Police Go Fishing While on Terror Patrol
Fri Nov 7,10:23 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas - Five police officers assigned to protect a power plant from possible terrorism went fishing at a nearby lake instead, and were once seen in uniform cleaning the fish they had just caught, according to disciplinary records.
A lieutenant, a sergeant and three other officers were disciplined for fishing while on duty and another sergeant was disciplined for not reporting the others, according to records obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.
"Quite frankly, we are very disappointed," Assistant Police Chief Rick Coy told the newspaper for Friday's edition. "We believe our job is to protect the community, and that's what we expect our officers to do."
Most of the officers were assigned to the Decker Creek Power Plant near Austin as part of the department's Homeland Defense Unit. The lake is part of the plant's property.
Five of the officers received suspensions from one to 30 days for violating civil service commission rules. The punishment for the lieutenant was not available because he is appealing.
Internal affairs investigators received a complaint in June that the officers were fishing while they were supposed to be patrolling at the plant, according to the memos.
Police cited a number of department violations, including continuing to fish after being ordered to stop and instructing plant security guards to allow fellow officers onto the facility to fish.
Coy said homeland security assignments will now be rotated to prevent similar incidents.
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