Houston Chronicle by St. John Barned-Smith July 30, 2019
A botched drug raid led to a wave of leaks. Cops peeking at internal records then found themselves under investigation.
Amid a wave of workplace rumors and leaks to the media over a bungled no-knock drug raid in January, the Houston Police Department launched an internal probe into dozens of officers for looking up personal information of a narcotics supervisor and another officer linked to the operation.
The investigation, which came several weeks after the Jan. 28 raid, scrutinized 37 officers and civilian employees accused of reviewing the pair’s information in the police department’s personnel database, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle and interviews with people familiar with the probe.
Months later, 17 people were disciplined with so-called “supervisory interventions,†a warning that is less severe than a written reprimand, according to Doug Griffith, a vice president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union.
Griffith said investigators should have focused on more serious matters stemming from the raid at 7815 Harding Street that left two people dead and five police officers injured.
“We lost a lot of manpower hours on an investigation that had nothing to do with the Harding Street incident,†he said.
Chief Art Acevedo could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hunt for snoops
The narcotics supervisor filed the complaint in February, saying she believed officers were looking up her information without legitimate reasons, according to officials and documents reviewed by the Chronicle.
The supervisor said she became worried for her safety after learning that reporters were trying to contact her.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/A-botched-Houston-drug-raid-led-to-a-wave-of-14267638.php
