Houston mayor takes on role of traffic cop

A few weeks ago a man came into the office a little hot under the collar. While driving in the Houston area, he said he was pulled over by Houston Mayor Roger Purcell. Flashing lights and all on his BMW.

Purcell then called a Houston cop and the man was issued a ticket that Purcell and Officer Seidl signed.

Needless to say, the man is fighting the ticket issued for passing in a no-pasing zone. He said he’d been away for awhile and while he was gone the new no-passing striping had been applied. And, he said, the lines were covered in snow, so he couldn’t see them anyway.

Those concerns might not be enough to avoid the ticket’s $160 fine and loss of two points off his license. But he thinks there’s a bigger picture here.

He said if he’d known it was the Houston mayor who turned the lights on him, he would never have pulled over. And he would be right. Imposters have used similar tactics to pull over and rape women or rob drivers.

He contacted the state agency that handles law enforcement issues and found out Purcell is not a licensed law enforcement officer.

Purcell, as mayor, oversees his one-man force. And has in the past been a law enforcement officer.

Being mayor of Houston, however, doesn’t seem to be enough authority to hand out tickets to drivers.

The ticketed individual has a court date next month, and then a judge will likely decide what to do about a mayor driving around with emergency lights normally reserved for use by legitimate officers.

Houston, at one time not long ago, didn’t have a police force. Then two officers came on line and one of them quit after only a short time. The mayor has said there’s just not enough money to pay officers when competing with Palmer, Wasilla and Anchorage.

If this was just a one time incident, maybe Purcells could be forgiven. But it isn’t. Others have complained about the mayor stopping them and handing out a ticket, or being told to wait while the real cop shows up.

For argument’s sake, try to imagine the reaction of a state trooper if you turned on emergency lights in the grill of your sedan and started pulling people over on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. It wouldn’t be pretty.

Until a judge rules on this, the mayor needs to take the one bullet out of his shirt pocket and let his police force do its job.