Michael R. Massey
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THE CASE OF MICHAEL RAYMOND MASSEY Michael Raymond Massey was a political appointee with the Shoreacres (TX) Police Department during the year 2013. Massey was terminated from employment at this public agency. Massey was a former Peace Officer accused of misconduct and he is a friend of Devon Diane Anderson. Because of this friendship Massey was treated with favoritism and he was not held accountable like a common person. Impersonating a Peace Officer On September 9, 2013 Michael Raymond Massey accepted the political appointment of Police Chief for the City of Shoreacres Texas1; a position that required him to be a commissioned Texas peace officer.2 Massey performed the duties of Police Chief for 94-days and in that time he received $17,766.80 of public money.3 During this appointment it was discovered that Massey was not a commissioned peace officer, nor was he was qualified to be commissioned. Massey had been impersonating a peace officer. A criminal complaint against Massey was filed with the Harris County (TX) District Attorney’s Office, which at the time was headed by interim District Attorney Devon Diane Anderson. In the face of this criminal complaint Massey immediately resigned his position.4 Several weeks later Anderson announced that Massey had not violated the law based on the supposed findings of the Texas Department of Public Safety-Texas Ranger Division. The Mayor pro tem for Shoreacres reported the findings as follows5: “A brief overview of the investigation is as follows: The Harris County District Attorney’s Office received a complaint requesting an investigation of Chief Massey. The DA’s office acted upon the complaint received and referred this case to the Texas Rangers for investigation. The case was assigned to Ranger Joe Haralson, a 30 plus year veteran of the Texas Rangers. The complaints were investigated thoroughly by numerous investigators and agencies. Ranger Haralson concluded the investigation and reported his findings to the DA’s office.” “A paraphrasing of Ranger Haralson’s findings is that ‘Chief Massey acted fully within the scope of his authority. Mr. Stall6 has a twelve month period to submit any documentation to TCOLE.7 All actions were performed in good faith and there is no evidence of any criminal offense having been committed by Chief Massey. The investigation is closed’.” ___________________ 1 Source: Shoreacres Texas employment records on Michael Raymond Massey for position of Police Chief that were executed on September 9, 2013. [ref: 130909-1.pdf] 2 Source: Notice of special meeting of the City Council for Shoreacres Texas concerning the appointment of a temporary acting Police Chief posted on August 19, 2013. The agenda item was titled Resolution No. 2013-119. [ref: 130819-1.pdf] 3 Source: Shoreacres Texas expenditure records on public money paid to Michael Raymond Massey for the period of September 25, 2013 through December 19, 2013. [ref: 140108-2.pdf] 4 Source: Letter from Michael Raymond Massey dated December 11, 2013 where he resigned his position as Police Chief with Shoreacres Texas. [ref: 131211-1.pdf] 5 Source: Minutes of regular session of the City Council for Shoreacres Texas convened on March 10, 2014. [ref: 140310-1.pdf] 6-7 Footnotes on Page 2. Devon123.org | Edition Date: 30 October 2014 | Page 1 of 6 THE CASE OF MICHAEL RAYMOND MASSEY This succinct report by the Mayor pro tem seemed to have removed all doubt that Massey was innocent of any criminal conduct, especially since the credibility of the investigative findings were irrefutable because the investigation had been conducted by the longest serving Texas Ranger in the State’s history -- Ranger Joe Haralson. The Texas Rangers are an elite group and renowned law enforcement figures. With this prestige comes the persona that Texas Rangers are unimpeachable; that Texas Rangers have upmost competency and integrity. The first red flag was that Anderson referred the criminal investigation on Massey to an outside law enforcement agency instead of using District Attorney police investigators to conduct this simple investigation. The second red flag was that the findings of the investigation on Massey seemed to be based entirely on the fact that Ranger Haralson had been a Texas Ranger for more than 30-years, ergo his findings were accurate. The third red flag was that “numerous investigators and agencies” were involved in the so-called investigation.8 The investigation into whether Massey impersonated a peace officer was a very simple matter that could have been concluded by a first-year high school law enforcement cadet explorer. The investigation of the criminal complaint against Massey did not require tasking numerous investigators, numerous agencies, and a distinguished Texas Ranger. The Anderson administration had done this simply to conceal