Body found on North Levee Rd on Pleasure Island

[bullets13]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

[bullets13]

I fish out here quite a bit.  Interested in hearing some details, especially with there being a murder a couple of years ago on South Levee Rd

[tvc184]

I am trying to get some details but no luck so far. 

[tvc184]

.:: or at least any that I can pass on publicly 

[thetragichippy]

So dark out there, seems like a great place to dump a body…..

[tvc184]

1 minute ago, thetragichippy said:

So dark out there, seems like a great place to dump a body…..

Uh huhhhh….  

[thetragichippy]

48 minutes ago, tvc184 said:

Uh huhhhh….  

I remember back in the day pleasure island had its own security or police force. Is that still around or does the PAPD patrol that now? I don’t see how an occasional pass by a patrol car could make that place safe. 
 

BTW, I’m back in PA for a couple years, so we need to do some fishing this spring. 

[tvc184]

53 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

I remember back in the day pleasure island had its own security or police force. Is that still around or does the PAPD patrol that now? I don’t see how an occasional pass by a patrol car could make that place safe. 
 

BTW, I’m back in PA for a couple years, so we need to do some fishing this spring. 

Yes on fishing…… 👍🏼

I don’t specifically remember them having any security but they have tried various things over the year so they might have had for a short time. That has always been PAPD‘s responsibility however it is so far detached that they don’t see much Patrol.
 

To drive to the end of the north levee and then to the state line and back is more than half an hour round trip. That does not count doing any kind of action, stopping any traffic, stopping at any businesses, etc. That is merely a drive from one end to the island to the other and back to the bridge. If a patrol car in the area gets a call at the causeway, which does happen, it can be almost a 20 mile round-trip unless the officer is already on the island. That area is under the patrol section of the downtown unit.  Usually one patrol officer has from Stillwell Boulevard to Highway 82 and then Pleasure Island to the state line.

Without stripping the rest of the city for patrol coverage and to hire a single police officer three shifts a day and  seven days a week they would have to increase the police force by six officers. Counting salary, benefits, patrol vehicle, fuel etc. it would cost to city over $1 million a year.

I do believe that they have a camera system  installed that takes pictures of every vehicle that drives onto the island. I am sure they are going through the records right now.

[thetragichippy]

24 minutes ago, tvc184 said:

Yes on fishing…… 👍🏼

I don’t specifically remember them having any security but they have tried various things over the year so they might have had for a short time. That has always been PAPD‘s responsibility however it is so far detached that they don’t see much Patrol.
 

To drive to the end of the north levee and then to the state line and back is more than half an hour round trip. That does not count doing any kind of action, stopping any traffic, stopping at any businesses, etc. That is merely a drive from one end to the island to the other and back to the bridge. If a patrol car in the area gets a call at the causeway, which does happen, it can be almost a 20 mile round-trip unless the officer is already on the island. That area is under the patrol section of the downtown unit.  Usually one patrol officer has from Stillwell Boulevard to Highway 82 and then Pleasure Island to the state line.

Without stripping the rest of the city for patrol coverage and to hire a single police officer three shifts a day and  seven days a week they would have to increase the police force by six officers. Counting salary, benefits, patrol vehicle, fuel etc. it would cost to city over $1 million a year.

I do believe that they have a camera system  installed that takes pictures of every vehicle that drives onto the island. I am sure they are going through the records right now.

My buddy just bought a sailboat(26’ I believe) and it’s in a slip at the marina. I’m surprised there is no issues with the one officer split so thin. I’m also amazed that only one officer handles downtown.  

[tvc184]

2 hours ago, thetragichippy said:

My buddy just bought a sailboat(26’ I believe) and it’s in a slip at the marina. I’m surprised there is no issues with the one officer split so thin. I’m also amazed that only one officer handles downtown.  

We used to always have a two-man patrol unit downtown and a two-man patrol unit it’s Sabine Pass.  Those eventually went to one-man units.

[CardinalBacker]

11 hours ago, tvc184 said:

Yes on fishing…… 👍🏼

I don’t specifically remember them having any security but they have tried various things over the year so they might have had for a short time. That has always been PAPD‘s responsibility however it is so far detached that they don’t see much Patrol.
 

