Another Goof By Houston Police Department?

Houston (KTRK) -- Tonight we learn how some of that money Houston made from red light cameras has been spent. And you'll be seeing red after we tell you.

None of us want drunks on the road driving next to our family, so spending money on a weapon to catch them sounds like a good idea. Red-light money paid for half of HPD's mobile fleet of breath vans. Now we are investigating, because the price tag is on your tab.

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Dallas police spokeswoman reprimanded after another gun-waving incident

Dallas, Texas

Dallas police commanders have issued a written reprimand to a department spokeswoman accused of flashing a gun at a motorist in an off-duty road rage incident in Allen last year.

Senior Cpl. Janice Crowther remained in her current assignment Friday as a police spokesperson, one of the most publicly visible assignments in the 3,600-member police force. It is unclear if she may be transferred to a different unit in the near future.

Crowther has denied flashing her gun and Allen police declined to charge her in the case. Dallas police officials did not rule on whether Crowther flashed a gun, but said she violated a departmental rule that states, “No employee, when acting outside the course and scope of his duties, shall precipitate, cause, or escalate a disturbance or police incident to his discredit.”

Crowther did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A written reprimand is the most serious form of documented discipline and remains in an officer’s file permanently.

The October incident in Allen followed a similar case in which she was accused of flashing a gun at another motorist six years earlier while off duty and driving north of Dallas, according to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

Crowther, 49, was also accused of berating and threatening a NorthPark Center security officer in an incident in the mall parking lot in 2002, according to the records, which were obtained in response to Public Information Act requests.

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Houston Police and Fire Department Fixing Tickets for Facebook Friends: Houston Police Officer Trades One Vacation Day In Place of Suspension

Houston, Texas

A ranking Houston Fire Department arson investigator has been issued a written reprimand for answering a post on Facebook from a stranger who asked for help with fixing four traffic tickets she has received from a Houston police officer.

"You used your position within HFD to influence a Houston Police Officer to dismiss four traffic citations he issued to a private citizen.  In doing so, you not only violated the rules and regulations of the Houston Fire Department but also the City of Houston's Code of Ordinance," Fire Chief Terry Garrison wrote in his reprimand.

Local 2 Investigates reported in August that Arson Investigator Alison Stein answered a stranger's request on Facebook, writing that she knew the officer who had written the tickets and would try to help the stranger. The officer promptly voided all four citations.

Despite being written up for breaking the law, no suspension was levied against Stein. She has declined to comment about her actions.

The Houston Police Department Internal Affairs Division has also completed its investigation into the officer who voided the tickets, and the department levied a one-day suspension without pay. The officer was cited for abusing his conduct and authority and also violating laws against fixing tickets.

The officer admitted to Local 2 Investigates that he voided the tickets without going through the proper channels, which require high-level HPD supervisors to sign off any time a ticket is voided.

The city's human resources department said the officer chose to burn off a vacation day without pay to serve out his suspension.

The Houston Police Department issued new rules known as general orders about social networking in response to a series of misconduct by officers exposed by Local 2 Investigates. Officers are now on notice that they can be punished for posting messages, whether on duty or on their private time, if those messages violate certain standards.

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Houston Police Officer Under Investigation: Linked To Two Pill Mills

Houston, Texas

The Texas Medical Board has taken emergency action to close four Harris County clinics that are under investigation as possible "pill mills," including two owned by a veteran Houston policeman, Danny Muhammad, who is also the target of a federal probe.

Danny Muhammad, 40, who has served as an HPD officer since 1997, was suspended with pay in December after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Harris County District Attorney's office initiated an investigation. Neither agency has divulged details of the pending probe.

But records show Danny Muhammad formed the Oaks Medical Clinic at 444 S. Main in Highlands in 2006 and the Imed Clinic at 6806 Longpoint in Houston in 2007.

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El Paso police officer arrested on sexual assault charges involving on duty incident

El Paso, Texas

El Paso Police arrested one of their own on Thursday after an investigation led to sexual assault charges.

Zake Rivera, 29, was arrested for sexual assault after an investigation.

