HPD ends what we call 'The Superman Rule'

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Wayne Dolcefino
More: Bio, abc13.com News Team

(9/06/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- Four months after 13 Undercover exposed possible time sheet fraud, the Houston Police Department is ending what we called "The Superman Rule." That's the ability of some cops to claim they were working in two places at the same time.

HPD is tightening the reins on every cop on the force as we learn a grand jury is now conducting a criminal investigation into what our investigators first exposed in May.

HPD is taking steps to make sure they know where your police officers are working, both on and off duty. Part of the reason is our investigation of off duty HPD bike patrols in Midtown and in Almeda. Patrols coordinated for money by a Houston Police Captain Dwayne Ready who is now under internal investigation.

"I have no compunction at all saying that when the officers turn in their work card to ride the district that they are out there riding the district," said Ready.

Analyzing time records in May, we found some of Ready's bike cops claiming they were on duty and working off duty on bike patrols across the city at the same time.

"The only person I know that is that fast is Superman," we told to HPD Executive Assistant Chief Michael Thaler.

"And Superman is a mythical character," he said.

"He's faster than a speeding bullet," we said. "Cops aren't."

"You've made your point, I think," said Thaler.

Not yet. We compared some of the off-duty bike cops time cards with their on-duty HPD time records. You guessed it -- the records show some were working in two places at once.

"Unless they get a teleporter, that would be pretty hard," said Ferrell.

The only place we've seen that is on the Starship Enterprise.

"How does that happen?" we asked Thaler.

"It's can't happen," he said.

Now Police Chief Hurtt unveils a new way to document officer's time to ensure that "taxpayers have some assurance that their tax dollars are being spent to compensate officers only for hours actually worked."

Among the new rules, there has to be at least thirty minutes between the extra job and the city job. No more Superman.

The document will also require police to report their extra jobs and document time worked and will make it clear that intentionally making a false entry is crime.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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