Shirley LaVarco, Speaks Out Against Abusive Police Officers Jumping Jobs to Evade Accountability
In this morning’s edition of the Houston Chronicle, reporter Matt deGrood digs into a specific example of a broader, all too common problem: abusive members of law enforcement evade accountability for their misconduct by simply jumping to a new job with a different policing body when they are found out. This trend is unacceptable, and it is made possible by police leadership turning a blind eye to misconduct and welcoming crooked officers with open arms.
deGrood writes:
A former Harris County Precinct 1 constable’s deputy [Sgt. Wayne Schultz] resigned this month while under investigation for allegedly violating a federal regulation by keeping a GPS jammer in his vehicle but was hired days later by the Precinct 6 Constable’s Office.
Beyond being the target of an investigation into use of the jammer, Sgt. Wayne Schultz, the deputy who resigned, was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by attorneys representing an unarmed Black man who was held at gunpoint by Precinct 1 deputies and attacked by a K-9.
CRC Attorney, Shirley LaVarco, is one of the attorneys deGrood references, and she’s also a member of the RISE Houston steering committee. Shirley remarked:
“It’s completely unacceptable … He should be fired and should not have an opportunity to wear a badge and carry a gun, or use any other dangerous weapon, including dogs improperly wielded as weapons.”
Sgt. Schultz isn’t the only “wandering officer” named in CRC’s lawsuit. Sergeant Robert Johnson, who can be heard on the bodycam cheering as CRC client Kerry Thomas cries out in pain, joined the Constable’s Office only after being fired from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for on-the-job sexual misconduct. Just months after he attacked Mr. Thomas, Sgt. Johnson confessed to multiple counts of child sexual abuse.
Learn more about Sgt. Schultz’s history of misconduct and the consequences of this shameful law enforcement trend here.