HOUSTON -- A recent change in a City of Houston policy could turn into a legal battle, according to the Houston Police Officers' Union.
On Friday, City Attorney David Feldman issued a directive telling Houston Police Department officers -- appearing in jury trials at Municipal Courts -- to not appear in court until 1 p.m., instead of 8 a.m. or 10:30 a.m., to help save the department as much as $4 million in overtime.
The change, attorneys said, meant some defendants had to wait four or five hours to contest a traffic ticket.
Our officers are going to abide by the instrument of the court and not a heresay circular that came through the police department, said Gary Blankinship, HPOU president.
11 News legal expert Gerald Treece said officers were required to appear in court at the time on the subpoena -- not the time the City Attorney asks -- even if officers incur overtime.
We're not going to subject our officers to contempt of court, Blankinship said. If the city says, 'we're not going to pay the officers,' we'll see them in court.
Sources inside the police department told 11 News that officers had started to write fewer tickets.
Wednesday at City Hall, Mayor Annise Parker said she was appalled at the notion officers would write fewer tickets.
It's not a change that we're going to reverse, she said. Trials don't start until 1 p..m. in the afternoon. Why do I want my police officers [at Municipal Courts] for hours when they could be out writing more tickets?
Parker called the public outcry over the change in policy a manufactured issue and pledged to address the concerns of long wait times at the courthouse.