Police said the investigation revealed that on January 23, 2011, River and his partner responded to a family disturbance call. While investigating the disturbance, both officers separated each of the persons involved in the disturbance, one of which was the victim. EPPD said separating the persons involved in domestic disturbances is standard procedure.

Police said that while the victim was separated with RIvera, and out of sight of the others, Rivera sexually assaulted the victim.

The victim went to police, and Internal Affairs and Special Investigations Group began an investigation.

A warrant was secured for the arrest of Rivera after the investigation for the offense of sexual assault. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail on a bond of $25,000.00.

Rivera is a 4-year veteran of the El Paso Police Department and was assigned to the Westside Regional Command Center.

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San Antonio Park cop sentenced to 4yrs prison in plea deal for giving 14yr-old girl he repeatedly molested an STD

San Antonio, Texas

A former San Antonio Park Police officer was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday, nearly five years after he was accused of molesting a teen and giving her a sexually transmitted disease. 

Ricardo Rodriguez, 42, pleaded no contest to indecency with a child by contact in November as part of a plea deal in which five additional counts were dropped and his maximum possible sentence was reduced to five years.

The victim, now 21, said she was repeatedly molested by Rodriguez for two years starting when she was 14. She tested positive for the same strain of genital herpes that Rodriguez has, according to court documents. 

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Dallas cop caught on dashcam video punching, kicking, macing & beating man w/flashlight is fired & arrested. Update: Video

Dallas, Texas

A Dallas police officer has been fired after a dashcam camera allegedly showed him beating a motorist.
The incident happened on January 28 in the Northeast Division during a traffic stop in the 9400 block of Abrams Road.

Chief David Brown said Officer Quaitemes Williams, who is white, is seen on the tape beating a black motorist who was handcuffed.

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Houston Police Union Officer Guilty Of Stealing Union Funds

Houston, Texas

The former secretary of the Houston Police Officers' Union has pleaded guilty to a felony for stealing union funds from his fellow officers.

Ronny Martin, 53, pleaded guilty to a felony count of theft by a public servant in Harris County District Court, and a plea bargain means he will not spend a day in jail for the crime.

Prosecutors and union leaders said Martin orchestrated the theft scheme, pocketing money from the sale of union cars, cashing union checks and swiping union credit cards.

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Lubbock cop already charged w/sexual assault of a child now accused of sexually assaulting an adult as well

Lubbock, Texas

A former Lubbock police officer accused of sexual assault of a child now faces additional charges of sexual assault of an adult.

A new warrant has been issued for 32 year old Jason Hignight. It cites allegations of two incidents with the same woman in 2006 and 2007.

Hignight resigned as an LPD officer shortly before his arrest on January 18th.

According to the warrant, the mother of two girls caught Hignight exposing himself to one of them at their home and she took the children to talk to investigators.

Hignight remains jailed on $200,000 bond for charges related to those allegations.

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Dallas police officer accused of attacking handcuffed suspect in videotaped incident

Dallas, Texas

A Dallas police officer faces a criminal charge after he was caught on video kicking a handcuffed prisoner in the head and using pepper spray on him earlier this month, authorities said.

The officer, 25-year-old Quaitemes Williams, was fired during disciplinary hearings Wednesday afternoon.

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Austin cop indicted on 2 official oppression charges: Accused of being a "peeping Tom" and illegal search

Austin, Texas

An Austin police officer accused of being a Peeping Tom has been indicted on two counts of official oppression.

A grand jury indicted Joshua James Peters, 33, on Feb. 16 in connection with two separate incidents and alleged victims.

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Former Bexar Deputy Gets Probation over Bribery

San Antonio, Texas

A judge in San Antonio has ordered 90 days of house arrest for a lawman convicted in a traffic ticket-fixing bribery scam.

Former Bexar (bayr) County Sheriff's Deputy Raul Hernandez also was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation and must repay $350 to a driver.

A jury last week convicted Hernandez of abuse of official capacity, a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail.

Hernandez, who's also barred from returning to law-enforcement work, drew scrutiny when the driver told a judge he thought he had worked out a deal with the deputy to fix the ticket.

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