POLICE Department

Officers in Action

Officers C. Kunkel, K. Bowen, D. Foy, and D. Dedo

Officers C. Kunkel, K. Bowen, D. Foy, and D. Dedo are assigned to the Northeast Patrol Intelligence Team (PIT). PIT is a small, uniformed squad assigned to evening shift patrol. Their objective is to gather intelligence on criminal activities occurring in northeast Houston with an emphasis on gangs and organized criminal operations.

Recently the PIT squad identified intelligence through networking, follow-up investigations, community interaction, and proactive enforcement activities that suggested a well known violent gang from areas of northeast Houston were continuously engaging in violent criminal activity that was affecting the quality of life for those in their own community, as well as random victims across the city. During that time, PIT learned of possible involvement by this gang in murder, bank robberies and business robberies.

This summer, members of this gang were involved in a shoot-out in broad daylight on one of the main thoroughfares in the patrol district. The flagrant disregard for public safety displayed in the shoot-out, compelled the squad to take a proactive approach to disrupting the gang’s activities.

The squad identified over one hundred cases in which members or associates of this gang were identified by name as suspects. The officers put in long hours of reading and research to identify the current contact information for crime victims connected to the identified reports. All of the victims were contacted and provided the opportunity to pursue the investigations they had reported.

This resulted in the acceptance of felony charges accepted against several of the gang members. The charges included Aggravated Assault by Firearms, Burglary of a Habitation with Intent to Commit Assault and Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity. Some charges were filed against gang members already in custody and some resulted in arrest warrants being issued. Several of those against whom charges were accepted, were already on bond for various offenses, including murder.

Additionally, two separate events occurred relevant to this investigation; first, three members of the gang robbed a bank in northern Harris County, during which; a uniformed sheriff’s deputy was shot. Two of the members, unidentified at the time, escaped, and the third was shot by the deputy.

Thanks to intelligence researched and documented by these officers, they were able to identify and arrest one of the bank robbery suspects. A subsequent confession by this man led to charges being filed and he has since confessed to, or provided information on, multiple additional bank robberies attributed to the gang.

This group of officers assigned to PIT, in a very short amount of time, obtained charges against, and arrested several gang members, filed numerous felony and misdemeanor charges, obtained numerous felony arrest warrants, obtained and executed one search warrant, served one felony arrest warrant obtained by IFR, and seized marijuana belonging to the gang.

More impressive and deserving of recognition, than the statistical accomplishments, is the fact that each accomplishment directly disrupted the activities of this gang.

HPD would like to commend these officers for their outstanding efforts and results in an effort to combat one of the most active and violent gangs in northeast Houston. One or more of the accomplishments associated with this investigation would, in and of itself, deserve commending, but the combination of all of the accomplishments achieved by these officers deserves special recognition.