To drive to the end of the north levee and then to the state line and back is more than half an hour round trip. That does not count doing any kind of action, stopping any traffic, stopping at any businesses, etc. That is merely a drive from one end to the island to the other and back to the bridge. If a patrol car in the area gets a call at the causeway, which does happen, it can be almost a 20 mile round-trip unless the officer is already on the island. That area is under the patrol section of the downtown unit.  Usually one patrol officer has from Stillwell Boulevard to Highway 82 and then Pleasure Island to the state line.

Without stripping the rest of the city for patrol coverage and to hire a single police officer three shifts a day and  seven days a week they would have to increase the police force by six officers. Counting salary, benefits, patrol vehicle, fuel etc. it would cost to city over $1 million a year.

I do believe that they have a camera system  installed that takes pictures of every vehicle that drives onto the island. I am sure they are going through the records right now.

Sounds like that police and fire protection that citizens in Orange County get from Port Arthur since being annexed.  You get taxed, but no actual services. 

[tvc184]

5 hours ago, CardinalBacker said:

Sounds like that police and fire protection that citizens in Orange County get from Port Arthur since being annexed.  You get taxed, but no actual services. 

Blame that on Bridge City. 

[tvc184]

Authorities said the woman found dead Monday on Pleasure Island was categorized as a missing person out of Beaumont.

Next of kin was notified Tuesday, and Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 Marc DeRouen identified the victim as Janice Summer Ross, 30………..

Det. Mike Hebert said Port Arthur Police dispatch received a call of a deceased person at approximately 2:18 p.m. Monday. The body was located in the 1000 block of North Levee Road.

Police are not releasing many case details in an effort to maintain the investigation’s integrity, including how long Ross had been there and who notified police………..

DeRouen told Port Arthur Newsmedia there wasn’t anything obvious on scene like knife or bullet wounds indicating foul play.

 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

[bullets13]

Seeing the picture of the woman they found, drugs were likely involved, whether an overdose or foul play.

[CardinalBacker]

16 hours ago, tvc184 said:

Blame that on Bridge City. 

Why is that?

[tvc184]

41 minutes ago, CardinalBacker said:

Why is that?

I am doing this from memory so……..

That is because for much of Bridge City‘s history, it was not a city. Bridge City was just an unincorporated area much like Orangefield today is just an area. There is no city of Orangefield.

In maybe the late 1960s there was talk of Bridge City wanting to become a city. The problem was that the area was in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of Port Arthur. That means that Port Arthur controlled that area and could have annexed what is now Bridge City. 

Port Arthur agreed to allow Bridge City to incorporate. In the signed agreement/contract, Port author would not give up its ETJ. According to the population of the city, they control a certain amount of land that is adjacent to the city limits. Port Arthur did not cede any of that jurisdiction to Bridge City. Bridge City actually incorporated into an actual city somewhere in the early 1970s.

The Entergy plant was within Port Arthur’s  ETJ. Port Arthur had the authority to annex Entergy (I think then GSU) at any time just like it could have annexed Bridge City before they allowed them to incorporate as their own city. When cities have commercial businesses within their ETJ, they often sign what is called an in lieu of tax agreement. That is a mutually beneficial agreement not to annex an area. Legally a city cannot tax something that is not within their city jurisdiction. BUT…. when that entity’s fate is within the ETJ of the city, The city holds a trump card because they can simply annex it and get 100% tax evaluation. It benefits the city by not annexing because even though they would get the taxes, they would have to provide city services. It benefits the entity (usually a company/corporation/etc.) because they make a deal for less taxes for a promise not to annex. . An example might be a chemical plant outside of the city. This city has no authority to tax the company for millions of dollars a year but they can annex the chemical plant and then tax. So in lieu of annexation, a city can say, pay us 80-90% what you would owe if we annexed you, and we will promise not to annex you.  In a way it might be almost like legal bribery. Look at Motiva which is in the middle of Port Arthur but it is not part of the city. I believe it is the largest production plant in the United States so you could figure what the taxes would be at 100%.  I have no idea what they would pay but let’s say it would be $10 million a year. They could make a deal to pay Port Arthur  $9 million and save $1 million in taxes.

