HOUSTON – We know you’re busy at home and work. Staying on top of local politicians is a full-time job. That’s why KPRC 2 began ‘Pop-Off Politics’.
Each week, we look at the agenda items in the fourth-largest city to see how elected officials spend their well-earned tax dollars.
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This week, the city council wants to add another $1.7M to the lawyers representing the City of Houston and former police chief Art Acevedo in the Harding Street Raid. Meaning, Houstonians could pony up a total of $2.9M in legal defenses to Beck Redden LLP.
The vote on Agenda Item 19 comes four days before the fifth anniversary of what law enforcement tells KPRC 2 Investigates is a botched raid.
RELATED: 3 new things KPRC2 has learned about deadly Harding Street shootout
On Jan. 28, 2019, Houston Police officers armed with a no-knock warrant raided a home on Harding Street that left two dead.
Police leadership claimed drugs were the main reason for the raid. Four officers were shot, and one was left paralyzed a fifth officer injured his knee as the night played out.
Only one former officer, Steven Bryant, was federally convicted since the raid. Former officer Gerald Goines still awaits his court date for the charges he faces in federal and state courts.
Related: Officer ‘will be charged’ in connection with deadly shootout, HPD says
The FBI, working with the Department of Justice, launched investigations into the raid after KPRC 2 Investigates first reported the reason for the raid, based on lies according to city records.
The ask for the council to boost the lawyer’s paychecks comes a week after KRPC 2 Investigates began reporting on Acevedo stepping down as the Intern-Police Chief with the Aurora Police Department and being served a federal summons for a deposition involving the raid.
Acevedo, through his lawyers, shared he would not be making the arranged deposition that was supposed to take place on Wednesday because he is moving back to Texas.
Acevedo is expected to join the City of Austin in a newly created role designed to provide oversight for the Austin Police Department.
Here in Houston, the City Council and the Mayor will discuss and vote on Agenda Item 19 this Wednesday.