the truth from the public, which was that Anderson and Massey were close friends and that she was protecting him. The Anderson administration inaccurately stated the law and it deceitfully suggested that Massey was eligible to be commissioned as a peace officer during the months of September 2013 through December 2013. This self-serving report of exoneration further conflicted with findings reported in the minutes of a Shoreacres City Council meeting held on January 13, 2014. At this earlier council meeting city officials admitted fault, but claimed that the failure to report Massey’s appointment as police chief was a harmless violation of an “administrative rule”.9 In January 2014 city officials with Shoreacres Texas claimed they had a “reasonable time, usually 30 days” to report a peace officer appointment to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement; however, in March 2014 the same city officials reported that they had a “twelve month period” to report a peace officer appointment. It seems logical that a person cannot act as a peace officer without having a current and valid license to do so. This is not only good sense, but it is the law. Section 1701.301 of the Texas Occupations Code reads in verbatim: “[A] person may not appoint a person to serve as an officer, county jailer, or public security officer unless the person appointed holds an appropriate license issued by the commission.” The term “commission” in this statute refers to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, ___________________ 6 David K. Stall, City Administrator and City Secretary for Shoreacres Texas. 7 The acronym “TCOLE” refers to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which is the licensing agency for the Texas peace officers. 8 See, Footnote No. 5 (Page 1). 9 Source: Minutes of regular session of the City Council for Shoreacres Texas convened on January 13, 2014. [ref: 140113-1.pdf] Devon123.org | Edition Date: 30 October 2014 | Page 2 of 6 THE CASE OF MICHAEL RAYMOND MASSEY which was the licensing agency for peace officers at the time of Massey’s appointment. It was true that Massey had a Peace Officer license at the time he was appointed, but what he did not have was a commission.10 The terms “license” and “commission” are not synonymous for peace officers under Texas law. Every peace officer in Texas must be duly licensed before a government entity may commission the peace officer. Section 1701.303(b) of the Texas Occupations Code mandates that a government entity must report the appointment of a licensed peace officer “not later than the 30th day after the date of appointment”. The term “appointment” means “commission” for purposes of Texas peace officer licensing and the appointment must be reported to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. This 30-day mandate is further echoed on the official website for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement which reads in verbatim: “An individual who is appointed or elected to the position of the chief administrator of a law enforcement agency shall notify the Commission of the date of appointment and title, through a form prescribed by the Commission within 30 days of such appointment.”11 In addition to having a valid Peace Officer license, the government entity must satisfy a laundry list of statutory conditions before a person can be appointed as a peace officer. The operative word that predicates an appointment is “before”, which unambiguously means that conditions must be satisfied before an appointment. In Massey’s case, Rule 217.7 of Title 37 Chapter 217 of the Texas Administrative Code mandated that city officials with Shoreacres Texas satisfy the following conditions before appointing Massey as police chief: (1) City officials were required to submit a request to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement for a report on Massey’s prior employment terminations from other law enforcement agencies;12 (2) City officials were required to submit certification to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement that a thorough criminal, employment, and educational background investigation on Massey was conducted;13 (3) City officials were required to conduct a current criminal history check of Massey “by name, sex, race, and date of birth” from both the Texas Crime Information Center (TCIC) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC);14 (4) City officials were required to receive and keep on file a current declaration from a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist that Massey was of 15 sound psychological and emotional health; ___________________ 10 Source: Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) service records on Michael Raymond Massey produced by the Commission on June 20, 2014. [ref: 140620-1] 11 See, Texas Administrative Code, Title 37, Rule 211.29(b).