Why is all of that important? Entergy was in Port Arthur’s ETJ and they got something like nearly $1 million a year in lieu of taxes from them. No big deal and everybody is happy (kinda). Well, up until the mid or late 1990s. There was talk in Bridge City about the Entergy plant and the in lieu of taxes that they pay to Port Arthur. The problem was with the agreement that Port Arthur had with Bridge City. Basically there was a contract that the ETJ belong to Port Arthur and that was that. Some people in Bridge City (I don’t remember if it was business leaders, the city Council, the mayor or whoever) started questioning that agreement and started asking why they had no control over it. I believe the Texas legislature was in a session at that time and there was talk of submitting a bill that would undo Port Arthur ETJ, allow Bridge City to have part of it, take away the ability to annex outside of their county (which would kill Port Arthur‘s leverage for an in lieu of taxes agreement)  or something to that effect. I don’t remember exactly what the plan was but there was an effort or talk to end Port Arthur’s jurisdiction.

Port Arthur ended all of that by moving fairly quickly if I remember correctly, to annexing that area. 

So….. had Bridge City not made overtures on Entergy, that area would still be an unincorporated area that Port Arthur would have discretionary authority over.

[CardinalBacker]

6 minutes ago, tvc184 said:

I am doing this from memory so……..

That is because for much of Bridge City‘s history, it was not a city. Bridge City was just an unincorporated area much like Orangefield today is just an area. There is no city of Orangefield.

In maybe the late 1960s there was talk of Bridge City wanting to become a city. The problem was that the area was in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of Port Arthur. That means that Port Arthur controlled that area and could have annexed what is now Bridge City. 

Port Arthur agreed to allow Bridge City to incorporate. In the signed agreement/contract, Port author would not give up its ETJ. According to the population of the city, they control a certain amount of land that is adjacent to the city limits. Port Arthur did not cede any of that jurisdiction to Bridge City. Bridge City actually incorporated into an actual city somewhere in the early 1970s.

The Entergy plant was within Port Arthur’s  ETJ. Port Arthur had the authority to annex Entergy (I think then GSU) at any time just like it could have annexed Bridge City before they allowed them to incorporate as their own city. When cities have commercial businesses within their ETJ, they often sign what is called an in lieu of tax agreement. That is a mutually beneficial agreement not to annex an area. Legally a city cannot tax something that is not within their city jurisdiction. BUT…. when that entity’s fate is within the ETJ of the city, The city holds a trump card because they can simply annex it and get 100% tax evaluation. It benefits the city by not annexing because even though they would get the taxes, they would have to provide city services. It benefits the entity (usually a company/corporation/etc.) because they make a deal for less taxes for a promise not to annex. . An example might be a chemical plant outside of the city. This city has no authority to tax the company for millions of dollars a year but they can annex the chemical plant and then tax. So in lieu of annexation, a city can say, pay us 80-90% what you would owe if we annexed you, and we will promise not to annex you.  In a way it might be almost like legal bribery. Look at Motiva which is in the middle of Port Arthur but it is not part of the city. I believe it is the largest production plant in the United States so you could figure what the taxes would be at 100%.  I have no idea what they would pay but let’s say it would be $10 million a year. They could make a deal to pay Port Arthur  $9 million and save $1 million in taxes.

Why is all of that important? Entergy was in Port Arthur’s ETJ and they got something like nearly $1 million a year in lieu of taxes from them. No big deal and everybody is happy (kinda). Well, up until the mid or late 1990s. There was talk in Bridge City about the Entergy plant and the in lieu of taxes that they pay to Port Arthur. The problem was with the agreement that Port Arthur had with Bridge City. Basically there was a contract that the ETJ belong to Port Arthur and that was that. Some people in Bridge City (I don’t remember if it was business leaders, the city Council, the mayor or whoever) started questioning that agreement and started asking why they had no control over it. I believe the Texas legislature was in a session at that time and there was talk of submitting a bill that would undo Port Arthur ETJ, allow Bridge City to have part of it, take away the ability to annex outside of their county (which would kill Port Arthur‘s leverage for an in lieu of taxes agreement)  or something to that effect. I don’t remember exactly what the plan was but there was an effort or talk to end Port Arthur’s jurisdiction.

Port Arthur ended all of that by moving fairly quickly if I remember correctly, to annexing that area. 

So….. had Bridge City not made overtures on Entergy, that area would still be an unincorporated area that Port Arthur would have discretionary authority over.

I think that the biggest complaint was that folks who lived between the Neches River and the power plant were annexed at that point.  The end result is that those citizens pay for Port Arthur City services via property taxes, but Port Arthur will not provide anything.  You're basically paying for streets, fire, and police protection despite receiving none of the above.  

