TexasCHLforum.com

puma guy wrote:The all dark uniform and shoulder patch resemble the ones for my fair city PD. I hope not. The Click2 Houston story stated the videographers were released with a warning for criminal trespassing. Experts needed. I thought a warning had to be issued and ignored before CT and the property owner, not a security guard, had to issue the warning??? I can't really make a precise judgment they were trying to provoke since he never got to state why they were video taping, but it was still pretty dumb. Way too much free time on their hands!

Actually in Texas Security Officers by definition are agents of the "Owner" and as such have full powers to require people to leave a property. As far as "trespass warnings" it is just evidence that can be used if at some later point someone attempts to prosecute an individual for criminal trespass. You are not entitled to a warning nor do you have to give a warning before you may be arrested. You must be given notice that you either can't enter a property or that you need to leave but that can be done in written or verbal form and a person can be arrested on the spot if they do not comply with the notice. Any security or employee at any level can issue said notice and it would be totally valid by Texas law. Now certain prosecutors may have certain standards that they require from the police before they will prosecute for criminal trespass but that is a different issue. There is also the fact that Police officers, even if they are acting as "security" can only enforce laws and not policies. Big lawsuit many years back where a cop working extra for an apartment complex and made a kid get out of a closed pool and go to the apt he lived in cost the apt over a million dollars because there isn't anything inherently unlawful about being in a pool. Now a security officer could remove someone from a pool and if they called the police then a cop can take action but not on their own.