Posted on 11/13/2003 5:15:36 AM PST by Arrowhead1952
Brockington and Moore were two of six disciplined in on-duty angling
By Tony Plohetski
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Two Austin police officers suspended for fishing while on duty apparently lacked an essential part of their gear: valid fishing licenses.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department records, Sgt. Dana Brockington's last fishing license expired in August 2001, months before police said he fished with several other officers while they were supposed to be guarding a power plant against possible terrorism at Lake Walter E. Long in far Northeast Austin. Officer Christopher Moore also did not have a license during the period he acknowledged fishing in the lake, records show.
The officers were assigned to the Austin Police Department's homeland defense division and were in charge of guarding the Decker Creek Power Plant, adjacent next to the lake.
Fishing without a license is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500. Texas Parks and Wildlife officials said they are not planning to investigate the incident and that the Police Department has the authority to cite people for violating fishing laws.
"We investigated and disciplined the officers for the most serious policy violations," Police Department spokesman Kevin Buchman said.
Brockington, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, was suspended for 30 days, ending Nov. 20. Records show he had fishing licenses during the summer months of 1997, 1999 and 2001.
Department disciplinary memos said Brockington fished while on duty "on more than one occasion" during the first two quarters of 2002 and that he knowingly allowed other officers to fish and did nothing to stop or discipline them, the memos said.
Moore, who received a two-day suspension, had a valid fishing license between March 2001 and August 2001 and got another license April 28, 2003, which expired in August. According to the memos, Moore told internal investigators that he fished at least 10 times between February 2002 and March 2003. He also could not be reached for comment.
Four of the other officers disciplined as part of the internal affairs investigation had licenses, records show.
Guess this is another one of those: Do as I say, not as I do.
Off-duty Speedway officers accused of fishing with prostitute
I saw that thread earlier. I am having a very hard time posting today. Have no idea what is happening, but I get the error message "The page cannot be displayed" when I hit the preview button.
This one may actually post.
You think the Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens will be keeping up with this story??? Try to see how many other violations they can be fined for by their stupidity.
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