Illegal removal?

[ashleyb]

Hey guys,

I need some advice about how to deal with the Houston PD. Last week I was taken to the emergency room because of an interaction between alcohol and a prescription medication - my roommate called 911 after she couldn't wake me up. I stayed at the hospital overnight because of my physical condition but was never admitted to any sort of psychiatric facility. When the police came with EMS they removed two handguns and a shotgun from my apartment, which I'm guessing is standard procedure when responding to such calls. According to my roommate, each firearm was taken by a different cop. She showed a paramedic both my DL and CHL but no information was taken down until everyone else was gone. She didn't receive a report of any kind and I wasn't given a case number or other any paperwork.

I had no idea who to call about getting my firearms back so I called HPD administration. I had to explain the situation to three different people and was eventually transferred to Homicide. Here's the thing...the woman I spoke with couldn't find any information about the situation until she searched for the address they came to and the date/approximate time of the call -- she couldn't even locate the report when she searched for my name. She gave me the report number and told me that it would probably be "a long time" before I get them back and that I need to bring a note from my doctor saying he's "okay with me having guns."

This all seems a bit weird and kind of illegal...what do you guys think about all this? Any advice?

[AEA]

I tend to agree......
Why are they searching the house without a warrant and removing guns?
It was not a crime to get sick. It was a medical emergency, not a crime scene.

Thank's to God I don't live in Houston!

[Mr.ViperBoa]

Since you were not involved in any crime and 911 was called do to a drug reaction, I dont see why they would even touch your firearms. Sounds kind of fishy to me. Might want to get an attorney involved. JMO.

[JoeS3]

Since you were not involved in any crime and 911 was called do to a drug reaction, I dont see why they would even touch your firearms. Sounds kind of fishy to me. Might want to get an attorney involved. JMO.

Honest police leave a receipt for private property taken. Report the guns stolen to DPS or ATF.

[KRM45]

This is pretty common practice for any suicide attempt. The way you describe the incident, it would have been treated as such.

You may want to consult an attorney to assist in retrieving your property, or alternatively, having a family member retrieve it on you behalf. You will also need to see if any action has been taken against your CHL with DPS.

[E.Marquez]

Since you were not involved in any crime and 911 was called do to a drug reaction, I dont see why they would even touch your firearms. Sounds kind of fishy to me. Might want to get an attorney involved. JMO.

Honest police leave a receipt for private property taken. Report the guns stolen to DPS or ATF.

This, would be my next step after an honest attempt at contacting the department that removed them without permission.

If they mistakenly took them out of some misguided desire to "protect you" Then I would say Id be OK with termination and not press for criminal charges. If you were admitted or processed on a Sych hold, that may change stuff. Stop, do not pass go do not listen to us (the non criminal law attorneys ) find a lawyer and ask his(her) a professional, legal opinion

[AEA]

if you are going to report it to higher legal authority, do not report to DPS or ATF.

Report it to your local Sheriff, he is the highest level Law Enforcement Officer of your County.

But really if you cannot get anything more from the HPD, it would be best to get a Lawyer.

[tanker1983]

WOW. Just AMAZING.

I truly hope they just didn't see an opportunity to snag a couple new toys.....

[Doug.38PR]

Stuff like this is exactly why I no longer live in Houston (or any big city). I live in northeast louisiana now. Last year I lost my Remington 870 Police magnum. I carry it in the car when out in the field. I went out one day (with other things in my hands along with the gun), and by the end of hte day, my gun was missing. I called the sheriff. They sent a deputy out. I gave him a copy of the gun reciept from my file with the serial number and store I bought it from (he thanked me and said "this helps a lot, a lot of people don't have this"). Two days later, I got a call from the sheriff's department telling me my neighbor had found my gun out on the gravel road about a half mile from my house (apparently I had left it on the bumper accidentally) and turned it into the sheriff's dept. They told me to come on down and get it whenever I was ready. I drove into town, parked out front, walked in, a lady at a desk walked me to the back, showed me my gun leaning against the wall next to somebody's desk with the action open and the shells in a paper bag. She showed me out and I thanked them for their help (and then went by and thanked my neighbor).


BUT, this Sir (ashley b.) REALLY ticks me off. Everything about Houston is convoluted, crazy, liberal, politically correct, imperonal, bureaucratic, unneighborly and a pain in the neck. I'm sorry this happened to you ashleyb.

[G.A. Heath]

First off, I would contact HPD one last time to request the status of the firearms and to get a receipt for them being taken. The results there would determine my next actions. If they acknowledge that they have all three and issue a receipt for all three I would then ask what their procedure is for returning the firearms and go that route. I would also get a copy of any police reports from HPD regarding the incident and look them over to see if the firearms were mentioned in them (They should be, and all officers involved can be determined from the reports). Otherwise I would contact the sheriff's office and report them stolen as mentioned above, I would also get a copy of the that report. If the S.O. doesn't doesn't seem to cooperate with you I would then contact the DPS and request they look into the issue, and give them copies of all reports.

[tanker1983]

[KaiserB]

This is pretty common practice for any suicide attempt. The way you describe the incident, it would have been treated as such.

You may want to consult an attorney to assist in retrieving your property, or alternatively, having a family member retrieve it on you behalf. You will also need to see if any action has been taken against your CHL with DPS.

I would tend to agree with this. Remember it is the officer's perception of what is happening on scene, not what was told to 911 that dictates the actions. If the officer suspected suicide attempt by Drug OD there should be a police report and property receipt somewhere. Most likely that would NOT have given it to your roommate as I assume he is not a relative of yours.

[cubbyjg]

The fact that no paper work or documentation was left by the officers seems very odd. I cant believe they didnt even explain to her why they are removing them. This all seems way too shady. I hope you get them back in a reasonable amount of time or you find a lawyer who can determine if what they did or how they did it was illegal and get some justice. Maybe the officers were following protocol, but come on, at least do it properly and document it!

im sure this is going to sound dumb, but were the firearms kept out in the open or did they have to search for them?

[tanker1983]

im sure this is going to sound dumb, but were the firearms kept out in the open or did they have to search for them?

GREAT question!!!

[Tamie]

Very good question. How did they know there were guns and where they were? How did they know they weren't your roommates guns? Maybe it's time to have a talk with her. A safe or locking cabinet bolted to the floor wouldn't be a bad idea either.