[tvc184]

3 minutes ago, CardinalBacker said:

I think that the biggest complaint was that folks who lived between the Neches River and the power plant were annexed at that point.  The end result is that those citizens pay for Port Arthur City services via property taxes, but Port Arthur will not provide anything.  You're basically paying for streets, fire, and police protection despite receiving none of the above.  

Unfortunately they got caught up in the mess created by Bridge City. Their land was between Port Arthur city limits and the Entergy plant.

I have made calls over there in that area when someone called the police so I know they get police service. I’m not sure what else they would be asking for.

[CardinalBacker]

1 minute ago, tvc184 said:

Unfortunately they got caught up in the mess created by Bridge City. Their land was between Port Arthur city limits and the Entergy plant.

I have made calls over there in that area when someone called the police so I know they get police service. I’m not sure what else they would be asking for.

That was the argument... a few years ago a call to Port Arthur PD would get you a "you need to call the Orange County Sheriff's Office" response.  Which is not a problem in and of itself, other than the fact that Port Arthur still has their hand out in regards to taxes.

 

What city services ARE being rendered to people who live that area?

Let's not forget when the City of Port Arthur tried to annex 13 miles out into the Gulf.  

[tvc184]

15 minutes ago, CardinalBacker said:

That was the argument... a few years ago a call to Port Arthur PD would get you a "you need to call the Orange County Sheriff's Office" response.  Which is not a problem in and of itself, other than the fact that Port Arthur still has their hand out in regards to taxes.

 

What city services ARE being rendered to people who live that area?

Let's not forget when the City of Port Arthur tried to annex 13 miles out into the Gulf.  

I have made calls in that area and I have supervised officers who have made calls in that area. I could see a situation where Orange County was requested to respond as a closer unit in a serious situation. PAPD many times has responded to emergency calls outside of the city. That is normal. A few years ago I and other officers responded to a Jefferson County jurisdiction call of two or three people shot on the beach. The First ground units to get there were PA. That is routine for police officers.

Fairly recently like within the last year, I had an officer stop a DWI driver in Orange County but outside of the city of Port Arthur. The police agency that had jurisdiction  over that area refused to help. I had the officer go ahead and make the arrest and transport the driver to the Orange County jail and file charges over there since it was their jurisdiction.

I think PA did annex part of the Gulf of Mexico. Some of that went to appeals court and I can’t remember if it was state court or a federal court.   

[tvc184]

This may or may not be interesting to some people.

I thought about this when talking about incidents in Orange County and Port Arthur. It is about police jurisdiction in Texas.

Neither the Texas Penal Code nor the Code of Criminal Procedures (CCP) (which lists the authority to arrest) distinguishes between on and off duty peace officers. It states in what situations a peace officer has the authority to make an arrest but makes no other distinction. That is why people often say that Texas peace officers are on duty 24 hours a day. The law is not stated in those words but the Texas law does not note any kind of difference. The authority to make an arrest by a Texas peace officer is continuous.

The CCP under authority to arrest without a warrant (Chapter 14) extends to outside the officer’s jurisdiction except class C traffic charges (basic citations like speeding, running stop sign , etc.) which authority is only “if the offense is committed in the county or counties in which the municipality employing the peace officer is located”.

So the CCP gives the authority to arrest as anywhere except for traffic citations which is limited to anywhere in the county that the officer works. Port Arthur has jurisdiction then for traffic citations anywhere in Jefferson or Orange County. If a citation (or arrest) is made in those situations, the officer who is outside of his city has to issue the citation to the proper county precinct. For example a Port Arthur officer can issue a traffic citation in Bridge City but has to issue it in the jurisdiction of the Orange County Justice of the Peace for that precinct. An even further distance example is for instance if a Port Arthur officer was driving through Little Cypress to speak with a witness about something and saw somebody run a stop sign. The officer has the authority to issue a citation to that person or even make an arrest and bring the person to the Orange County jail. 

The CCP also says that if a business serves the public it “may not prohibit or otherwise restrict a peace officer or special investigator from carrying on the establishment's premises a weapon that the peace officer or special investigator is otherwise authorized to carry, regardless of whether the peace officer or special investigator (a special investigator under Texas law is a federal agent such as FBI, DEA, etc.) is engaged in the actual discharge of the officer's or investigator's duties while carrying the weapon”. Note that it is regardless if the officer is engaged to an actual discharge of duty. That is basically saying off duty.

