1955

April 30, 1955
Gunfire  at 3003 ½ Nance

DOB –2/14/1925, Age 30
Badge – 1214
Class #8
Final Resting Place – Kaufman, TX

It is ridiculous that a city the size of Houston is manned by such few officers." "These killings of our officers are an example of the savings which Houston is experiencing by operating with one half of a police force. I say one half because we have about one half the number of policemen per 100 population that other cities of comparable size have."
It is certainly a phone concept of government to contend that Houston is saving money by short changing every public service." "The public is paying the police." "I hope this makes members of the City Council approach realistically Houston's need for a budget that will provide, among other things, adequate money for adequate police protection."

These comments were made on May 1, 1955, by Chief of Police Jack Heard and Mayor
Roy Hofheinz, after the killing of Officers Jack Beets and Auxiliary Captain Charles Gougenheim.
Officer Beets was killed in Jack's Place, 3003 1/2 Nance, while checking the tavern's license. He was leaning behind the bar to read a beer license when Manual Ben Smith, a black, age 50, entered with a pistol in his hand. Beets did not see his assailant. The officer turned around and was shot between the eyes and in the heart. He died an hour later in Jeff Davis Hospital.

Smith ran from the tavern and fired at Gougenheim, who was sitting in a parked patrol car. Gougenheim jumped from the car and returned the fire. Smith, was hit twice, fell to the sidewalk and died instantly. Gougenheim was hit three times and died face down in the street. No one knew why Smith had gone on this rampage. Smith's wife told police that he always had a bad temper. Smith's sister, the bar owner, told police that she felt that her brother probably thought that the officer was going to arrest her. No matter what the reason, there were two officers that died needlessly because of a drunken senseless person.

Years later, we are still asking for better pay and more officers. Will Houston ever wake up to reality?
Officer J.B. Beets is survived by his wife, Helen Beets; son, Billy Jack Beets; parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alvie Lee Beets; grandparents, John Beets and Mr. and Mrs. G.P. Reid; sisters, Dorothy Garrett, Mrs. Burt Robinson, Glenda Beets, Linda Carol Beets, and Mrs. Edgar F. Ward; brothers, John D. Beets, Kenneth Beets, and Jerry Beets; half-brother, Alvie Lee Beets.

Source – Houston Police Department Museum Files