Dec. 19--Nearly every day, Houston-area motorists share streets and freeways with police officers on motorcycle who are escorting funerals, dignitaries, wide-cargo loads or controlling traffic outside sporting events.
The two-wheeled duty can be dangerous and even deadly: At least one officer was killed and seven others were injured as off-duty escorts in the past five years, according to a Houston Chronicle accident analysis.
Sgt. Matt Novotny, 52, is recovering from a broken pelvis and other severe injuries he received when was hit by a motorist Dec. 12. Novotny, the head of Pasadena Police Department's 10-officer motorcycle unit, was working an off-duty job escorting a funeral when he was hit at the intersection of West Fuqua and Almeda. The female driver, who police determined was not impaired, had a green light but apparently failed to see the officer.
"It is a very dangerous thing," said Vance Mitchell, spokesman for the Pasadena police. "This is probably the worse we've had, and this is the third one in the last 12 months."
The most recent death appears to be a January 2008 accident that killed Harris County Precinct 7 Deputy Constable David Joubert, 60, who was on his way to escorting a funeral in Houston when a car pulled in front of him.
Vehicle of choice
Toy Leach is one of the Houston Police Department's 46 officers assigned to the motorcycle detail, officers who have to requalify annually to ride their Harley-Davidson Road King police motorcycles. Motorcycles are the vehicle of choice for escorts because they can maneuver between cars to clear congested intersections.
"The intersections are the hardest because some of them are big, and they're three lanes coming from each direction," said Leach, a two-year veteran. "So when a motorcycle goes up there and puts their lights and sirens on, the people don't see you on a motorcycle anyway. The intersection is the most dangerous part, you have people running red lights and stuff like that."
The Harris County Sheriff's Office currently employs nine full-time motorcycle officers assigned to traffic investigations, and another 22 who work only off-duty escorts of oversize cargo loads or funerals processions. Three deputies have died over the past 30 years in motorcycle accidents, and two were escorting funerals. The latest was Deputy Keith Fricke, who died in June 1997 after a car cut through the procession and hit Fricke's motorcycle.
Lt. Darryl Coleman, head of the Harris County Sheriff's Office traffic enforcement section, said the biggest danger is motorists who don't notice the motorcycle officers, even when they are using their emergency lights and have sirens on.
"The known dangers are the unaware motorists, the inattentive motorists who not aware of the police motorcycle who is approaching them," said Lt. Darryl Coleman. "The (motorcycle officer) has to be on the lookout for the driver who is not on the lookout for them."
Coleman said it has been years since a sheriff's motorcycle officer died, and the most recent accident was last December when a deputy was injured while escorting participants in the Texas Bowl football game near the Galleria.
A Houston city ordinance requires that all funeral processions be escorted by at least one police motorcycle, and at least two for a procession of more than 10 vehicles. Off-duty motorcycle officers are hired by funeral homes to do the escorts, and they are paid from $125 to $225, depending on the number of stops and which department the officers belong to.
Call to repeal ordinance
In addition to the off-duty escorts, police departments assign motorcycle officers while on duty to escort funerals of officers and their families, as well as escorting visiting dignitaries.
Houston police, since January 2010, have assigned their motorcycle officers to escort vehicles at 188 events, including 151 funerals of police officers and their relatives, as well as other city workers. The remaining escorts were either for dignitaries or for traffic control at major sporting events.
HPD said its last serious motorcycle accident took place when Officer Scott Hamilton was escorting a funeral in January 2010. His injuries required multiple reconstructive surgeries to his face, causing him to retire for medical reasons.
One Houston funeral director wants elected officials to repeal the ordinance requiring motorcycle escorts for a funeral procession, saying it has become increasingly dangerous to officers and those in the motorcade. He'd rather have mourners meet the hearse and the family at the church or cemetery.
"I've seen over the years it's getting more dangerous. We're endangering the police officers, and the people going down the road and the people in the procession," said Greg Compean, owner of Compean Funeral Home. "It comes at a cost, and I'm not talking about economics but about someone getting seriously hurt, or even killed."
Refusal to yield
Leach, the HPD officer, says motorists have sometimes refused to yield to a police escort, forcing him to explain that city ordinance extends the authority of a police emergency vehicle to off-duty escorts.
But the motorcycle officers are mainly concerned with the drivers who are zooming along, talking on their cell phones or otherwise not paying attention.
"You're ready to move out of the way if a car's coming. You've got your head on a swivel," Leach said.
Copyright 2011 - Houston Chronicle
