Houston, Texas - Officer Accused Of Bribery Released On Bond
From click2houston.com
01/22/07
A veteran Houston police officer charged with taking a bribe during a traffic stop was released on bond after a court appearance on Monday, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Alfred Alaniz, 53, was arrested Friday and charged with felony bribery After, police said, he accepted a cash bribe during a traffic stop from an undercover officer. A complaint against Alaniz led the department to organize the internal sting, Assistant Chief Michael Dirden said.
"We do this to test the integrity of officers," Houston police spokesman John Cannon said. "It's just a matter of whether they take the bait."
According to affidavits the prosecutor read in court, the undercover officer told Alaniz that he did not want to go to jail. "How are we going to deal with this?" Alaniz said, according to the affidavit. The affidavit said the undercover officer asked if $200 would be enough. Alaniz told him to leave the money in the back seat, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors said Alaniz kept the money and turned the undercover officer free without writing him a ticket. Houston police arrested Alaniz about an hour later. They did not recover the bribery money, officials said.
"Certainly, we would have preferred for the money to have been recovered. But, I don't know that it's going to be a problem. He was with an undercover officer. He accepted money from him in exchange for not giving him a ticket or not taking him to jail. And that's the case regardless of whether the money was recovered," Assistant District Attorney Traci Bennett said.
Alaniz, a 20-year veteran of the department, also has a discipline record that is among the longest of all officers in the city, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
Alaniz was released on $10,000 bail and could not be reached for comment. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His next court date is Feb. 6.
Alaniz made $116,000 in overtime last year and another $88,000 in 2005, according to records the Houston Chronicle obtained under the Texas Information Act. He likely made much of the extra pay working nights and perhaps appearing in court during the day.
By comparison, Houston Mayor Bill White's salary in 2005 was $177,000. There were no allegations that Alaniz's overtime was related to Friday's arrest.
The department's internal affairs division has sustained 21 complaints against Alaniz since he started his career in 1986. Among the complaints are criminal activity, misconduct and loss of city property. Punishments Alaniz might have faced because of the investigations weren't immediately available.
An analysis by the newspaper found that Alaniz was among at least four Houston police officers who were paid more than $100,000 in overtime last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Retrieved January 22, 2007 from http://www.click2houston.com/news/10811746/detail.html