Suspended Lubbock ISD Chief of Police resigns, after being drunk with badge and gun

Mark Hinshaw

Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock ISD Superintendent Karen Garza has accepted the resignation of Mark Hinshaw, former LISD Chief of Police.

Hinshaw was placed on paid administrative leave last month, following an incident at La Diosa cellars. Lubbock police reported that Hinshaw was intoxicated while carrying his gun and wearing his badge. Officers responded and took his weapon, but Hinshaw was not arrested.

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Mesquite officer accused of stealing cash in federal sting

Dallas, Texas

A Mesquite police sergeant who was the head of the department's narcotics unit was arrested Thursday morning by federal authorities on charges that he stole $2,000 during an undercover money courier operation.

Mesquite Police Sgt. John David McAllister, 42, faces one charge of theft of government money.

If convicted, McAllister faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

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McAllen cop on unpaid leave after DWI arrest

McAllen, Texas

A McAllen police officer has been placed on unpaid leave after being arrested in Cameron Country last month on charges of driving while intoxicated.

Officer Oberlin Cortez Jr., 26, was arrested by Harlingen police about 2 p.m. Feb. 9 after leaving Rack Daddy’s, a local bar, according to an arrest report from the Harlingen police department.

McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said Cortez has since been placed on leave without pay, pending a decision by the court. Attempts to reach Cortez were unsuccessful Monday and Tuesday.

“This is unexpected conduct from police officers,” Rodriguez said. “We do not look at this favorably at all.”

Cortez, who was just beginning his career as a law enforcement officer, was hired by the McAllen police department in March 2010.

“These things tend to end careers for law enforcement personnel and I expect no different,” Rodriguez said. “That’s just the way it is.”

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Houston Police Officer Accused In Tear-Gas Attack At Barbecue Cookoff

Officer Mike Hamby

Houston, Texas

A Houston Police officer has been relieved of duty and faces a criminal investigation after tear-gas was lobbed into a crowded tent at the barbecue cookoff event at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Local 2 Investigates reported Tuesday.

A senior ranking officer within the Houston Police Department then received information that the tear gas was set off inside the tent by a rodeo committee member and HPD officer, who was off duty and partying in a neighboring tent.

HPD sources familiar with the investigation said Officer Mike Hamby, 51, then admitted to that senior ranking HPD officer that he had set off the tear gas to retaliate against people inside that tent, whom Hamby felt had made remarks against the military.

He was relieved of duty with pay, with the department saying he is accused of criminal wrongdoing.

An elected board member of the Houston Police Officers' Union, Hamby wrote on his online profile that he served 10 years as a Marine reservist. His profile also mentioned that he "loves hunting and barbecuing." He wrote that he serves on the union's barbecue team, as well as another group comprised mostly of military personnel.

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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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