Police Chief Reopens Investigation
Click 2 Houston.com (Texas)
HOUSTON, Texas -- Some Houston police officers are spending their time on duty doing questionable things, according to a Local 2 investigation Thursday.
In a follow-up to May’s Troubleshooters undercover report on how some HPD officers spend their time, several more officers were caught on tape.
In one instance, a police officer looked for just the right spot to sit and park for 35 minutes.
Two weeks later, the Troubleshooters were not the only ones watching the officer in the vacant lot near Northwest Mall.
The Houston Police Internal Affairs squad, with six undercover officers, hid out in bushes and parked nearby. That time, the officer under surveillance was parked for 1 hour and 48 minutes, apparently enjoying a book.
“He’s looking down like he’s readying,” an internal affairs officer said.
On May 19, a Local 2 hidden camera investigation reported on some officers killing time, avoiding calls. A Houston City Councilman, who called for action because of the station’s report, cannot believe it is still going on.
“I am surprised. When your report aired, I thought this would send a message to all the police officers that if they are supposed to be patrolling and they’re not, that they better be on the lookout because Channel 2 might be filming them,” councilman Mark Goldberg said.
Office workers told Local 2 about another officer who was tucked behind trees, smoking every morning near Greenway Plaza. Since June, the Troubleshooters found it was true -- up to 45 minutes at a time.
“I think it’s pretty outrageous. We have officers supposed to be patrolling and they’re stationary -- disappointing,” Goldberg said.
After the May reports, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt felt the same way.
In a memo to all officers, he mentioned Local 2’s broadcast, saying, “such misconduct will never be tolerated.”
Did six-year veteran officer Scott Arnold get the memo, Local 2 wondered?
He was seen repeatedly outside his own apartment.
A neighbor informed Local 2 how he routinely showed up right after going on duty. Several days a week, the Troubleshooters found him walking into his own apartment, sometimes spending more than one hour there.
“I’m trying to figure out what kind of police work you’re handling here,” Local 2’s Stephen Dean said.
“I used the restroom in that apartment,” Arnold answered. “I’ve been in there two minutes.”
“Right, but in the past, we watched you in there more than an hour,” Dean said.
Across town, at 2:59 p.m., it was the first hour of work for another officer. On 16 different occasions, Local 2 found him pulling in during the same hour of the day, so you could pay him to sit.
“It’s frustrating -- like clockwork, every day. What’s he doing there?” said a woman who lives nearby, who wanted to remain anonymous.
She is among the people who live and work nearby who call the officer a fixture in the lot, while other areas go unprotected.
“What’s it going to take -- somebody getting killed two blocks down at the same exact time that he’s sitting there?” the woman said.
It was so predictable in July, August and September, that Local 2 invited the police chief to see it for himself.
Instead, the internal affairs squad was sent, asking a truck to move, so the officer’s favorite spot would be vacant.
Eleven-year veteran officer Dung Nguyen was right on time.
After two separate days of undercover work, HPD said that since Nguyen was not sleeping, the case was closed.
Local 2 told Internal Affairs that on several occasions, he stayed put while his reports said he was handling police work somewhere else.
But Internal Affairs said it was OK because he was not sleeping.
“That tells me that don’t want to address the issue. They’re turning a blind eye to it,” said the unidentified neighbor. “Shame on them. Shame on our new police chief.”
The police chief is once again promising action. After watching the hidden camera video, he reopened the investigation that his Internal Affairs squad closed.
“If we need to take further action with reference to this officer or the people doing this investigation, we’ll do that,” Hurtt said.
Is he surprised the Troubleshooters found more officers, despite his memo and his warning after the station’s last reports?
“Disappointed, but not surprised,” Hurtt said.
The city councilman who was angered by the station’s last reports told Local 2 that he had some questions for Nguyen. Then, Local 2 had some questions.
“We have a shortage of police officers and it seems like you’d be patrolling around,” Goldberg told Nguyen.
“Did you get the chief’s memo about expecting a full day’s work for a full day’s pay? You think you’re giving the taxpayers their worth here?” Dean said.
“This is the area I work, sir,” Nguyen said.
“But is this working?” Dean asked.
“I am working right now,” Nguyen said.
“How are you working when you’re in this lot an hour, two hours a day,” Dean said.
“I’d rather not talk,” Nguyen said.
“If he really was doing what he was supposed to be doing, he would justify it and have nothing to be ashamed of and he wouldn’t have left. The fact that he did drive off shows me he does have something to hide,” Goldberg said.
Officers are getting the message that low productivity can affect their career. The chief asked for a list of his least productive workers, and then moved the bottom 33 officers to desk duties last month.