The NFL a few years ago made a rule that firearms were prohibited in their stadiums by anyone except for an on duty police officer. But…. that does not apply in Texas as officers have 24 hour arrest authority anywhere in the state and that specific law that I quoted above which says it is against the law to stop them from entering. So off duty Texas peace officers can watch Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans football games while carrying their off-duty handgun. To my knowledge that is the only NFL stadiums in the country where a police officers can carry their weapons off duty. The stadiums have a special point of entry at one of the entrance gates where on duty officers hired to work the event check the credentials of the off duty officer and note where the officer will be sitting. I have also done that at Minute Maid stadium for MLB. 

So….. in Texas pretty much a cop is a cop no matter when or where. Game wardens, city police, county sheriffs and deputies, constables and deputies, school district police, DA investigator, fire department arson investigators, etc., are all listed as Peace Officers and even though they are hired to do a specific job, they have overall police powers. It is not that way in all states which sometimes distinguish between on and off duty, jurisdiction and what laws they can enforce. In Texas as an example a Texas game warden can make a traffic stop just as if he was a city police officer or a DPS trooper and make an arrest for DWI. City officer can likewise go into an alcohol licensed premises and enforce Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission laws just as if he was state TABC agent. In fact I was inspecting a bar one time and the bartender got in my way and told me to stop. He said that I did not have the authority to make  the inspection since I was not a TABC agent. I explained the law to him and said I was not going to interfere with his business but I was going to make my inspection. Twice more he interfered with my inspection so I arrested him on the spot. TABC suspended the bar’s alcohol license for 14 days (think of the money they lost) and the bartender received 14 days in the county jail for the interference. 

Interesting? Not interesting?

I do not always agree with the laws just as much as anyone else but I think the way that it functions is interesting. 

[CardinalBacker]

6 hours ago, tvc184 said:

This may or may not be interesting to some people.

I thought about this when talking about incidents in Orange County and Port Arthur. It is about police jurisdiction in Texas.

Neither the Texas Penal Code nor the Code of Criminal Procedures (CCP) (which lists the authority to arrest) distinguishes between on and off duty peace officers. It states in what situations a peace officer has the authority to make an arrest but makes no other distinction. That is why people often say that Texas peace officers are on duty 24 hours a day. The law is not stated in those words but the Texas law does not note any kind of difference. The authority to make an arrest by a Texas peace officer is continuous.

The CCP under authority to arrest without a warrant (Chapter 14) extends to outside the officer’s jurisdiction except class C traffic charges (basic citations like speeding, running stop sign , etc.) which authority is only “if the offense is committed in the county or counties in which the municipality employing the peace officer is located”.

So the CCP gives the authority to arrest as anywhere except for traffic citations which is limited to anywhere in the county that the officer works. Port Arthur has jurisdiction then for traffic citations anywhere in Jefferson or Orange County. If a citation (or arrest) is made in those situations, the officer who is outside of his city has to issue the citation to the proper county precinct. For example a Port Arthur officer can issue a traffic citation in Bridge City but has to issue it in the jurisdiction of the Orange County Justice of the Peace for that precinct. An even further distance example is for instance if a Port Arthur officer was driving through Little Cypress to speak with a witness about something and saw somebody run a stop sign. The officer has the authority to issue a citation to that person or even make an arrest and bring the person to the Orange County jail. 

The CCP also says that if a business serves the public it “may not prohibit or otherwise restrict a peace officer or special investigator from carrying on the establishment's premises a weapon that the peace officer or special investigator is otherwise authorized to carry, regardless of whether the peace officer or special investigator (a special investigator under Texas law is a federal agent such as FBI, DEA, etc.) is engaged in the actual discharge of the officer's or investigator's duties while carrying the weapon”. Note that it is regardless if the officer is engaged to an actual discharge of duty. That is basically saying off duty.

The NFL a few years ago made a rule that firearms were prohibited in their stadiums by anyone except for an on duty police officer. But…. that does not apply in Texas as officers have 24 hour arrest authority anywhere in the state and that specific law that I quoted above which says it is against the law to stop them from entering. So off duty Texas peace officers can watch Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans football games while carrying their off-duty handgun. To my knowledge that is the only NFL stadiums in the country where a police officers can carry their weapons off duty. The stadiums have a special point of entry at one of the entrance gates where on duty officers hired to work the event check the credentials of the off duty officer and note where the officer will be sitting. I have also done that at Minute Maid stadium for MLB. 

