Bradford makes his announcement

I had the opportunity to attend C.O. Bradford's announcement event for his campaign to be Harris County District Attorney last night. I've said before you can't know how a person will perform as a candidate until you see that person be a candidate. Having now done so for Bradford, I can say my first impression was a positive one. He's a good speaker, which ought to be an asset for him, and the crowd responded well to what he said. I also thought what he said was very good. I've got a copy of his prepared remarks beneath the fold, which I recommend you read. I'd like to highlight one piece of it:

The jurisprudence process is one that involves human beings and science; neither is perfect. Therefore, we try hard to make things go right. But when things go wrong, and we discover that mistakes have been made, the District Attorney must lead the way to ensure that justice is served and prevent irreparable harm, when possible. And this may include a decision to step back and have an independent examination of the evidence.

Serious questions have been raised regarding the Crime Lab and the District Attorney's office handling of evidence in some cases. Because of the breach of evidentiary integrity, the District Attorney must support and permit outside and independent reviews.

We must have a Crime Lab that is truly independent. We must have a Crime Lab that is independent of the police department, and that is independent of the District Attorney's Office. We must have a Crime Lab where professional scientists are allowed to do their jobs and the evidence speaks for itself.

Evidence doesn't belong to the police, evidence doesn't belong to the defense, evidence doesn't belong to the District Attorney. Evidence belongs to no one, but means everything to everyone, and so it must be cared for by everyone. And without the proper examination and presentation of evidence, a system of keeping track of how many cases are won and pled takes the place of the TRUTH.

You may recall that I suggested Bradford echo Michael Bromwich's call for a special master in the matter of the ongoing HPD Crime Lab investigation. While he didn't say that explicitly, I think it's pretty clear that's the direction he's going. I figure we'll hear a lot more about this as we proceed. This is going to be a heck of a campaign. Read what Bradford had to say last night, and then buckle up for the ride. Isiah Carey has more, with pictures.

Thank you for joining me today, as I announce my candidacy to be the next District Attorney of Harris County, Texas. Looking across this crowd, I understand that you long, as I do, for a positive change in Harris County, a change that will bring back Integrity, Strength, and Fairness to the District Attorney's Office.

Now, I know that this campaign won't be easy. This race will generate some fireworks along the way. But I've been on hostile grounds before. And I know that this is a major task.

However, before I undertake any major task, I do two things: I consult with my wife, Dee, and I pray and seek guidance from God.

And I am happy to report to you that Dee is fully supportive and excited about winning this race! And God takes care of his children; he makes no mistakes. He will not lead me into anything that he will not see me through!

Just as he led me here to Houston almost 30 years ago from a small Louisiana town, where on a small farm, I grew up with six boys and six girls in my family. That's right, there were twelve Bradford children under one roof. And as you can imagine, one of the first lessons that I learned was to share. From sharing the bed with two younger brothers to the chores and hard labor on my father's farm, I learned all about sharing. But I learned a lot more. It was on that small farm in Louisiana nestled on the border with the state of Mississippi that I learned the largest lessons in life, from a farmer who had only a grade school education, my father. He taught me to live my life with integrity, strength, and fairness. And I have.

I have dedicated my life and career to those three words, Integrity, Strength, and Fairness. For 24 years I lived those words while wearing the uniform of a Houston Police Officer and as Chief of Police. In my 24 years as an officer including 7 years as Chief, I have seen first hand how the citizens of this county depend upon the brave men and women in police uniforms to protect their communities.

While protecting this community from destructive criminals has been my life's work, so has leading the community to believe that it need not fear crime, as long as there is a strong, but fair justice system. I did it by building bridges between the police department and the community, making sure that the police assist the people of Houston in bringing those who commit crimes to justice, while also providing the tools for those communities to prevent crimes.

It was not an easy task, but as a result, during my tenure as Police Chief, the citizens' fear of crime and public safety concerns went from a high of 59% in 1996, constantly downward, to only 10% in 2003 when I left office. But, that bridge while strong between the citizens and the police, ended up being a bridge to nowhere. Without a District Attorney willing to understand and meet Harris County's needs, justice has become just another casualty of the battle against crime.

Harris County needs a District Attorney who can build a bridge where Integrity, Strength, and Fairness are the struts, ties, and beams supporting the needs of its citizens. It needs a District Attorney who understands that the office he holds serves the people not his own political survival. It needs a District Attorney who appreciates the changing and diverse ideas of today's Harris County, not someone clinging to antiquated notions and practices. Harris County needs a District Attorney who understands that Public Safety is a community responsibility not someone who doles out justice at his sole discretion. And I am the person to bring about that change.

