Post by KC on Jun 14, 2006 22:12:57 GMT -5
6/14/06 - HOUSTON - A veteran police officer has been indicted on charges that he inflated his role in two investigations to give himself a better chance at promotion.
Officer John Hamilton Parker, 42, is charged with two felony counts of tampering with government records.
Prosecutors said the 15-year Houston police officer acknowledged altering two arrest reports in an effort to advance his career.
"He thought it would make him more promotable," said Terese Buess of the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Parker is a member of the Houston Police Officer's Union and will be represented by the association's lawyers. They were not available for comment Tuesday.
A department spokesman said Parker was put on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
In one case, Parker claimed he arrested a woman in January who was wanted on a drunken driving warrant. He wrote in the official report that he took the woman to a county psychiatric center for a mental health evaluation.
Prosecutors said the reports were untrue.
A criminal complaint also accused Parker of claiming a larger role in the February arrest of a man wanted on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He reported that he took the suspect into custody and later brought him to the Harris County Jail.
"When (police internal affairs officers) looked into those arrests, they found he in fact did not arrest either of the suspects," Buess said. "They determined he had written a false supplement to the arrest report."
Buess said this was the first time she'd heard of an officer falsifying an arrest document to advance his career.
"It's not common at all," she said.
She said an officer's false reports could hamper prosecutors ability to prosecute the original crime.
"There is always the potential of that having an adverse impact on a good case," Buess said. "It could muddy the water."
Parker was released from custody Monday after posting $2,000 bond for each charge.
Officer John Hamilton Parker, 42, is charged with two felony counts of tampering with government records.
Prosecutors said the 15-year Houston police officer acknowledged altering two arrest reports in an effort to advance his career.
"He thought it would make him more promotable," said Terese Buess of the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Parker is a member of the Houston Police Officer's Union and will be represented by the association's lawyers. They were not available for comment Tuesday.
A department spokesman said Parker was put on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
In one case, Parker claimed he arrested a woman in January who was wanted on a drunken driving warrant. He wrote in the official report that he took the woman to a county psychiatric center for a mental health evaluation.
Prosecutors said the reports were untrue.
A criminal complaint also accused Parker of claiming a larger role in the February arrest of a man wanted on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He reported that he took the suspect into custody and later brought him to the Harris County Jail.
"When (police internal affairs officers) looked into those arrests, they found he in fact did not arrest either of the suspects," Buess said. "They determined he had written a false supplement to the arrest report."
Buess said this was the first time she'd heard of an officer falsifying an arrest document to advance his career.
"It's not common at all," she said.
She said an officer's false reports could hamper prosecutors ability to prosecute the original crime.
"There is always the potential of that having an adverse impact on a good case," Buess said. "It could muddy the water."
Parker was released from custody Monday after posting $2,000 bond for each charge.