HISD officer fired over `Ghetto Handbook' HISD officer fired over booklet

Report says gang investigator put out 'ebonics' pamphlet to get back at a boss

A 34-year-old Houston Independent School District police officer was fired this week for creating and distributing a "Ghetto Handbook" to fellow police officers at a roll call meeting last spring, according to a report released Friday.

Roby Morris, a gang investigator who's worked for HISD since 1999, was placed on paid leave in late August for handing out an eight-page pamphlet with "ebonics" definitions — something he told district investigators he did to get back at one of his bosses.

He explained that he is married to a black woman and that together they have three biracial children, according to the report on the investigation.

But HISD officials said that doesn't excuse the offensive publication.

"This incident represents an egregious violation of our standards of conduct and decency," spokesman Terry Abbott said.

"HISD condemns it in the strongest possible terms."

Morris, who was slated to earn $40,748 this year, couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

About a dozen employees received a copy of the pamphlet — subtitled "Wucha dun din now" — at a May 23 roll call meeting at Barnett Stadium. The document tells officers that learning the definitions will allow them to speak "as if you just came out of the hood."

Six officers' names are listed as having contributed to the booklet, but the investigation showed that Morris was the lone participant.

The report also said that Morris' supervisors spoke to him shortly after the incident and issued a written reprimand in June.

But the follow-up was limited, the report concludes, and Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra wasn't told about the incident until mid-August.

HISD trustee Larry Marshall said he hopes the district can move forward from the incident, which he said drew unflattering attention from media across the county.

"It's been an embarrassment," he said. "To even discuss that kind of issue in these times is very troubling. We can do better."

But some activists said they don't plan to let the issue rest. They plan to push HISD to take action against Morris' supervisors, including the police chief, for not issuing a harsher punishment in the spring.

"He should not be the only one losing his job," activist Quanell X said.

"There should be others in the unemployment line with him."

jennifer.radcliffe@chron.com