Eighteen years ago I made a change. When working full-time as a young police officer, I decided to go to law school at the University of Houston. And my skills as an attorney and police officer will help insure that Harris County aggressively prosecutes violent criminals and repeat offenders. However, arrest, prosecution, and confinement are not enough!

In recent years, we have seen more and more citizens distrust components of our justice system. And now, we have a crime problem in Harris County. It is a problem we have seen tragically come to light in other places around our nation; in the barrios of Los Angeles, in the projects in inner-city Chicago, on the playgrounds of Newark, and in the suburbs of Houston, crime is on the rise, and Harris County needs not to be another tragic news story or faceless statistic. Harris County needs a new face, but not just mine, it needs the faces of all its citizens.

Public safety is a community responsibility, and citizens should be involved in all aspects of government. In addition to competent prosecution of criminal cases, I will have Harris County's prosecutors pursue greater collaborations with other justice agencies, the private sector, as well as citizens themselves. So that prosecution does not become the work of one man, but the work of the community; a community that will help the District Attorney's office to broaden its mission to include preventing and reducing crime.

To do that prosecutors must understand the needs of the people that they serve and go out into the community. They must lend their expertise to problem-solving collaborations to reduce and prevent crime by having a presence in the community. This way the goal becomes eliminating or at least managing the problem rather than just prosecuting cases. All of this will add much needed credibility and legitimacy that builds trust in the justice system.

In addition to prosecutors going out into the community, the prosecutors need their citizens to come to them. We can do this through a variety of ways through volunteers and paid staff. I will include neighborhood adult volunteers to hear cases diverted from juvenile court and set up contracts with offenders and their families which have provisions for restitution, community service, counseling, and other activities. And if those young offenders don't take advantage of the second chances offered to them by Harris County's volunteers, then those offenders will face the consequences of a less sympathetic court.

It is only through a strong connection between the citizens of Harris County and its prosecutors, can Harris County build a system that gets away from the stubborn seclusion of a broken office, to a justice system for all that has Integrity, Strength, and Fairness.

And Fairness is something that the District Attorney's Office sorely needs. Gone will be the days when winning comes at the cost of justice. Gone will be the days when prosecutors conduct trials by ambush. Instead, evidence against defendants, under my watch, will be presented in an open, straight-forward manner. There will be a policy of allowing all parties to have ample access to evidence to insure that no one uses the power of their office to deny any citizen a fair trial.

But without Integrity, fairness becomes a lost dream. The jurisprudence process is one that involves human beings and science; neither is perfect. Therefore, we try hard to make things go right. But when things go wrong, and we discover that mistakes have been made, the District Attorney must lead the way to ensure that justice is served and prevent irreparable harm, when possible. And this may include a decision to step back and have an independent examination of the evidence.

Serious questions have been raised regarding the Crime Lab and the District Attorney's office handling of evidence in some cases. Because of the breach of evidentiary integrity, the District Attorney must support and permit outside and independent reviews.

We must have a Crime Lab that is truly independent. We must have a Crime Lab that is independent of the police department, and that is independent of the District Attorney's Office. We must have a Crime Lab where professional scientists are allowed to do their jobs and the evidence speaks for itself.

Evidence doesn't belong to the police, evidence doesn't belong to the defense, evidence doesn't belong to the District Attorney. Evidence belongs to no one, but means everything to everyone, and so it must be cared for by everyone. And without the proper examination and presentation of evidence, a system of keeping track of how many cases are won and pled takes the place of the TRUTH.

It's that pursuit of truth, unfettered by gamesmanship and political aspirations, that forms the backbone of our Republic and its singular vision of justice. Elect me your District Attorney, and I commit to pursue the truth.

I have a proven record of strength and experience in making neighborhoods safer. Elect me and I will be a part of your neighborhood from the lower parts of 45 and 59 to the farther reaches of 290, 288 and I-10. I will be your District Attorney. And while acting as your District Attorney, I will always remember the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr:

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

This County needs justice,

This County needs a change,

This County needs what I learned from the sage advice of a poor farmer in Louisiana,

This County needs INTEGRITY, STRENGTH and FAIRNESS.

And I am asking for your support to elect me, C. O. "Brad" Bradford, as District Attorney for Harris County to make all that happen. Thank you, thank you, now let's take this campaign to the neighborhoods!!!

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 19, 2007 to Election 2008