CLEAT Opposes HB 41

For immediate release to all Texas news organizations
Contact: Charley Wilkison, Director of Public Affairs
Office: 512-495-9111, Mobile: 512-633-3501

June 27, 2011

AUSTIN-The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), the State’s largest law enforcement organization is strongly in support of Texas House Speaker Joe Straus’ common sense approach to law enforcement and public safety issues. CLEAT is opposed to HB 41, known as the airport pat-down bill by State Representative David Simpson R-Longview.
Representative Simpson has gone back on his word to accept carefully crafted amendments which would have clarified that the bill does not impact Texas officers and their ability to search suspects under reasonable suspicion. CLEAT believes the result would increase the legal threshold for searches to probable cause.

“International drug cartel leaders have to be laughing this morning,” said Charley Wilkison, Director of Public Affairs for CLEAT. “What they couldn’t get done through the appellate court system with their frivolous legal challenges and highly paid lawyers is being done for them in the hallowed chambers of the Capitol.”

“Whether intentional or inadvertent, the end result will be a chilling effect on Texas police officers’ ability to do their job and protect us from crime and criminals in public building and public places,” he said.

“Drug dealers, gang leaders and criminals of all stripes have longed for this law to be changed for years. If this bill passes in its current form, it will be the green light for criminal defense attorneys to mount a legal challenge to every single search for illegal weapons and drugs in public buildings and public places,” said Wilkison.

“CLEAT is proud of Speaker Joe Straus who showed Texas-sized courage by standing up for the public’s safety and the brave men and women who risk their lives every day to protect the families and communities of this state. Someone needed to bring some common sense to this discussion and slow down this bill with far reaching, and often misunderstood consequences,” he said.

Currently the courts have allowed law enforcement searches under the lower level of reasonable suspicion. Officers have to be able to articulate that they acted reasonably under the circumstances and had a suspicion that the suspect’s behavior or some circumstance gave them reason enough to search the person without consent. Officers are now allowed to follow their training, ask questions and search if they believe they have a reasonable cause to do so.

HB 41 by Rep. Simpson would raise the legal threshold so that officers could no longer question or search a suspicious person and would have to establish the higher legal threshold of probable cause.

“This proposed law would handcuff officers in the field and they would find themselves operating in a legal land of shadows where they would be unable to do their jobs and keep our communities safe,” he said.

“Some of the folks complaining about being searched in the airports were yelling the loudest when the jet flew into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. less than a decade ago,” stated Wilkison.

“I think some of these folks are confusing the inconvenience of fighting international crime and terror with their assumed constitutional rights not to be bothered by the real world,” he said.

In addition, the bill as written, does not just apply to searches at airports. It applies to Texas officers charged with protecting all other public buildings, including courthouses. We have real concerns that the bill will hamper officers’ abilities to respond to security threats, such as bomb threats or other terroristic threats. Unlike the ability of TSA to turn someone away from flying if they do not pass security screening, most people going to a courthouse have a legal obligation to be there. They are either a defendant on trial or they are a subpoenaed witness. On any given day, courts are dealing with murderers, drug dealers, rapists, and thieves. Unfortunately these people and the people they associate with are not your most model citizens.

CLEAT believes that public venues such as large concerts and entertainment events will become places where officers will also be stopped from performing searches. Law enforcement officers, court security personnel and district attorneys are concerned that rival gang members will be allowed to attend court proceedings without a thorough security screening or officers being able to search them properly. We believe this may happen if HB 41 were to become law.