So….. in Texas pretty much a cop is a cop no matter when or where. Game wardens, city police, county sheriffs and deputies, constables and deputies, school district police, DA investigator, fire department arson investigators, etc., are all listed as Peace Officers and even though they are hired to do a specific job, they have overall police powers. It is not that way in all states which sometimes distinguish between on and off duty, jurisdiction and what laws they can enforce. In Texas as an example a Texas game warden can make a traffic stop just as if he was a city police officer or a DPS trooper and make an arrest for DWI. City officer can likewise go into an alcohol licensed premises and enforce Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission laws just as if he was state TABC agent. In fact I was inspecting a bar one time and the bartender got in my way and told me to stop. He said that I did not have the authority to make  the inspection since I was not a TABC agent. I explained the law to him and said I was not going to interfere with his business but I was going to make my inspection. Twice more he interfered with my inspection so I arrested him on the spot. TABC suspended the bar’s alcohol license for 14 days (think of the money they lost) and the bartender received 14 days in the county jail for the interference. 

Interesting? Not interesting?

I do not always agree with the laws just as much as anyone else but I think the way that it functions is interesting. 

Until you're trying to have somebody served and it's not in that constable's precinct, lol. 

[thetragichippy]

6 hours ago, tvc184 said:

This may or may not be interesting to some people.

I thought about this when talking about incidents in Orange County and Port Arthur. It is about police jurisdiction in Texas.

Neither the Texas Penal Code nor the Code of Criminal Procedures (CCP) (which lists the authority to arrest) distinguishes between on and off duty peace officers. It states in what situations a peace officer has the authority to make an arrest but makes no other distinction. That is why people often say that Texas peace officers are on duty 24 hours a day. The law is not stated in those words but the Texas law does not note any kind of difference. The authority to make an arrest by a Texas peace officer is continuous.

The CCP under authority to arrest without a warrant (Chapter 14) extends to outside the officer’s jurisdiction except class C traffic charges (basic citations like speeding, running stop sign , etc.) which authority is only “if the offense is committed in the county or counties in which the municipality employing the peace officer is located”.

So the CCP gives the authority to arrest as anywhere except for traffic citations which is limited to anywhere in the county that the officer works. Port Arthur has jurisdiction then for traffic citations anywhere in Jefferson or Orange County. If a citation (or arrest) is made in those situations, the officer who is outside of his city has to issue the citation to the proper county precinct. For example a Port Arthur officer can issue a traffic citation in Bridge City but has to issue it in the jurisdiction of the Orange County Justice of the Peace for that precinct. An even further distance example is for instance if a Port Arthur officer was driving through Little Cypress to speak with a witness about something and saw somebody run a stop sign. The officer has the authority to issue a citation to that person or even make an arrest and bring the person to the Orange County jail. 

The CCP also says that if a business serves the public it “may not prohibit or otherwise restrict a peace officer or special investigator from carrying on the establishment's premises a weapon that the peace officer or special investigator is otherwise authorized to carry, regardless of whether the peace officer or special investigator (a special investigator under Texas law is a federal agent such as FBI, DEA, etc.) is engaged in the actual discharge of the officer's or investigator's duties while carrying the weapon”. Note that it is regardless if the officer is engaged to an actual discharge of duty. That is basically saying off duty.

The NFL a few years ago made a rule that firearms were prohibited in their stadiums by anyone except for an on duty police officer. But…. that does not apply in Texas as officers have 24 hour arrest authority anywhere in the state and that specific law that I quoted above which says it is against the law to stop them from entering. So off duty Texas peace officers can watch Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans football games while carrying their off-duty handgun. To my knowledge that is the only NFL stadiums in the country where a police officers can carry their weapons off duty. The stadiums have a special point of entry at one of the entrance gates where on duty officers hired to work the event check the credentials of the off duty officer and note where the officer will be sitting. I have also done that at Minute Maid stadium for MLB. 

