By Ian Demsky, The Tennessean
Two undercover Metro police detectives were stripped of their guns and badges Wednesday night after police said they illegally brought their guns into a downtown bar after work, then drank alcohol.
Detectives Ernest Cecil, a 13-year department veteran, and Ulysses Hernandez, who had been on the force for four years, face departmental discipline and possible criminal charges.
Under state law, it is a misdemeanor for a law enforcement officer to possess a firearm in a bar or other place where alcohol is served, unless the officer is on official business. Police also are barred from drinking alcohol while carrying a gun.
Both officers submitted to breath-alcohol tests and blew .10, said police spokesman Don Aaron. The legal limit for a motorist is .08.
Their undercover police vehicles were parked on a nearby street, and Police Chief Ronal Serpas expressed concern that they would have gotten in them and driven somewhere if police hadn’t been called to the scene by a security guard who noticed that one of the officers was armed.
“They made a deliberate decision to do something that is terribly wrong,” Serpas said at a news conference yesterday afternoon. “The law prohibits people from having firearms in barrooms for good cause.”
He said police officers were held to higher standards because they are charged with enforcing laws.
“The only thing we have to sell is our integrity and our word,” Serpas said. “What (the officers) have done is put their integrity at risk.”
Still, Serpas praised both detectives’ records, saying they are dedicated, hardworking officers.
The attorney representing the officers did not return a call for comment yesterday afternoon.
Cecil, 47, and Hernandez, 26, got off work at 9:30 p.m. and went to Club Hurricane on Second Avenue, police said. There, they said, a security guard bumped into Cecil and felt a concealed gun at the belt. Cecil showed the guard his badge and police credentials, police said, but was asked to leave because he was carrying the gun while drinking. When Cecil refused, police said, the guard called police.
Central Precinct officers found the pair, both of whom work in the gang unit of the Special Investigations Division, sitting at the bar, police said. They were taken to headquarters and stripped of their police powers. Other officers drove their undercover cars back.
The officers will remain on desk duty until a department investigation is complete.
Police officials will forward a report to the district attorney general’s office to decide whether criminal charges should be filed.
Fraternal Order of Police President Ed Mason said he had not yet spoken to the two officers and would have no comment on the case until the investigation has been completed.
What state laws says
Law enforcement officers may carry firearms at all times and in all places within Tennessee, on-duty or off-duty, unless:
Consuming beer or an alcoholic beverage or under the influence of beer, an alcoholic beverage or a controlled substance.
Entering a place where beer or alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises, while the officer is not on official business.