By Greg Groogan,
MISSOURI CITY, Texas (FOX 26) -
He violated not a single law but got grenaded, shot, stunned, beaten, jailed
and unjustly prosecuted for offenses that could have left him a felon.
The botched and unwarranted
2011 SWAT team raid in Missouri City left Chad Chadwick financially devastated
from legal expenses and living with both post-traumatic stress and permanent
hearing damage.
"It just sickens me that
these people can do what they are doing day after day and they have no
remorse," said Chadwick. "They don't care. They use their shield to
say we're here to protect you, but we may destroy your life in the
process."
"It's beyond race
now," said community activist Quanell X, who is helping Chadwick share his
story with the media. "Police misconduct is about power, the abuse of
power,"
But lingering outrage is where
the quest for accountability often stops.
FOX 26 legal analyst Chris
Tritico says Texas residents who suffer the consequences of misconduct by law
enforcement officers and overzealous prosecution have little or no recourse
because state lawmakers in Austin have granted blanket protection to both.
"Municipalities and their
employees are immune from action in state civil court for most things that we
would file against private individuals," said Tritico.
And prospects for justice get
little better at the federal courthouse where Tritico says those who claim
violation of their civil rights by police and prosecutors have to meet a very
difficult burden.
"Unfortunately, where we
live in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the law is that you have to prove
it's the policy pattern and practice of the entire municipality to violate
someone's civil rights, not just that this officer violated your civil
rights," explained Tritico. "It's an almost impossible
standard."
It is a threshold a U.S.
District Court Judge in Houston says Chad Chadwick's case does not reach.
Chadwick has filed an appeal.
"All I really cared about
was what my kids thought of me," said Chadwick.
"If you are investigating
a possible suicide, there is no need to blow up two compression grenades and
beat the living crud out of someone,"said Tritico. "That's where this
fell off the map,"
A demonstration is scheduled on
Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Missouri City Police Department in support of Chad
Chadwick and against misconduct by law enforcement officers.