So….. in Texas pretty much a cop is a cop no matter when or where. Game wardens, city police, county sheriffs and deputies, constables and deputies, school district police, DA investigator, fire department arson investigators, etc., are all listed as Peace Officers and even though they are hired to do a specific job, they have overall police powers. It is not that way in all states which sometimes distinguish between on and off duty, jurisdiction and what laws they can enforce. In Texas as an example a Texas game warden can make a traffic stop just as if he was a city police officer or a DPS trooper and make an arrest for DWI. City officer can likewise go into an alcohol licensed premises and enforce Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission laws just as if he was state TABC agent. In fact I was inspecting a bar one time and the bartender got in my way and told me to stop. He said that I did not have the authority to make  the inspection since I was not a TABC agent. I explained the law to him and said I was not going to interfere with his business but I was going to make my inspection. Twice more he interfered with my inspection so I arrested him on the spot. TABC suspended the bar’s alcohol license for 14 days (think of the money they lost) and the bartender received 14 days in the county jail for the interference. 

Interesting? Not interesting?

I do not always agree with the laws just as much as anyone else but I think the way that it functions is interesting. 

 I have heard game wardens have a ridiculous amount of power, but didn't know about the rest of it.  14 days seems like a long time for the bartender giving some lip service LOL.

[tvc184]

13 minutes ago, CardinalBacker said:

Until you're trying to have somebody served and it's not in that constable's precinct, lol. 

That is civil law, not criminal law that has nothing to do with the powers of arrest.

[tvc184]

30 minutes ago, thetragichippy said:

 I have heard game wardens have a ridiculous amount of power, but didn't know about the rest of it.  14 days seems like a long time for the bartender giving some lip service LOL.

Game wardens basically have no more authority than any other police officer. They have maybe what some people would consider a detention without reasonable suspicion in that the law says if they see you fishing, they can check your fishing license and your catch.  If they see you hunting, they can check your hunting license and what you killed. To that extent they can check your stringer, your ice chest, etc. Maybe some people think that is extraordinary powers.

Generally speaking the courts allow this as a highly regulated outdoor activity and not merely going about your business. We often hear that the Game wardens can go into your home and search without a warrant and other such nonsense. In fact the Parks and Wildlife Code specifically states that they do not have such an authority.

Here are a couple of pretty important definitions in the authority to search. They are residence and temporary residence.

 Sec. 12.102. INSPECTION OF WILDLIFE RESOURCES. (a) In this section:

(1) "Residence" means a person's principal or ordinary home or dwelling place.(2) "Temporary residence" means a place where a person temporarily dwells or seeks shelter. The term does not include a hunting blind. The term does include a:  
(A) hunting club or lodge;  
(B) clubhouse;  
(C) cabin;  
(D) tent. 
(E) manufactured home used as a hunting club or lodge; and  
(F) hotel room, motel room, or room in a boardinghouse used during a hunting trip.

These definitions are important in a following subsection that shows the prohibition in reference to these locations and particularly note temporary residence.

(d) Nothing in this section authorizes a game warden or other peace officer commissioned by the department to conduct a search otherwise authorized by this section:

(1) in a person's residence or temporary residence; or  
(2) on a publicly maintained road or way that is. 
(A) improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic;  
(B) open to the public; and  
(C) distinguishable from a shoulder, berm, or other area not intended for vehicular traffic.

Note that they cannot go into a temporary residence to search and that it would includes as specifically listed, a tent. You’ll hear people say that they can go into your Home without a warrant yet here is there a code saying they cannot even go into your tent, hotel room,  cabin or anywhere else you used to stay while you were on a hunting trip.

I have seen on hunting forums going back many years people saying, the police should  just bring a game warden with them because they can do anything. The premise is that if we think there are drugs in a house, simply bring a game warden and we could go in without a warrant. That is pretty laughable.

As far as the 14 days, he was doing more than just mouthing off. He was getting in my way by reaching across from n front of my chest with his arm and kind of pushing me back out of the way so I could not make an inspection. He always did it under the guise of trying to hand somebody a mixed drink or a beer. I even told him that if you need a hand this person that is 3 feet to my left a beer, go around me and hand it to him.

He made a point of being on the wrong side and having to push me out of the way to make a sale. I gave him warnings that he could not do that and he continued. I even brought him over and showed him his alcohol license which he claimed forbid me from searching but I pointed out the text that said any peace officer can make an inspection.

Although we all know that ignorance of the law is not an excuse, I used what is called confirmation. Although I could have simply made a criminal charge the first time he interfered with me, I wanted to give him a chance to correct his actions and also to explain the law to him and in the case of the alcohol license, actually showed him the wording. Doing so two or three times was not good enough for him and he kept telling me that I was wrong and I had no authority. THAT it would cost his bar 14 days of profits and him time in the county jail.